We did it! And a cooking question for you.

[jmemom]

We processed our first rooster a couple of nights ago!

My mom kept telling me that it was going to be horrible, but it wasn't too bad. It took us about an hour (we are some serious newbies), but honestly at least 10 or 15 mins of that was us waiting for the water to get hot enough. The homemade plucker didn't work quite right

, but hand plucking didn't take us any time to do anyway. Now we are considering getting an assembly line together and doing several at a time since we have a better idea of what we are doing.

Now here's a question for you... He was 29 weeks old by the time we got to him. (How nine weeks went by that something was going on constantly...well, we do have four busy kids and were waiting for my brother to have time to help out, too I guess.) Is he going to be tough? This is obviously our first try at eating a home grown bird, and I don't want to turn anyone off of it! He's been in the fridge for 3 days and I'm hoping to cook him up for supper tonight. Any suggestions? This needs to be delicious!!

 

[galanie]

Crock pot. After three days in the fridge, slow cooked in a crock pot, he'll be out of this world! Season as you like. I use onion garlic salt pepper and thyme. Sometimes some basil too.

 

[ScottyHOMEy]

Good for you!

And you're right. There's a learning curve. The first one will take some time. And especially doing just one, what with all the prep and cleanup. Doing several or more at a time will certainly cut down on the time-per-bird, especially as you get the hang of it and develop a method and routine. Around my neighborhood, processing is often a group affair, with two or three of us bringing our birds and helping each other out to make one job of it.

As for cooking, a rooster that age is touch and go, will likely be a little tough. YOu might get away with roasting or frying, but slow-cooking would be the more reliable alternative for a "happy" meal.

 

[schumanw]

That is absolutely neat! Everyone is telling me the same thing, but I feel that I must accomplish this dreadful task in order to be a true chicken farmer. Thanks for the encouragement.

 

[cukooformarans]

We had some roosters to cull and an older gentleman in town told me that his grandmother used to pressure cook them (cut up of course) for 20 minutes and then fry. My MIL says that is a long time. However, I tried this the other day and it was out of this world! DH was going to cut up a piece for our toddler and he was able to break it into pieces with his hands. Our little girl hates tough food, but she loved this chicken. You should put enough liquid in the pot that it won't boil out, though. This was my only mistake, the cooking wine and oil I put in evaporated and left me with a lot of charred stuff to clean out of the pot. Also, I think it dried the meat a little. However, it was still tender and the flavor was wonderful. Next time, I will put more liquid, probably some chicken broth. Also, the flavor of the liquid permeates the meat wonderfully! After pressure cooking, I dipped in a mixture of egg and milk and then a mixture of flour, spices and a little parmesan. It just took a minute on each side in the hot grease to crisp the crust (since the meat was already well done). Yummy, will be making this again in the near future!

 

[mxpres]

I use a pressure cooker for chicken,beef,pork,squirrels,rabbits,deer,mud turtles,Its a great time saver and money saver on power or whatever.It takes a little experience to learn just how long to cook different kinds of meat but well worth the effort.Been using one for years