Are roosters appx. 13-14 weeks okay in flavor to eat?

[Parront]

I remove the yellow membrane.

X2 on gizzard lining. Pressure cooked, then battered & fried along with battered & fried zucchini, & mushrooms. Great snack or appetizers.

 

[NatJ]

The way I do cull cockerels that don't have much meat:

--kill bird
--cut off &discard feet and wings, pull skin off the rest of the carcass
--cut off each leg/thigh piece, and the breast (keep them)
--optional, harvest the heart/liver/gizzard
--optional, discard guts and make broth with the rest of the carcass

So I'm mostly just taking the leg/thigh pieces and the breast, and if those are the only parts I want-- it skips a lot of the usual butchering steps! Sometimes I debone the leg/thigh as well as the breast while they're still on the carcass. In those cases, I don't even open the body cavity at all, unless I want the giblets.

Hearts and gizzards I collect in the freezer until I have enough, then treat like tough beef (stew is good.) They don't really taste like beef, but they do have a different flavor than the normal chicken meat.

Liver is the only thing that seems to stay tender even when the bird is old

Over time, I thought about which part gives me the most meat for the least effort, and gradually adapted butchering methods get me that. Plucking and wings were the first things I decided to skip

 

[3KillerBs]

But the amount of work from slaughtering the roosters, to brining, to roasting, deboneing, then backing enchilladas........ hhmm I'm not sure it was all worth it.

I wouldn't bother with all that -- but then I never brine because one of the reasons we want meat birds is to NOT have meat soaked in saltwater like the grocery store birds'

My annoying packing peanuts were shoved into the stock pot two at a time, simmered all day, then picked and turned into chicken and rice, chicken bog, and chicken and dumplings.

 

[3KillerBs]

My husband will not sit and pick and eat that slow!

That's why my DH won't eat snow crab. He says it's too much work for too little food.

 

[Parront]

That's why my DH won't eat snow crab. He says it's too much work for too little food.

I like it, talk, drink of choice, turn stuff still on the grill, eat some that is done, repeat. Takes all afternoon, best done on Saturday for those who have a job!

 

[Mosey2003]

I agree it is age. Might try blanching them for less time. How do you blanche them? How hot and how long? I bring water to a boil and drop the dual purpose feet in. 15 seconds later I dump them in the sink and cool then down. On older bids I can go 20 seconds but too long and they shred instead of peel. Claws and spurs twist off pretty easily.

That's basically how I've done it. I couldn't even get them to shred really, just kind of stuck and didn't want to come off at all. I'm not worried about it, I don't foresee doing many broilers again in the future.

 

[Parront]

I agree it is age. Might try blanching them for less time. How do you blanche them? How hot and how long? I bring water to a boil and drop the dual purpose feet in. 15 seconds later I dump them in the sink and cool then down. On older bids I can go 20 seconds but too long and they shred instead of peel. Claws and spurs twist off pretty easily.

I never had any trouble with the feet from Cornish-X I raised, but I let them get pretty old, 10-12 weeks. BIG feet!

 

[Parront]

If I were the OP, next order of layers might include some Red Ranger type to raise along with them to make the processing day more rewarding.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Pate. Good use of many of the inner organ meats.

Bones, feet, wing tips, all the bits of meat and connective tissues still stuck to the bone are great for making stocks and broths.

Brining is great for imparting flavor, or for protecting something from drying out during slow cook methods like smoking, but I've NOT found it to help tenderize tough meats. If its thick with connective tissue and low in intramuscular fat, its going to be tough. Thus low slow cooking methods that allow those connective tissues to gelatinize are called for. Brining protects the meat from the full effects of that process, as does very careful temperature control.

Lets talk beef as an example. Your perfect medium rare steak is pulled off the heat around 125 degrees, and rests until the internal temperature a bit over 130 degrees. A brisket, on the other hand, is cooked to about 185 degrees, and rested to around 195 degrees. That same steak was "well done" a good 30 degrees cooler and might be charitably described as a charcoal briquet by the time it reached 195. The meat in the brisket is actually "past done", its the break down of the connective tissues that creates the illusion of tenderness.

With an old bird, you have to do the same thing - low and slow, break down those connective tissues. No high acid marinade, either - the acidity makes proteins seize, end result tough and dry. Great for imparting lots of flavor with short, high heat cooking methods. Not great for low/slow.

 

[Kakaruk]

Man, thanks ya'll for this! Yes, if I ever do this again, I probably will just focus on breasts and maybe thighs/legs. I did use the innards - gizzards, livers, hearts - for the stock I roasted in the mar-i-puas (sp? carrots, celery, onion, bay leaves, garlic, green onion) The stock turned out great. I only ate the livers however..... I've never liked hearts or gizzards that much.

I would never pluck feathers on a whimpy little rooster wing like this!

I don't know the breed. They were a barnyard mix, mostly gray and black. Roosters for sure. They looked bigger but that's what chickens do, the feathers make them look meatier. I'm serious, I only got around a pound of meat from these three boys. Waste of time!