Bummer!!!! Wife and kids did not like the chicken dinner

[al6517]

I just want to say that my wife makes the best fried chicken I have ever eaten, Not just saying that. Well I processed a good sized very young Rooster ( 6mo old ) the other day, and aged it for 2 1/2 days. she cut it up for frying and then worked her magic. the thing was that they did not like it, my Daughter said the legs were tough, my wife liked the flavor but thought it was a bit stringy, and her coating cooked very differently than store bought birds. I liked the flavor and yes the coating was different but good. We did not brine this bird, and I might add that the both of us spend alot of good quality time in the trenches of our kitchen, and really love to cook, we don't even own a microwave ( weird I know ) hehe. I do not want to abandon my dreams of eating our own healthy homegrown chickens, and I told my DW that we should try some other options first. Roasting, brining, grilling, soupstock, crockpot, things like that.

Can you kind folks help me with this dilema. all suggestions certainly welcomed.
PLEASE!!!

AL

 

[NC chicken man]

have you ever tried meat birds it sounds like yall used a dual purpose roo?

 

[onthespot]

grow meat birds, cornish crosses and process them at eight weeks.

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:
You've got a bit of a misconception, here. A very young rooster (actually a cockerel. They're roosters after they're a year old) is 14 weeks or younger. 14-16 weeks you can slow roast. For a fryer, you need birds no older than 12 weeks, better at 8-10.

6 months is always gonna be a tough bird. If you brine them and then either crock pot or pressure can, you'll have tender, delicious meat to use in all kinds of dishes.

Supermarket birds are the Cornish X's, they're processed at about 6 to 8 weeks old.

If you don't want to raise those, (I have, but choose not to anymore) you might try some of the color rangers. There are a bunch of threads abut them.

If you want dual purpose, purebred birds, I think your best bet would be Delawares. I haven't raised those yet, but from what I've read, they're a nice meat bird, mature fast enough to get a good fryer, they just won't be a big as a Cornish X, or have the huge breast. But you'll have a healthy, vigorous bird, and he'll be tasty, too. Delawares were once the preferred meat bird, before the Cornish X was developed. You might want to get you original stock either from Sand Hill Preservation, or a breeder. I'm told that hatchery Delawares are seldom anywhere near what the breed type is supposed to be.

 

[BettyR]

Quote:
Hi AL...

That is just how roosters are. If you want meat birds to fry you need to raise the Cornish X and you will get a bird that fries up tender. I use my extra roos to make things like chicken and dumplings, gumbo, stew, soup and so on. They make the most incredible tasting broth you have ever put in your mouth but they need to be cooked until the meat is falling off the bone (I simmer mine about 3 hours). Even then the meat is still stringy if left in big pieces.

What I do is cook until the meat is falling off the bone then using a large slotted spoon I fish everything (meat and bones) out of the broth and put it in a bowl and put it on a wire rack in the frig. Finish making your dumplings, stew or whatever your cooking....when the meat is cool enough to handle pick the meat out and I use a pair of kitchen shears and snip the meat into small pieces like the meat you get in a can of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup. Then you can add the meat back to your pot and it will be in small enough pieces that it won't distract from the mouth feel of your finished dish.

I don't know if you have ever tried to chew a piece of the chicken that comes in a can of Chicken Noodle Soup but if you have you will recognize the texture of an old bird. They probably buy old laying hens that are being replaced because they aren't laying well anymore. They make incredible tasting broth but the meat has to be cut into small pieces or it’s going to be hard to chew.

 

[silkiechicken]

Yeah, 6 months old is an "old" rooster. Good for slow cooking methods. If you want to fry one, try to keep the age under 14-16 weeks. The younger the better, and 16 weeks still might be pushing it for a fried bird since thats a pretty quick cooking method.

 

[Chicabee19]

I feel for you!

I made the mistake of buying some really huge chicken legs at a market in China. I thought they'd be great with so much meat on them.

I made fried chicken for Thanksgiving for some of our Chinese friends. It was too tough to eat! Later someone told me it was an old chicken, to be used only for slow-cooking.

You should have seen our friends sitting around the table smiling and bravely chewing on those deep fried rock-hard chicken legs. Nobody said a word.

 

[chiknwhisperer]

I slow cooked my cockerels so they weren't bad. When I got my Cornish though they were great! I still have some in the frezzer and I fried some of the breasts last night. My dh and kids love the chicken and don't want to eat the store bought stuff if they don't have to. When I proccesed my roos though they were about 13 weeks old.

 

[burntumber]

I've had bad experiences raising those cornish X rocks. Sometimes they'd just up and fall over dead. I found out you can expect a certain percent to die of heart attacks- they grow too fast for their hearts to keep up.

Also, I always had a couple that couldn't walk normally. Found out they grow too fast for their own legs. One time I saw a flock of cornish X rock that had no breast feathers- the guy said it was b/c they were too big to move around much and had worn the feathers away.

Something not right about that cross. I think it's downright cruel.

I raise all-purpose heavy breeds - you can get day old cockerel mix chicks super cheap from pretty much any hatchery.

 

[moenmitz]

It is not the breed that is the trouble, the age is the problem, without a doubt. By 6 months, you need to stick witha crockpot, and they will make excellent soup or pot pie! We fried some dual purpose roosters that were 18 weeks-soaked them in buttermilk overnight before frying, and they were tender and SO delicious. You dont have to go witha meat bird to get delicious chicken, just adjust how and when you cook them-the older birds will have much more flavor, you just need to take care to ensure you can still chew them!