Butchering chickens debate

[TJAnonymous]

I bought a heavy duty poultry scissors from Amazon to cut out the back bone. It make things easier........

 

[CNJ]

We boil water on a turkey fryer. DH dunks the bird and swishes it for a few seconds. The feathers come out pretty easily. It's just messy and time consuming. Our birds are usually 6 - 9 months old too so their meat is tenderized by pressure cooking it. I make shredded meat and stock from the chickens we butcher ourselves. We tend to buy leg quarters and wings from the store for grilling, fried chicken, etc. However...we have on rare occasions grilled our butchered chickens with mixed success. Some were great and some were tough. Legs, thighs, and breasts are easy. My question is the value of the "meat" beyond that... When it comes to canning chicken, is the rest of the chicken of value or just a nuisance/time suck?

The roosters will be tender at 3 month old and the hens up to 4 months. They can be fried or roasted at that age. I did an experiment with young birds and this was my conclusion. However, I still like the taste of slow cooked older birds. The meat falls off the bone, so its easy to shred by hand. I put a dash or hint of liquid smoke to make it taste like Hawaii's pit cooked Kahlua pig.

Also, I found 2 temperature controls on my water heater. I turn both up to 150F a couple hours before I process my chicken. The 150F hot water that comes out of my faucet is perfect for plucking feathers. I can change the water bath as much as I want and have never run out of hot water. I turn the temperature back down after I am done. This saves me time and money, since I don't have to set up my propane burner anymore.

 

[CNJ]

I make an incision around the neck bone and twist it off with a scouring pad. Its kind of slippery and hard to do with out a good grip. Also, I like to take out the wish bone before I chop it up or roast whole. That wish bone gets in my way and annoys me.

Another thing that makes things easier is a good knife sharpener. The ones with the already set angle that we can pull our blades through. I have one that keeps my blades sharper and more consistent than I can get it with a wet stone.

 

[TJAnonymous]

The roosters will be tender at 3 month old and the hens up to 4 months. They can be fried or roasted at that age. I did an experiment with young birds and this was my conclusion. However, I still like the taste of slow cooked older birds. The meat falls off the bone, so its easy to shred by hand. I put a dash or hint of liquid smoke to make it taste like Hawaii pit cooked Kahlua pig.

Also, I found 2 temperature controls on my water heater. I turn both up to 150F a couple hours before I process my chicken. The 150F hot water that comes out of my faucet is perfect for plucking feathers. I can change the water bath as much as I want and have never run out of hot water. I turn the temperature back down after I am done. This saves me time and money, since I don't have to set up my propane burner anymore.

Even though most of my birds are standard heavy breeds, I feel like they don't typically get big enough for me to take the time to butcher them until they are about 8 months old. I get pretty meaty carcasses by that age although the trade off is probably tenderness.

 

[CNJ]

I put all the feet and neck in a bag and freeze them. Its convenient to make chicken broth when I need them. I have the main ingredients growing in my yard to make Thai chicken flavor soup (Galanga, lemon grass, lime leaf, and lime juice). I buy the chili garlic sauce from the Asian department at my local grocery. I found that the Johnsonville premium pork Italian meat balls are perfect for this soup.

 

[CNJ]

Even though most of my birds are standard heavy breeds, I feel like they don't typically get big enough for me to take the time to butcher them until they are about 8 months old. I get pretty meaty carcasses by that age although the trade off is probably tenderness.

I crossed a Breese rooster with a Cornish X hen and developed my own line of sustainable meat birds. They average 4 to 5lbs dressed at 3 months and average 8 to 9lbs at full maturity. My main rooster weighs 13lbs, but I think it could get heavier if I increase his ration.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I crossed a Breese rooster with a Cornish X hen and developed my own line of sustainable meat birds. They average 4 to 5lbs at 3 months and average 8 to 9lbs at full maturity. My main rooster weighs 13lbs, but I think it could get heavier if I increase his ration.

I've never weighed my birds but my Easter Eggers are stupid big. Like Jersey giant size almost. I'm betting they easily weigh 15 lbs. Their rooster offspring are always big too.