California - Northern

[ronott1]

Quote:
You do not have to dip them if you skin them.

It should be very fast that way. Make sure you leave them in the fridge three days before freezing them.

You will like the way they taste. Are you going to raise some Cornish Crosses next year?

Ron

 

[zooweemama]

Make friends with Kim(Capayvalleychick)

Check out local harvest on the web. There may be someone up there on their list. You might check out one of the custom butcher shops up there. There used to be one on Antelope BLVD. in Red Buff.

The History of Lard and Shortening is really bad. Something healthy was replace with something un healthy and most of us were fooled. Many died from heart disease because of it too. Crisco is actually bad for you.

Who would have thought that...

I like using coconut oil for biscuits too- it handles like lard if you keep it cool. I use it if I run out of lard. And margarine aka oleo back in the day. That stuff makes me gag too. I buy stick butter and thats what we use for toast. I use the butter dish and it sets out all the time on the counter. Soft and ready to use. So many of the 'old ways' have been discarded and it blows me away that so many of those 'ways' are so much more healthful than some of the things we have replaced them with. I AM excited to try my chicken though. It smells like CHICKEN in my house right now. A richer than normal chicken smell. I like it.

Oh and one thing that did not bother me...the smell of the chicken while I worked on it. No part of that actually ended bothering me. Maybe a creamy chicken soup for dinner tomorrow with some lardy biscuits!

 

[zooweemama]

You do not have to dip them if you skin them.

It should be very fast that way. Make sure you leave them in the fridge three days before freezing them.

You will like the way they taste. Are you going to raise some Cornish Crosses next year?

Ron

Thanks! I was bummed I left him in too long- when I was removing the feathers chunks of skin was coming off. Even if I got all the pinfeathers removed - the skin was already a mess and precooked. :| I want to try to do one completely correct with skin intact just to practice.

 

[ronott1]

Quote: I stopped using Margarine a long time ago. It all seemed to have an off taste to it that I did not notice before. I think the oil was going rancid in it too fast. That is a problem with most of the oils used in commercial baking. They use chemicals to hide it.

I am with you. The last time I processed chickens, I was going to cook Spare ribs. When I opened the cryovac bag, the meat had gone bad. That smell was much worse than any of the chicken smell that day.

Make some fluffy lard dumplings to go on top of the soup.

Ron

 

[zooweemama]

I stopped using Margarine a long time ago. It all seemed to have an off taste to it that I did not notice before. I think the oil was going rancid in it too fast. That is a problem with most of the oils used in commercial baking. They use chemicals to hide it.

I am with you. The last time I processed chickens, I was going to cook Spare ribs. When I opened the cryovac bag, the meat had gone bad. That smell was much worse than any of the chicken smell that day.

Make some fluffy lard dumplings to go on top of the soup.

Ron

Frankly the smell of a chicken coming out of a plastic wrapped store package (now that smells foul) smells bad but this just smelled...I don't know...like chicken?

 

[egg-lady]

i bought some chickens for the freezer for when hubby is home this winter. I actually cant wait to process them, I think... a lady that buys eggs from me she grew up on a chicken farm back east and wants to help(show) us hwo to do it. we will be eating lots of chicken this winter. kids will be tired of it by the time spring rolls around. LOL..

 

[zooweemama]

Ok the white meat is a tad stringy and chewy but the dark meat is divine! I had to sneak some bites off the carcass that's been simmering. My girls are REALLY bothered by the smell of it cooking though. It does smell very, very strongly of cooked chicken. It smells just like chicken - the usual smell but it's a lot more intense smelling. The flavor is the exact same way- same taste but more flavor. richer. He was a big daggone chicken. Not fat but large - long long legs and wings. It was hard to lid the pot with him in there. And rigor didn't help the legs. I about had to snap the suckers to get them in the pot right. lol The only parts I saved were the gizzard and the heart. Because of the mold issues I was a little afraid to keep some of the organs. Would they be ok to eat or should I keep tossing the organs? The necropsy of the one chicken showed the lungs, airways and liver to have mold in it (the aspergillus).

 

[zooweemama]

i bought some chickens for the freezer for when hubby is home this winter. I actually cant wait to process them, I think... a lady that buys eggs from me she grew up on a chicken farm back east and wants to help(show) us hwo to do it. we will be eating lots of chicken this winter. kids will be tired of it by the time spring rolls around. LOL..

did you get meat chickens? or what kind of chicken?

 

[ronott1]

Ok the white meat is a tad stringy and chewy but the dark meat is divine! I had to sneak some bites off the carcass that's been simmering. My girls are REALLY bothered by the smell of it cooking though. It does smell very, very strongly of cooked chicken. It smells just like chicken - the usual smell but it's a lot more intense smelling. The flavor is the exact same way- same taste but more flavor. richer. He was a big daggone chicken. Not fat but large - long long legs and wings. It was hard to lid the pot with him in there. And rigor didn't help the legs. I about had to snap the suckers to get them in the pot right. lol The only parts I saved were the gizzard and the heart. Because of the mold issues I was a little afraid to keep some of the organs. Would they be ok to eat or should I keep tossing the organs? The necropsy of the one chicken showed the lungs, airways and liver to have mold in it (the aspergillus).

The meat would have been less stringy if it had rested for 2 or 3 days. Less rigor getting it into the pot too.

The thing I read said we can't get Aspergillus from the meat, but we could get it by breathing spores, if present, from the air sack. The one you processed probably did not have an active case.

Good Morning All!

 

[MrsMoonCat]

While I am slightly offended by being chastised for my statement - I agree with your sentiment. My husband was not on board with chickens. He said no. Rather than steamrolling him- I asked what his concerns were. The why mattered to me. We talked about them. I did more research and shared with him. Then one day he said- alright let's go ahead and try. By nature he was not a country boy. And we had lived our whole marriage in the city up to the point. 14 years of marriage. Mutual respect and communication eventually resulted into ducks, chickens and geese. We are growing into a new way of life together. Together. And the joy we both feel and the sorrows we both feel as we move along in this journey are shared, rather than on me because he was not on board. 

I really love my husband and he is a fine example of what a man should be. I cannot imagine not encouraging my daughters to marry one day if they choose when they have such a wonderful example of a dad and husband to measure up to. They also have family that have not married or married and chosen not to have kids. Their life is in their own hands. 

But I thank everyone for their opinions.

Just catching back up here.

Amy Beth, I wasn't trying to chastise you. I was just agreeing with the other comment about not needing a man or woman to tell a person what they can or cannot do in life. I have some friends, both male and female, who have spouses who control their every move. One can't go have a cup of coffee, even at her own mother's house, unless she has permission first. One of the guys can't go play golf with my hubby unless the wife gives him the money AND approves of which guys are going and the course they are playing. Another chicken-crazy friend has a husband who dictates what color birds she is allowed to buy.

I am also blessed with a loving man who spoils me and I try to do the same for him. We have a mutual respect for each other as partners and do discuss any major decisions or purchases. We have many shared interests and common goals. But we do have our own interests and allow each other the freedom to pursue those without "supervision". We agreed early in our marriage that any purchase over $100 needed discussion. We both bring in money so we can both spend it (after bills are paid). It has worked very well for us. He is also very supportive and patient when it comes to my beloved birds. I enlist his help regularly on some of the heavy lifting and things I am not physically capable of doing. (I have bribed him with some of his own birds now too, so he is sharing an interest in it.) I still won't share in his golf though

I think the reason I even chimed in at all was because of my friend who has been groomed all her life to "marry a rich man who will provide for you". I love her to pieces, but since my friend is a very smart and successful woman who can and does provide quite well for herself and family, why does her mom place the emphasis on the rich part? She followed that course and married for money as she was told and was absolutely miserable. It is a shame that is still in her mindset as she is now with a fantastic, loving man who would give her and her boys the universe. The catch is that she makes way more $$ than he does and because of her ingrained need to be provided for, I think she will eventually push him away, even if subconsciously. I was raised just the opposite - "you are a strong, capable person who can make your own way in life and go as far as you want to go with whatever you choose to do". It was never about "woman power" or anything other than using the brains and capabilities God blessed me with.

So I think just your innocent comment about the need to marry a certain type of person was what I was joining the discussion about. Please don't be offended as no offence was meant.