Cornish x help

[MarciaN]

Hello again! So I have a quick question. Today my son brought me 4 hens he had got from tiny to raise to show in the county fair. Believing they were leghorns I told him sure I’ll take a few.. well as soon as he got here I knew he was mistaken. There are Cornish x .. and there about 6 months. There huge probably 12 lbs or so a piece. I have no idea what to do with them.. are they to old to process and eat?

 

[Molpet]

Just have to cook them different. They make good roasters.

 

[Ridgerunner]

are they to old to process and eat?

Absolutely not. The way I like to eat six month old pullets (or six month old cockerels) is to part them into serving pieces, coat them in herbs like basil or oregano, add an onion and a couple of garlic cloves, and bake them in a pot with a tight fitting lid so the liquids cannot evaporate, and bake them at 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Those are really big pullets so I'd guess three hours would be about right. You may even need to cook half at a time unless you have a big pot. I cook dual purpose that way for about 2-1/2 hours, not sure how the size of the meat would paly into the timing. When you take it out use a slotted spoon and be careful. The meat can easily fall off of the bone. The liquid in the bottom of the pot is some of the best broth you've ever had. I use the rest of the bird to make chicken broth.

There are lots of other ways to cook them, most of them slow and moist. If you roast them I'd brine them as you were aging them to get past rigor mortis, the salt helps keep them moist. A pressure cooker works well and is the exception to slow cooking, there are always exceptions. A crock pot works well. Older hens often work better for chicken and dumplings or chicken soup but those would be pretty good that way too. I haven't tried smoking them but I'd think they would be really good that way. Maybe google beer can chicken.

Good luck. Let us know what you try and how it works.

 

[MarciaN]

Thanks guys, we did decide to have my father-in-law butcher them for us. They were each about 13/15 lbs a piece. We plan to roast them slowly in the oven when we do eat them.