eating chickens

[chickenmommie]

Hello all we had chickens for almost a year now, I was wondering if you can eat any chicken? And how old do they have to be? For Example I have a long Island Red Rooster he is about a year old can you eat him and if so how would the meat taste? I read alot of people say that the birds have to be a cornish mix what is that??? I know I dont know alot Thank you all for helping!!!

 

[Beekissed]

You can eat any chicken at any age...the only difference will be the texture and taste of the meat. Your year old roo will be chewy but very tasteful. They taste even better than the CX...any day!

Some folks will advise you to stew him, some will say cook him in a pressure canner, some crock pot. I say, filet and fry the breast and stew the rest~just like with a wild turkey.

 

[chickenmommie]

Thank you so much for the advice....

 

[Beekissed]

BTW~welcome to the forum!

 

[Ibicella]

Quote:
Welcome to the forum!

Yes, you can eat any chicken, but you need to know how to prepare them. For an older bird like what you have, you will need to "rest" the meat after butchering about 3-4 days in the fridge.

Then cook it a low heat (not above 180 degrees F.) for a long time.

I just cooked up a three year old black Austrolorpe hen yesterday in the crock pot on low heat for ten hours and she was positively delicious. The meat fell off the bone, was delightfully chewy, and had a very intense flavor and the broth was rich and silky.

Very well worth it. I have an RIR rooster in the fridge ready to cook soon too.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I agree you can eat any chicken. How it tastes, well, that is up to the individual and how it is cooked. I like the flavor of an older chicken but many people don't, especially if they have grown up thinking the chicken from the store is the way it should taste. I don't mind a bit if texture but I don't like it rubbery.

The older a chicken gets, the stronger the taste. The older it gets, the tougher it can be, but toughness depends a lot on how it is cooked. If you cook an older chicken long, slow, and moist, it can be very tender. If you cook it hot and dry, it can be very tough. For your first try, you might want to look up a recipe for Coq au Vin. That's French for cock and wine. It is a traditional recipe for cooking an older rooster. I think it is a great first recipe for an older bird. It usually turns out pretty good so you learn how good it can be. After you have one under your belt, you can branch out with your cooking, trying different things, but you know there are ways it can be done and it come out really good. I'd hate for your first effort to turn out bad and you think it can't be any good. You miss out on a lot that way.