Hens go broody when you don’t want them to… and won’t go broody when you do. 
What is the best age to kill and eat the cockerels and why is the meat so tough?
Eating cockerels
- Thread starter Richy Rich
- Start date
As an animal ages, the meat changes texture and has more flavor. Veal comes from a young calf, probably still mostly drinking mother’s milk. A baby beef is older and has more flavor as well as texture. An old mature bull is strong and tough.
Chickens do the same thing. The older they get the more flavor and texture the meat has. This is more evident in males than females. But that does not mean the meat from an old bird has to be tough. It all depends on how you cook it. Coq au Vin is a traditional French method of cooking an old rooster. That meat is quite tender and delicious. The secret to cooking an older bird is to cook it slowly and with moisture. The older the bid the slower you cook it and always with moisture. So why was the meat tough on yours? Mainly the way you cooked it.
When do you butcher a cockerel? Different people use different ages. If you get them pretty young you can still cook them like the ones you buy at the grocers but there is not much meat there. If you wait until they are older they have a lot more meat but you have to alter your cooking methods to keep it tender. The commercial chickens you get at the store are butchered at 6 to 8 weeks. They are still very tender and don’t have much texture or flavor.
I normally butcher cockerels about 18 to 22 weeks old, though sometimes I go a month or more than that. When I cook them, I coat them in basil, oregano, and sometimes a little parsley, then put them in a baking dish with a couple of tablespoons of water. The baking dish is sealed so none of the moisture escapes. I normally bake them at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for about 3 hours, but the older ones may be cooked for 3-1/2 hours. I’ve cooked very old hens and roosters using this method but setting the over on 240 and cooking them for an extra hour or so.
Chickens do the same thing. The older they get the more flavor and texture the meat has. This is more evident in males than females. But that does not mean the meat from an old bird has to be tough. It all depends on how you cook it. Coq au Vin is a traditional French method of cooking an old rooster. That meat is quite tender and delicious. The secret to cooking an older bird is to cook it slowly and with moisture. The older the bid the slower you cook it and always with moisture. So why was the meat tough on yours? Mainly the way you cooked it.
When do you butcher a cockerel? Different people use different ages. If you get them pretty young you can still cook them like the ones you buy at the grocers but there is not much meat there. If you wait until they are older they have a lot more meat but you have to alter your cooking methods to keep it tender. The commercial chickens you get at the store are butchered at 6 to 8 weeks. They are still very tender and don’t have much texture or flavor.
I normally butcher cockerels about 18 to 22 weeks old, though sometimes I go a month or more than that. When I cook them, I coat them in basil, oregano, and sometimes a little parsley, then put them in a baking dish with a couple of tablespoons of water. The baking dish is sealed so none of the moisture escapes. I normally bake them at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for about 3 hours, but the older ones may be cooked for 3-1/2 hours. I’ve cooked very old hens and roosters using this method but setting the over on 240 and cooking them for an extra hour or so.
- Thread starter
- #3
Yes the two cockerels I have butchered and eaten were between 20 and 26 weeks. The first one I didn't leave hanging for a couple of days. I just killed it and ate it straight away.
By roasting it. And it was really tough.
The other I did hang it for 2 days and cooked it in a sort of stew and it was still tough.
By roasting it. And it was really tough.
The other I did hang it for 2 days and cooked it in a sort of stew and it was still tough.
Ridgerunner, I have a sneaky cockeral running around whose destiny is your recipe. That sounds wonderful.
On tender v.s. tough, if you are used to supermarket chicken, homegrown birds may seem tough. To me, homegrown birds under 6 months are not tough, they are firm. Like the difference between filet mignon and a good T-bone. I rest my birds until the leg moves without moving the whole bird - it usually takes between 3 and 5 days to loosen up.
On tender v.s. tough, if you are used to supermarket chicken, homegrown birds may seem tough. To me, homegrown birds under 6 months are not tough, they are firm. Like the difference between filet mignon and a good T-bone. I rest my birds until the leg moves without moving the whole bird - it usually takes between 3 and 5 days to loosen up.
It's hormones that cause the meat to taste stronger and be tougher, that is why many people who "grow out" roosters and tom turkey's caponize the birds and why bull calves are cut to make steers, it reduces hormones allowing more meat to be made on the animal and it be more tender and not quite as strong flavor.
- Apr 19, 2014
- 11
- 0
- 44
Quote:
Can you explain "rest". Are you saying you keep in the refrigerator for 3-5 days before freezing or eating?
Can you explain "rest". Are you saying you keep in the refrigerator for 3-5 days before freezing or eating?
Yes, I keep the chicken in the refrigerator for up to a week.
- Apr 19, 2014
- 11
- 0
- 44
We are trying our hand at meat birds this year for the first time. Trying to figure out the logistics of this. I knew going into it that we would probably need a new freezer to handle 25 meat birds, but how do people deal with the refrigerator space needed, extra refrigerator too? Or do you stagger butchering? Or?? I was hoping to have one very long day to process them all and get it over with, but maybe it makes sense to stagger them over 2-3 weeks. What do people generally do with meat birds.
Finding a place to rest my meats has been a big obstacle for me as well.
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