Free Range Roosters - Tough..? What am I doing wrong?

[kizanne]

I've read you can rest them after. So defrost and try waiting 2 days to eat. It is probably better in the future to rest beforehand

 

[MyTDogs]

I was talking with my grandmother yesterday about this. She said they'd go out kill the bird then cook it that day. Is it because they were used to tough stringy chicken? I have my first 2 cockerels resting in the fridge right now & I don't want to mess them up.

 

[Azriel]

If you can get them ready to cook before rigor sets in, you can cook the same day and they will be fine, but most of us cant do that. I can't get them plucked and cleaned before rigor starts setting in. I always let mine set in the fridge for 3 days before freezing, then when I cook them I'll take it out the night before, thaw it in warm water, then put it back in the fridge till I'm ready to cook it the next day. I almost always roast mine. I have an electric roaster, I'll put it in there with some water and teriyaki marinade, set the roaster on about 225, and just let it cook for several hours. I'll go out and do whatever I need to do during the day, try to check on it and baste it a few times and add water if needed, but for the most part it takes care of its self. About 45 min before I think it will be done I'll add some potatoes and carrots and you have a meal fit for a king.

 

[Fancy Feathers]

Very helpful thread!

 

[mississippifarmboy]

Letting them rest for at least 2 days is best. But we eat a lot that were butchered a few hours before dinner too. The key to that, like has been said, it slow, low heat, moist cooking.

An 8 year old rooster cooked for several hours in a slow cooker or a dutch oven with carrots, onions, sweet peas and 'taters, along with a little salt, pepper, homeade butter and a little water for broth is a meal fit for a king.





or a Mississippi Farm Boy.

 

[Ltblue]

People from the west(Americans) usually want meats that are softer, and people from the east tend to like birds like roosters and fowls(free range). Most of the people(east) grew up with birds outside of their homes running around but would rarely eat them(only for special occasions). They would harvest it and immediately eat it, which gives it that deep chicken favor most of us(Americans) tend to not like.

The customers that comes into my store are mostly Asians and Hispanics. They all like the roosters and fowls more. When I ask how they would cook it, they would say just put it into a soup/stew and let it cook, It would then get more tender.. Other birds like pullets, broilers, roasters, cockerels aren't your true "free range" birds so their meat is always going to be softer. We have a joke around here with the cockerels, calling them "wannabe roosters". They wobble when they walk compare to the real roosters who runs like a champion. So these type of birds would best be used for roasting or frying. If you ARE going to use the roosters other than soup, I would like others have said to just let it rest for a few days. But that wouldn't be very fresh, would it?

 

[County Boy]

I know if you cage them in an area and keep them off green grass and only feed and water them it flavors them better and they aren't as tough. Same goes for pigs and cows. Usually 4- 6 weeks of caging them and then you butcher them. They will be more tender as they aren't coming off green grass and they will have a better flavoring. Ars are usually aroung 4 months as well.

 

[Melabella]

Mine are free range dual purpose birds like yours. We usually end up butchering around 6 months (we plan on 4 and then it usually takes about 2 months to actually get out there and do it). We let them rest and we've tried brining and and bunch of different ways of cooking and still found them tough. Finally we discovered that the perfect way for us is to defrost and put them in the crockpot with salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil on low for 6 hours. They turn out perfectly tender with browned skin. It even works for some of our 2+ year-old birds. No going back to meat birds for us!

This interests me.. may I ask though, how they turn out with browned skin? I am constantly looking for new and better ways to use my crock pot, especially heading into the winter months, ,but hate the way most everything turns out looking the same and that uniform pale grey color!

Do you brown them first?
MB

 

[triplepurpose]

"Tough" and "tender" and "good flavor" are all relative terms. Real meat has texture to it, and it tastes like the flesh of an animal. I almost always allow any slaughtered chickens to rest in the fridge for at least 48 hours before cooking or freezing. But I have slow-roasted 7 and 8 month old cockerels in a covered roasting pan, basted and with a little water in the bottom of the pan at around 300 degrees and they were perfectly "tender" as everyone who enjoyed them agreed. This is in keeping with historical practice from the days not so long ago when Americans still ate real food. I simply followed the instructions given here (http://www.albc-usa.org/documents/cookingwheritagechicken.pdf) for cooking heritage poultry (ie real poultry, not Cornish X Rocks). Confinement raising is not the answer btw--you just reduce nutritional value, flavor, and inherently encourage inhumane and ecologically irresponsible husbandry practices. I don't know what to say except if you want to enjoy the wonders of real chicken you have learn real cooking and develop a taste for real flavor.

I have never regretted doing so myself.

 

[ggarratt]

This interests me.. may I ask though, how they turn out with browned skin? I am constantly looking for new and better ways to use my crock pot, especially heading into the winter months, ,but hate the way most everything turns out looking the same and that uniform pale grey color!

Do you brown them first?
MB

I don't add any additional liquid with the bird. So I've found that in 5-6 hours all the skin (other than what is sitting directly on the bottom of the pot) is nice and brown.