GRAPHIC PICS of my day learning to caponize

[BCMaraniac]

I'm sorry if its already been asked, but why would you need to caponize a bird?

Claudia

Caponizing removes all of the male sex hormones from a rooster so his flesh does not get stringy and tough. Most young roosters have to be butchered while young to preserve flesh quality, and they are at an age where they have had bone growth, but not a lot of flesh(think teenage boy who has had his growth spurt but hasn't filled out). Caponizing allows him the extra time he needs to grow and add flesh and have it remain tender and succulent. This was frequently done at the turn of the 20th century before the availability of the fast growing hybrids that we buy at the grocery or buy as chicks from the hatchery and grow ourselves.

Caponizing is going through a renaissance as more people want to become self sustaining and not have to buy hatchery chicks, but can raise their meat from egg to freezer.

 

[Cpolanco3]

Caponizing removes all of the male sex hormones from a rooster so his flesh does not get stringy and tough. Most young roosters have to be butchered while young to preserve flesh quality, and they are at an age where they have had bone growth, but not a lot of flesh(think teenage boy who has had his growth spurt but hasn't filled out). Caponizing allows him the extra time he needs to grow and add flesh and have it remain tender and succulent. This was frequently done at the turn of the 20th century before the availability of the fast growing hybrids that we buy at the grocery or buy as chicks from the hatchery and grow ourselves.

Caponizing is going through a renaissance as more people want to become self sustaining and not have to buy hatchery chicks, but can raise their meat from egg to freezer.

Ooooohhhh!!!! I understand now. See, this is my first time with chickens, but my husband was raised with them in his country. I had mentioned that we could send any roos we got to the freezer but he said no, that rooster meat was awful, and tough and stringy. I didn't believe him

, but now it all makes sense.

Claudia

 

[BCMaraniac]

Ooooohhhh!!!! I understand now. See, this is my first time with chickens, but my husband was raised with them in his country. I had mentioned that we could send any roos we got to the freezer but he said no, that rooster meat was awful, and tough and stringy. I didn't believe him

, but now it all makes sense.

Claudia

The older the rooster is, the more tough the meat gets. However, there are things you can do like resting meat, brining, etc to tenderize. You also have to cook slow. Pressure canning it tenderizes the meat to have shelf stable chicken to open for a quick meal. Where is your husband from?

 

[ChickenManTN]

Ooooohhhh!!!! I understand now. See, this is my first time with chickens, but my husband was raised with them in his country. I had mentioned that we could send any roos we got to the freezer but he said no, that rooster meat was awful, and tough and stringy. I didn't believe him

, but now it all makes sense.

Claudia

Even if you don't caponize, roosters are good for eating when they are killed before they start crowing and developing spurs. I processed a 17 week old rooster just yesterday and slow cooked it for a pot of soup. It was absolutely wonderful! I just learned what real chicken is supposed to taste like! The meat definitely had texture, but it was not at all tough, it was a good thing. I have killed roosters that were over a year old before and they were pretty much like your husband described. I am looking forward to raising some capons next year. Might as well get more meat on the birds, especially if they are going to turn out to be so good!

 

[Cpolanco3]

My husbands from the Dominican Republic.

I wonder how interested he'd be in learning to caponize. hmmm, he seems pretty game to try anything, guess i'll have to ask him when he comes home.

claudia

 

[AletaG]

Hi Jeff! Posting the pics Jim emailed me from the lesson yesterday. Hopefully they come out in order:
Jeff marking the obligatory mixed up pullet with a sharpie between the bottom and 2nd rib...
If you you look close, you can just see the 1st and 2nd ribs to each side of the pen mark, and the area where feathers were plucked away for visibility.
Jeff kindly holding the bird still while I try to find the ribs

Begin cut

Spreaders locked in the opening. You can see the shiny interstitial tissue

Going in after the first teste.

We lost one out of 5 attempted, the teste did not want to detach from the artery. For the next four, I pulled the teste up just high enough to use the scalpel to remove the tissue. That seemed to have helped. We were working with Icelandic cockerels, and they are only about 8 or 10oz I think here. But, they are old enough that in a couple cases the teste was def. bigger than a grain of rice... But for a practice run, you work with what ya got. I was pretty lightheaded and tense after the 3rd, but went ahead and did the 4th. Thought Jim (gentleman taking pics) might want to try it, but this was his first exposure to the procedure and decided against it.
I think I can do it! I don't think I can do it without a helper to hold the bird yet, but maybe eventually.

Will let people know if we see trouble with wind puff, etc. ! Busy day.

 

[Kassaundra]

Awesome Aleta!!! the pic that showed both ribs w/ the mark in between was great, it is a hard pic to show, much easier to see in real life then in the pictures, but it was very effective marking w/ the sharpie

 

[AletaG]

Thanks K, but it was Jeff's idea... Ok, back to the kiddos

 

[BCMaraniac]

Great Pics Aleta! It does get easier with experience. That shaky, stomach-tied-in-knots feeling does go away as you get some successes under your belt.

 

[Kassaundra]

Could you post the name and size of that spreader? It looks like a very good one for the job.