Ground meat/sausage from old birds?

[triplepurpose]

Anyone done this with the old layers or cocks (stewing birds), as opposed to slow cooking methods? What do you think of it? weird texture? too dry? impractical? I love coq au vin as much as the next guy, but i thought it would be nice to mix it up and make some different convenient options. but i've never heard of anyone else doing this...

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Anyone done this with the old layers or cocks (stewing birds), as opposed to slow cooking methods? What do you think of it? weird texture? too dry? impractical? I love coq au vin as much as the next guy, but i thought it would be nice to mix it up and make some different convenient options. but i've never heard of anyone else doing this...

We use ground chicken for all kinds of things... homemade potstickers, standard tacos, meatballs.. whatever... wherever you could use ground pork, turkey, or beef.. season it up, it can be dry add in the fat that you want (butter, bacon, oil). Feast.

I think it takes a minute to get it exactly right, grind size and texture... but well worth the time to have yet several more options on how to serve it up! Even chicken burgers, sliders, sloppy joes! Frozen in smaller (flat) packages than a whole bird they defrost so much faster for something quick one night. And easier to store as well.

I haven't done sausage yet, cuz I'm not a huge fan. But I have eaten pre-made chicken and apple sausages... and I think that's a great use if you have the time, ability, and desire!

 

[triplepurpose]

We use ground chicken for all kinds of things... homemade potstickers, standard tacos, meatballs.. whatever... wherever you could use ground pork, turkey, or beef.. season it up, it can be dry add in the fat that you want (butter, bacon, oil). Feast.

I think it takes a minute to get it exactly right, grind size and texture... but well worth the time to have yet several more options on how to serve it up! Even chicken burgers, sliders, sloppy joes! Frozen in smaller (flat) packages than a whole bird they defrost so much faster for something quick one night. And easier to store as well.

I haven't done sausage yet, cuz I'm not a huge fan. But I have eaten pre-made chicken and apple sausages... and I think that's a great use if you have the time, ability, and desire!

Hey thanks!

Do you use ground meat from old birds or young ones, or both?

 

[Kiki]

Thanks for starting this thread now I want to invest in a meat grinder.

 

[triplepurpose]

Thanks for starting this thread now I want to invest in a meat grinder.

we were given an attachment that hooks onto a kitchen mixer, which i think is a clever way to go if you already have one of those

 

[DallasLoneStar]

I haven’t ground any chickens yet (new and never needed to cull a bird yet) BUT I have run a dozen deer over the past 5 years through a Waring meat grinder I got from BBBY. I think it was $70. Just an FYI since lots of meat grinders can be very expensive but no need as long as it’s 100% metal it will work well. Pro tip: keep the meat VERY cold or the fat will render making the meat slimy and not the correct texture. Also a food saver vacuum machine is a great investment. Get the precut bags to save time.

 

[triplepurpose]

. Pro tip: keep the meat VERY cold or the fat will render making the meat slimy and not the correct texture.

good pro tip! since rendered chicken fat is mostly liquid at room temp seems that makes it all the more relevant...

 

[Kris5902]

Hey thanks!

Do you use ground meat from old birds or young ones, or both?

Yes! The richer flavor of older birds goes very well in sausage, and because you grind it and add fat the texture isn’t an issue. Also if making chicken sausage, and say your family likes skinless breasts, or you do a batch of meat birds and they get a little on the fatty side? (Oops) Save all of that, freeze it as you go then you can add it into your chicken sausage and it won’t be too dry. The key is adding as much fat as you can for chicken sausage. you want about 15-20% maximum fat in a sausage, you can go lower like 10%, but it won’t be as juicy.

It sounds crazy but chicken kale sausage... it’s bright green and delicious, and I hate kale! 2parts chicken to 1 part kale by weight, get the freshest kale you can, it is super easy to grow in most places. Chunk up your chicken and kale so it will go in your grinder (tear the ribs out of the kale just use the leafy parts) mix it up throughly with your spices, (salt, pepper, allspice, coriander,) then put it through the grinder, kale, spices, and all. When it comes out you want to knead it some until it’s kind of sticky (you don’t need to add water to this recipe because of the kale) load your stuffer and go. I prefer this one in sheep casings for thickness. You can also use this technique with cheddar and apple in pork sausage. All the flavor with no molten burn your mouth cheese pockets, thank you very much!

Thanks for starting this thread now I want to invest in a meat grinder.

They are so worth it... as are small sausage stuffers! I don’t like the attachments that fit on the grinder for burgers and sausage though. At all. Remember, you can also make all sorts of other grinds, venison, goat, rabbit, most everything makes good sausage.

Get a decent grinder if you can, it will make you happy, and you can buy cheaper cuts from warehouse stores like bone in pork butts or whole legs and chunk it up and grind for chili, burgers, breakfast patties. Ground beef is usually cheaper at the grocery store though. (Old dairy cattle and beef breeders go here to retire)

we were given an attachment that hooks onto a kitchen mixer, which i think is a clever way to go if you already have one of those

This is actually not a bad attachment, if you’re only doing a small amount. They don’t always handle slightly tougher meats or kale like additions well.

And our Toledo grinder is fixed and running beautifully again, if anyone remembers my griping about the Lem we have as a back up in our Abbatoir from another thread (and generally geeking out about grinders)

 

[Kris5902]

I haven’t ground any chickens yet (new and never needed to cull a bird yet) BUT I have run a dozen deer over the past 5 years through a Waring meat grinder I got from BBBY. I think it was $70. Just an FYI since lots of meat grinders can be very expensive but no need as long as it’s 100% metal it will work well. Pro tip: keep the meat VERY cold or the fat will render making the meat slimy and not the correct texture. Also a food saver vacuum machine is a great investment. Get the precut bags to save time.

X2 Especially important with pork as well! and this is also where a better quality grinder is helpful, more power usually means they don’t heat up as much/quickly. Sometimes with very large amounts it’s good to give your grinder little breaks to cool off, and always keep the meat as cold as possible.

When making sausage you can instead of adding ice cold water to the ground mix grind ice directly in with the meat for great results! With venison and goat it is also helpful to have pork fat or beef fat to add to the mix, as the much leaner meats can tend to make dry sausages. Try apple cider and venison with fresh apple ground directly in with the meat!

 

[archeryrob]

I have dome plenty of sausage and as stated and I was to reemphasize, You need a better grinder for sausage than just making ground meat. Ground meat is done cold and sausage is ground frozen or par frozen. This Par-frozen meat is very hard on lower end grinders. I have a 400 watt Cabelas grinder but really need a Carnivore one or LEM big bite with a larger motor. This is done because the fat in the sausage will mush out if not done frozen.

Here is a recipe I did with Turkey to make sausage. It's really good. The texture is different than pork sausage and it sticks together or clumps a bit making the texture different. Beef sausage kind of does it too, which is why pork makes the best sausage.

You basically get 20% pork fat from a butcher. Cut it and chicken up into cubes and par-freeze for 45 minutes on trays, or longer depending on how thick the meat is and on the trays. Spices can be mixed on the rough cubes to be mixed in through both grinds. Then out and through the grinder on course. Then back on trays and par-frozen again. Then back out and through the grinder on medium or fine depending how you want it and I do fine.

This frozen meat is hard on the lower powered grinders so take your time and don't over tax a weaker machine or you'll smoke the motor and be looking for a new machine and not finish your sausage.