How to cook my first processed birds

[wholehearted]

We processed three of our Freedom Rangers on Saturday. It went much better than we anticipated and we feel ready to do the rest (23) in a few weeks. So now I need to cook them...I have never cooked pastured meat before, and I want it to be the best it can be. Each bird is about four pounds. I was thinking of doing one on the grill rotisserie, but I want to do the other two differently. We are going to have kind of a feast of celebration with some family members. One of the three is skinned since our scalding thermometer went haywire on us. I thought of cutting that one into pieces and doing some kind of slow-simmered saucy chicken. Maybe roast the other one in the oven? Anyone have any tips and/or favorite recipes from the recipe section to point out? Since I know next to nothing about pastured poultry cooking, even the simplest tips would be much appreciated!

 

[Judy]

There's a lot of personal preference involved -- some prefer the heartier flavor and "toothier" texture while others prefer it be as close to store bought as it can. I like your idea of pieces in sauce as it will give a good sampling of the meat while making it easier to eat. We prefer cooking on the grill, and usually are cooking 18 week or so DP birds, so yours should be more like store bought than ours.

Here is a great article on cooking old fashioned chicken. (I am guessing FR's are somewhere between Cornixh X and actual DP's.)

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=285788