Just butchered my first bird. 10 Month old rooster had white kidneys?

[Ridgerunner]

you guys can stop laughing at me

The only laughing I do is from remembering some of the things I've done. We all have to start from somewhere.

I butcher a lot of 5 to 6 month old cockerels. Maturity is what determines the size of the testes, not age. Cockerels hatched at the same time can really vary in size.

On another note, what's the best way to prepare a 10 month old rooster for the table?

First, age it to get past rigor mortis. There is no set time for this, it can vary by bird and by your conditions. You can tell it is ready by how stiff the flesh is. If it is stiff at all it is not ready. The meat should be really loose. If you have joints, those should move really easily. Usually two to three days is enough.

There are many different ways to cook it, as mentioned most need moisture and low heat. The exception is a pressure cooker where you have plenty of moisture and really high heat. I would not try roasting it, that's a dry method even if you baste it a lot. Baking in a pan with a tight fitting lid should work. I've cooked some older birds like that. For a cockerel that age maybe 3-1/2 to 4 hours at 250 degrees Fahrenheit. I don't add water, with a tight fitting lid so the moisture does not evaporate you should wind up with about a half cup of liquid in the bottom of the pan. That liquid makes good broth.

If you make a soup or stew, never bring it to a full boil. It should be a slow simmer, not more.

A crock pot works well. If I were cooing it for the table I'd probably cook it for about 8 hours on low. I'm sure that is more than long enough.

You can just use it to make broth. I don't know what shape the carcass is in, whether it is still whole or parted. I use the necks, backs, and other parts for broth. Maybe put half the raw cockerel in a large crock pot with a bay leaf, some peppercorns, whatever herbs you wish, maybe a carrot or celery stalk, fill it with water and cook it overnight on low. For me overnight usually means 14 to 20 hours. Remove the chicken and pick the meat. You can use that for tacos, chicken salad, or soups. I use it to make sandwiches for lunch. Strain and de-fat the liquid. That makes outstanding broth. Then do it with the other half of the cockerel, you can freeze the other half for broth later. Or save the bones if you cook it a different way and use the bones for one batch of broth.

Lots of different possibilities. Good luck!

 

[Sally PB]

I haven't done this, but I'm told the feet make an excellent addition to bone broth, if you still have them.

And, congratulations on getting through this.

 

[Castlemaid]

I was mentioning the laughing tongue in cheek. I know nobody was laughing at me, I’m laughing at myself but glad to hear that confusing testes with kidneys is a common mistake. Thanks for the preparation tips. As with everything on the internet, always lots of different opinions. After reading your responses, I think I’ll stew it in the crockpot, seems to be the safest method to get a good result.
Maybe with the next lucky contestant to win a vacation at crockpot camp I’ll try aging without brining and see if there is a difference.

 

[Castlemaid]

Oh, and my dog got the feet and lots of other stuff like the neck, otherwise I would have used those parts too, but I threw away the “kidneys” as I thought there might have been something wrong with them.

 

[hysop]

I haven't done this, but I'm told the feet make an excellent addition to bone broth, if you still have them.

And, congratulations on getting through this.

I’ve also heard that the feet help make it thicker like a gelatin type substance. I can’t imagine using the feet though. I give them to my dogs and they love them. I hear it’s good for their joints especially if they’re older.

 

[casportpony]

Kidneys

 

[3KillerBs]

I’ve also heard that the feet help make it thicker like a gelatin type substance. I can’t imagine using the feet though.

They're not dirty after you take their socks off.

When properly scalded you can peel back the outer layer of cuticle and kind of pinch the toenails away so that they're left perfectly clean.

 

[Castlemaid]

@casportpony, thank you and the others for the pictures! Very useful!

Update on my rooster for the pot adventure: the discussions and advice here have really paid off. I brined the bird for two days, but it was still stiff, so I just aged it a couple more days in the fridge, but not in brine. Well after four days, it still felt a bit stiff, but the joints and meat were starting to relax. It wasn't all floppy and soft like the supermarket chickens you buy, but I figured after four days, the rigor must be gone, and I can't expect a free-ranging, older, smaller stature roo to be as soft-bodied as the over-bred cage-reared commercial meat birds, so I went ahead and put in the crockpot.

OH MY GOODNESS!!! IT IS WONDERFUL! What a delicious delight! Things I've noted, new to me: the breast meat is really, really, white and melt-in-your-mouth tender. The brown meat is really, really dark brown, and noticeably chewier, but still chicken quality soft. I was expecting the taste to be very strong, both for the white and dark meat, but it is not that different from store-bought chickens. Moist and juicy, no toughness or dryness at all. I noticed a lot of little tendons and sinews I had to cut through on the legs. Of course an older, active free-ranging chicken would have stronger connective tissues than the factory-raised commercial meat birds, but never really thought about it before. Honestly, after everything I heard and read about roosters, I expected a tougher, chewier, gamier bird, but it's nothing of the sort.

Now I won't feel so bad when I process my other roos. I have three young ones, around four months, and only plan on keeping one of them. I'm actually looking forward to my next processing session.

 

[MotherofOrpies]

I made mine into “rooster” pot pie. It was delicious. Got a lot of stock from him.

I let him sit in a tray of salt water, covered, in the refrigerator for a few days. Fully submerged if possible. Then with new water I added veggies to the pot like carrots, celery, onions and some spices like rosemary and bay leaves. Boil then simmer for a few hrs. I strain the stock and put up. I gave the veggies to my dogs, I’m sure I can give em to my chickens depending on what veggies I add. I debone the chicken and found a good pot pie recipe.

Unless you wanna roast yours. I haven’t tried that.

Why do you soak them in salt water?!

 

[hysop]

Why do you soak them in salt water?!

Brining them or soaking them in salt water is mostly for when you’re going to roast a chicken (I think). It’s supposed to make it more moist and tender. I ended up boiling my chicken so I doubt brining did much since it tasted just like the one I didn’t brine.

I haven’t read this article completely but it talked about brining using sugar, spices, and salt. Thought that was pretty interesting. May just try it later this year (https://morningchores.com/cooking-tough-chickens/)