Killed it, cleaned it.... Now what?

[booker81]

I've eaten quite a few older roos - that age and well older. For him, I'd just bag him up and stick in the fridge for 3-4 days. Safety wise, you could easily keep him a week in there.

You'll not really want to roast him dry if you are used to "store" meat - it will be more dense and may dry out.

My favorite way to "roast" for adult birds is to season him up with some coarse pepper and maybe some garlic salt, plop him into a large dutch oven with some potatoes, onions, carrots, and maybe some broth (not much) cover. Bake him for 2 hours or so (longer if needed) at 300. Check the same way for doneness - meat thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh.

You'll end up with this:

(I think this one was about 17 weeks, so a little smaller).

It's very tasty - will have a bit more flavor than store, and the dark meat will have a LOT of flavor. Cooked right and rested well, you can still cut it with a fork, if it doesn't just fall into pieces. It's yummy

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
lol.. you really dont want to know how old grocery store chickens are when you finally get there to buy it... trust me.. 72 hours is nothing!

 

[EMAW]

I have let deer go up to 7 days before freezing. If you Google "brine" you will find lot of different recipes, find one you like and try it. I like to brine our Thanksgiving turkey for around 12 hours, I use salt/sugar/apple cider/spices.

Here is a link to the basics. http://www.cooksillustrated.com/images/document/howto/ND01_ISBriningbasics.pd

 

[slikchik]

Cook's Illustrated really is the BEST authority on cooking out there but I noticed that the link doesn't seem to be working. I've got their book on cooking everything chicken and here's the gist of brining: from p.12 of "The Best Chicken Recipes"

"Why are some chickens dry as sawdust while others boast meat that's firm, juicy and well seasoned? the answer is brining. Soaking a chicken in a brine - a solution of salt (and often sugar) and a liquid (usually water) - provides it with a plump cushion of seasoned moisture that will sustain it throughout cooking. A brined bird will retain more of it's weight during cooking than a bird that isn't brined. This retention translates into moist meat; the salt and sugar in the brine into seasoned flavorful meat."

A few more pointers from that page:

Meat that is brined retains 93% of it's original weight (as opposed to 82% of an untreated bird), salt relaxes the muscle structure resulting in more tender meat.

Rinse the brined meat before cooking to remove excess salt from the outside.


The only thing they don't give is a general brining solution recipe, they refer to the individual recipes throughout the book for that.

I brine much of my chicken and all my Thanksgiving birds and have had great sucess with it. I do it in conjunction with thawing them though, after they have aged and been in the freezer.

Hope that helps.

 

[RWD]

booker81 - You done went and got me all hungry for a baked chicken. But I am going to add some celery, bell pepper, and carrots in addition to potatoes and onions.
Thanks for getting my mind off of other things...................

 

[LiLRedCV]

I'm not sure of the answer myself, but once upon a time, stores sold "frying chickens" and "stewing chickens". I was always under the impression that the frying chickens were the younger ones (which would be tender) not quite laying yet and that the stewing ones were the older ones (tough old birds) done with laying. Now all you really see in the stores are the "young" chickens (according to the packaging)... guess the old laying hens these days end up in dog food...?

I remember my grandma and aunt bought up a bunch of old laying hens and butchered them (I helped) when I was a teenager and they referred to them as "stewing chickens" and we ended up with a lot of chicken and dumplings and chicken noodle soup with those.

I haven't butchered any chickens since that one time... but would like to learn the process (or preferable, find someone willing to do it for me in exchange for a 1/3 of the bounty!) But I plan on mostly only having the older gals butchered. I'm sure the older birds would still make an excellent "bone broth" - which would be high in nutrients and can be frozen for later use.

 

[booker81]

Most anything over a year old I make into "stewing" chicken....OMG. It's beautiful. I make broth and chicken and dumplings when I cook one up - or rather stew it up. The meat I pick off and use shredded in whatever I'd want shredded chicken in - tacos, enchiladas, or into the pot for chicken soup.

The older the bird, the better the broth

 

[remuda1]

Wow! Thanks for all of the great information! And that bird in the pot looks very good

. I had to laugh when I read about how long the store bought birds hang around. It's funny but I never thought of it that way. It sounds like between 72 hours in the fridge and brining before cooking, I may just get a decent dinner out of him! Thanks again