My experience killing and cooking young heritage breed cockerels

[Poultrybonkers]

I finally bought a plucker this year and it’s the best purchase ever lol I already did so many this year and still got 5 more to pick the best out of then process the rest. I like processing when young anything over a year tastes terrible and rubbery. I also processed quail

 

[Tex452]

Quail are smaller than that and people raise them for meat.

I finally bought a plucker this year and it’s the best purchase ever lol I already did so many this year and still got 5 more to pick the best out of then process the rest. I like processing when young anything over a year tastes terrible and rubbery. I also processed quail View attachment 4152999View attachment 4153000

That’s a nice looking bird, I can’t wait for mine to get big enough to process.
What kind of plucker did you buy?
I’m thinking about getting one.

 

[Poultrybonkers]

That’s a nice looking bird, I can’t wait for mine to get big enough to process.
What kind of plucker did you buy?
I’m thinking about getting one.

I was gonna get the yardbird but somehow thought this was it and thought it was on sale lol

 

[angc11]

Ok more rooster cooking updates. With the last 6 roosters that I butchered at 14 weeks I decided to cut them up into all the different cuts and package separately. So I had 2 lbs of rooster legs that I wasn't sure what to do with because they get pretty chewy when they're just roasted. I was going to try a coq a vin recipe but then I came across a thai curry recipe that uses chicken legs and simmers them in thai curry broth so I decided to use the rooster legs to make it and it turned out really well! Here's the recipe I followed: https://iheartumami.com/khao-soi-chiang-mai-noodles/

The only thing I did different was I had to simmer the legs for about an hour instead of 30 min. After an hour the meat was pretty much falling off the bone (as much as a tough heritage breed free range rooster leg can fall off the bone) so I was able to shred it. The lighter meat was nice and tender but the darker meat was still a bit chewy. However, once I threw it all back in the soup the texture was great in the broth. So if you like thai curry and you have a bunch of rooster legs (thighs would work too), this is a good one to try!

I don't have pictures of the finished product because I was too excited to eat it, but I included some pictures of the legs mixed with thai curry paste and then the legs after they had been simmering for an hour.

 

[Tex452]

Ok more rooster cooking updates. With the last 6 roosters that I butchered at 14 weeks I decided to cut them up into all the different cuts and package separately. So I had 2 lbs of rooster legs that I wasn't sure what to do with because they get pretty chewy when they're just roasted. I was going to try a coq a vin recipe but then I came across a thai curry recipe that uses chicken legs and simmers them in thai curry broth so I decided to use the rooster legs to make it and it turned out really well! Here's the recipe I followed: https://iheartumami.com/khao-soi-chiang-mai-noodles/

The only thing I did different was I had to simmer the legs for about an hour instead of 30 min. After an hour the meat was pretty much falling off the bone (as much as a tough heritage breed free range rooster leg can fall off the bone) so I was able to shred it. The lighter meat was nice and tender but the darker meat was still a bit chewy. However, once I threw it all back in the soup the texture was great in the broth. So if you like thai curry and you have a bunch of rooster legs (thighs would work too), this is a good one to try!

I don't have pictures of the finished product because I was too excited to eat it, but I included some pictures of the legs mixed with thai curry paste and then the legs after they had been simmering for an hour.

I might have to try that

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

I decided to do the same thing, I’m tired of the store bought chickens, I’m wanting firmer. And better tasting meat, I incubate any eggs I can get from my, cousin and friends, I don’t care if they are dual purpose or egg layers, I will butcher the cockerels and give the pullets to those that keep me supplied in hatching eggs, I butchered leghorn cockerels before and they were delicious.

Good trade!

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

I finally bought a plucker this year and it’s the best purchase ever lol I already did so many this year and still got 5 more to pick the best out of then process the rest. I like processing when young anything over a year tastes terrible and rubbery. I also processed quail View attachment 4152999View attachment 4153000

Wonderful looking!! How many quail can go in the plucker at a time?

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

I processed eight 16-20 week old cockerels last week. 3 from my excess Marans at 16 weeks were hefty at 7-7.5 lbs live wt. The other boys gifted to me were 18-20 weeks and pretty scrawny around 4-5 lbs but the breed was EE and olive egger so I skinned them to part out.
we’ll see how they do— I am most pleased with the Marans size. If one wasn’t such a @$&! to the others I would let them go to 18 weeks.

 

[Poultrybonkers]

Wonderful looking!! How many quail can go in the plucker at a time?

Prolly a good bit at a time but it tends to rip the skin off

 

[angc11]

Ok last night I tried smoking the last of my whole cockerels. They were 2 very small boys, one was 2 lbs and one was 2.5 lbs.

I brined them in salt water (8 cups water, 1/2 cup salt, 1 tsp whole peppercorns) for about 6 hours. I then smoked the boys at 225 for approximately 3 hours (until the tiny breasts read 155).

The skin was still pretty pale by the end of it, but I don't really like rooster skin anyway because it's too rubbery and has a weird flavor in my opinion so I just pulled it all off before carving. I diced up all the meat and threw it in with some sauteed peppers and onions and some fajita spices and made fajita tacos out of it. I think this has been my favorite way to cook these roosters so far! The meat was quite tender, even the legs and thighs were pretty good.

I do think I could have brined the meat longer and added some sugar or other spices to the brine and it would have come out even more tender and flavorful, but even my lazy brine penetrated the meat quite well.