OK, new birds in the freezer...now how do I eat them?!?

[lizage]

So we just had 8 of our "extra" cockerels butchered (mainly EE's) for the first time and they actually looked pretty decent (they were around 20wks old). I have them whole and have cooked whole chickens in the past, but am wondering how do I get past the fact that these were 'ours'? I thought maybe the first one I would throw in a pot and make some stock and maybe shred the chicken for various dishes? Maybe we'd be less inclined to think of it that way? I was never attached to these (they were destined for the freezer as soon as I figured out I had way more boys than I wanted, and I am so thankful to be rid of the noisy buggards, but this is something I want to consider doing in the future (specifically, raising our own birds for meat). We already raise our own cattle and hogs, but they're on a separate farm where I don't have to look at them everyday.

Any advice for a first-timer??

 

[TaylorHobbyFarms]

Basically, I do as you described. Boil the chicken and cut into pieces to make...Chicken Pot Pie, Barbecued Chicken (this is great over loaded baked potatoes), Chicken and Dressing Casserole, Chicken Noodle Soup, etc.

 

[Ntsees]

What I do is boil them (whole or in pieces). Once cooked, I take out the meat and put some salt on them. Fresh chickens...tastes way better than grocery packed chickens. Delicious.

 

[loanwizard]

I put mine in a pressure cooker. 45 minutes and it falls off the bone. Good in Noodles, dumplings, pot pie, canned, etc....

If it makes you feel better, I thank them for what they mean to me at hatchet time, and like the indians before us, thank them again for nourishing our bodies.

On another note, you can't tell which is which after they are plucked, cleaned, rested and frozen.

 

[AinaWGSD]

The first chickens we ever processed ourselves were 3 of our own laying hens. When we first got the chickens, my husband was sure that we would cull laying hens that didn't lay well to the pot. I myself wasn't so sure we could do it. These chickens had names, and in fact one of them was (of course) my favorite whom we chose to cull because she had pretty much never laid a normal egg in her life and we knew it was just a matter of time until she suffered and passed from internal laying or some similar reproductive issue (turns out we were right, when we were eviscerating her there were large chunks of yolk in her abdominal cavity).

It was a little hard for me to get past thinking of them as "Celeste," "Buffy," and "Merna" and just thinking of them as food. For me, the two days it took to rest them was enough to separate them from the chickens we had cared for and into "food" as it allowed enough time to pass for the "trauma" of butchering to wear off. By then, they didn't really look all that much different from the chicken I was used to buying and cooking. I think that parting them out and shredding the meat is probably a good way to get past the fact that these were "yours" as it takes it the next step from something that is identifiable as a chicken carcass to something that is "just food" in your mind.

 

[lizage]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions! My daughter (who is 9) has already been asking for some chicken dinners so she obviously has no problem with it.

I just didn't want to cook it up and then think about too much, kwim?

 

[jackhorn01]

I was thinking of eating my layers when they got too old to lay efficiently anymore and needed to be replaced. But I guess boiling is the only way to cook a chicken that old right since it would be tough as boot leather if you tried to grill it or fry it or something?

 

[AinaWGSD]

Not necessarily boiling per say. But yes, an old spent hen needs to be cooked for a long time over low, moist heat to make the meat tender enough to eat. Other common preparation methods include the crock pot and the pressure cooker. I think most people tend to use spent hens to make broth (whole carcass) and then pick the meat off and can it for use in stews, soups, tacos, sandwiches, and the like. High heat preparation methods such as grilling or frying will leave you with meat you have to chew forever, and I can't think of many people who like that.

 

[jackhorn01]

Thanks for the info. Also, is there anything I should be aware of to look for in any of the spent hens I eat? Like do meat birds require certain care or is there a special science to it that you have to do seperate from the laying hens? Or is it as simple as grabbing the spent hen and tossin it into the pot?

 

[loanwizard]

You clean one the same as the other. I have my meat chickens processed, but if I did it myself, I would rest them in the fridge for a day or two to get the rigor out for tenderness.

If you are going to "boil" the spent layer, it isn't necessary as the boiling will eventually tenderize the meat.

Case in point- 1st one I ever did, boiled for an hour, added noodles.... felt like I was eating rubber bands and noodles. Bless her heart, my girlfriend ate it and told me it was good. Me tastebuds and jawbones knew better.

I now use the pressure cooker for 45 minutes. Bones fall out of the meat. I pick bones and blood from back as well as other undesirable cartilage and whatnot, then prepare or can the rest.

If you have never used a pressure cooker, you are missing the boat. Sundays, I used to get up early to put the meat in the oven (Round Steaks, English Roasts, tough meats) so we could eat around 2 or 3. Now, about 1 1/2 hours including prep and bringing the cooker to pressure and it is gravy time.