: I keep looking at my roos trying to decide which will be the tastiest. And I'm trying to decide who to keep for breeding purposes. Hmmm ...
I'm feeling a bit like Hannibal Lechter lately.
I'm feeling a bit like Hannibal Lechter lately.
Very nice. I have yet to process a hen. To me, it's different in my head than processing a cockerel. I'll need to get over it sometime. I've put hens down that were suffering, but not for processing.I had my hen for dinner...
I butchered her Monday morning, stuck her in brine (bunch of table salt into water) on Tuesday evening. Slow roasted her Wednesday evening on 275F for 2-3 hours in a covered roasting pan. She was a very fatty bird, but slow roasting cooked most of that out. I cranked up the heat in the end to crisp up the skin. The legs were a tad chewy but tasty, probably a better meat for stewing, but the breast was fantastic, really not very dry at all.
Very, very tasty. So there you have it, 1 1/2 year old hen is still roastable (a question I had asked in the past).
From someone that also botched her first kill, I understand this feeling. Thankfully, my husband was holding it for me, otherwise it would have been running all over the yard! (I freaked and let go of the bird) And you feel bad enough for not getting a clean kill without someone else adding to it.
That is a long day.
I've had luck pulling, but I wrap the skin around my fingers to get a tighter grip. Those that were tough, I used a knife to help separate it.
Quote: My husband does most of the killing, but I do everything else myself. I have not done another kill since my botched one I mentioned above. If I'm going to do the killing, I want a cone and a sharp knife. The hatchet method does not work for me, I'm too afraid of whacking off my hand, not getting a clean whack like last time, etc. My husband also has a hard time getting his hand in the body cavity.
CX's are pretty easy to pluck with a good scald. They don't have thick, dense feathers like a dual purpose breed does. But sometimes the tiny little breast feathers don't cooperate.Kassaundra, quick question. Are you saying that it's a LOT easier to pluck the NN's? I've heard that CX's are also easier.
