Raising Red Rangers

[yesterdayschild]

Just started raising red rangers and with our first processing we have had complaints of toughness, especially at the legs, anyone have any ideas on this?

 

[AA Maple]

Just started raising red rangers and with our first processing we have had complaints of toughness, especially at the legs, anyone have any ideas on this?

Get Cornish X, slaughter them at 7 weeks, and make sure you keep them in a cage the size of a bread-box so they can't move, and don't let them eat anything besides high protein feed... that's why the "chicken" you get in the supermarket is so tender.


I have heard it suggested that over-cooking farm fresh birds can make them a bit tough so it may be an issue with that as well?

Anyway, IMO if people claim they want pasture raised birds and still expect the texture of a Frank Perdue they're delusional. Best to just ignore them and deal with people who understand what it is you are doing.

 

[Ridgerunner]

What age were they when you butchered them? The older they get the more flavorful the meat but you can have texture issues.

How did you cook them? The older they are the more you have to adjust your cooking methods. As a general rule the older they are the lower your cooking temperature and the more moisture you need. A chicken you buy at the store was butchered somewhere around 6 to 8 weeks of age. I’ve cooked a three year old rooster in a baking dish that really holds the moisture in at 240 degrees for four hours, just adding a couple of tablespoons of water. He was fine. You don’t need to go to that extreme with your Red Rangers but knowing the age can help us with recipes. Or look through the meat bird section. There are recipes in there if you can find them.

If you are used to the store bought chicken you may have pretty small tolerance for any texture. The flavor may be strong to you also. You’re not used to chewing your food and your expectations of what chicken tastes like can be totally different from mine. Some people are not prepared to eat the chickens we raise because they are different from what they are used to. Some of us really prefer to raise out own.