Roo help?

[Naughty]

Okay - I processed my first rooster and put him in the crock pot - a lil banty - about 8 months old... and he tasted HORRIBLE I put him in the crock all day - with some onion and rosemary - a favorite of mine... the meat was fall-off-the-bones tender. It just tasted bad

Soooooo - any suggestions on helping my future "bad boys" taste better?

 

[bigmike&nan]

There's not much to love about a dead rooster, the female species is the bird to eat. The French did come up with a little something called Coq Au Vin, but most American chefs use a whole chicken cut up or whole chicken leg portions (leg and thigh).
Alton Brown's recipe is spot on

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/coq-au-vin-recipe/index.html

A lot of folks try to use chicken breast in Coq au Vin, but frankly what gives it the flavor is the fatty leg and thigh portions, skin on.

 

[Kim_NC]

You won't believe this....but I just made Coq Au Vin last night!....and from....you guessed it, the thigh and leg portions, skin-on! Here's a pic - posted it on a Facebook photo album this morning.

Coq Au Vin (thigh portion) with new potatoes, shi-t-a-k-e mushrooms, pearl onions, wine sauce. Acorn squash. There was a side salad too, but we devoured those a half hour before serving "dinner" LOL ....

I have made Coq Au Vin using a whole cut-up chicken. I have to agree, even bone-in and with skin, the breast portion lacks flavor....tender enough, but too dry for our taste. It just doesn't absorb the wine like the dark meat.

We prefer to debone and skin the breast portions. Then pound them flat and make something like Chicken Picatta with those.

Edit: For clarity....I'm talking dual purpose roosters here, or the occasional aged hen. We also make Brunswick Stew from either of them.

 

[Liamm_1]

are you serious?! the only way to enjoy my 19 week old roo in the fridge, is to drown it and cook it in fat so as to mask the flavor of chicken?!
What the hell was the point of me taking his life then?!

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

hmmm . . . I think that's a little crazy most butchered birds are roos and taste just great. I can't imagine why yours tasted bad. What was the bad part? I'm thinking maybe it had to do with the butchering??

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

Quote:
you just enjoy that 19 week old roo! if you haven't cooked one before and it is one of the laying breeds you have in your sig line; the meat will be considerably leaner than what you get in the stores, but with WAY more flavor (maybe that's what the OP was referring to . . . the chicken taste?) You will probably want o make some adjustments in your cooking style just as you would for a leaner cut of beef, but certainly no need to drown it in fat.

 

[Kim_NC]

Coq Au Vin is not "drowned in fat". The meat is browned a skillet and then covered in wine and cooked down with potatoes, onion, mushrooms. Little to no fat involved.

Same thing for Chicken Picatta... the breast meat is deboned, pounded thin, breaded lightly with flour, browned and cooked in white wine until tender. Capers added toward the end....then served with rice (most often).

Brunswick Stew isn't drowned in fat either.....nor crockpot and soup recipes for older or heritage breed birds.

The point is most rooster and older hens must be slow cooked. They do have way more flavor....but they're also stringy unless slow cooked.

 

[Sootsie]

if i remember from when i was at catering college (which is the only time ive plucked and gutted a bird) theres a sack of foul smelling stuff which if broken in the process taints the meat to the point its not edible, could this have happened?

sorry for lack of technical terms but it was 30 years ago lol

 

[jasonm11]

Quote:
umm NO GROWTH HRMONES. Knowing where youre food is coming from?

 

[Liamm_1]

Quote:
umm NO GROWTH HRMONES. Knowing where youre food is coming from?

There are no hormones used in production poultry in the U.S. But, you're right about knowing where the food comes from. My comment was regarding the fact that the o.p. said her roo tasted 'horrible' and another poster's comment that the only way to cook a roo was coq au vin.