Skinning birds

[archeryrob]

I killed my two cornish hatchery roosters off this morning as I am not breeding them. Largest one only got to 6.6# and 2nd was 5.7# and nothing to care about for a meat only bird at 9 months size wise. I figured I would skin them and put trim the breast and legs for soup. The breast came out fine, but the legs proved rather difficult to skin out. Very clingy near the ankle and aweful at the back of the thigh. I was starting to think I should have just plucked them and gutted them.

Anyone butcher them any differently and have a easier time doing it?

 

[Ridgerunner]

So you just did the breasts and legs, you missed the worst part of skinning cockerels that age. I find that at about 5 months of age the connective tissue that holds the skin on starts getting pretty tough. I think of them as ligaments, threads that attach the skin to the muscles. It's helpful to have a sharp knife to cut some of those if you skin. It gets worse as they age. At 5 months the breasts are not too bad but there are a few ligaments. The back is usually the worst. I've skinned a mature rooster, really need a sharp knife. When I skin, I skin the entire body, not just the breast and legs. I use the entire carcass for broth. I can imagine what a 9 month old was like.

I don't think the ligaments explain what's going on with the legs near the ankle. In that area the skin does seem glued on, especially as they age. When I butcher I cut the feet off with poultry shears and try to pull the skin off starting up at the thigh and working down. Most of the time I can do that with 23 week old cockerels but sometimes I have to split the skin. I cut through the skin from where it gets tight all the way down to the bottom. That usually works but even then it can sometimes take some strength to tear it off. A few times it's torn and I have to cut small pieces off with a knife.

I find skinning the wings are harder, I don't even try the wing tips, but that area of the drumstick can be a challenge.

I skin for my own reasons. My wife prefers them without a skin so i'm going to remove it anyway. With my set-up heating water for the scald is a pain plus a bit of a fire hazard. The ages I butcher I sometimes butcher when they are molting, either a juvenile molt or in the case of a spent hen a full-fledged molt. If they are molting plucking is a mess with all the new feathers growing in. But if I were butchering 9 month old cockerels I'd give plucking a much more serious look. At that age they can be a pain.

 

[archeryrob]

How about cooking them? Maybe for soup or other stuff to make it tender. Just boil a long time, Instapot or crockpot all day?

 

[RoosterML]

Coq au vin is what I would try.

 

[Molpet]

How about cooking them? Maybe for soup or other stuff to make it tender. Just boil a long time, Instapot or crockpot all day?

Simmmer, not boil....or instapot for 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hr