Slow cooking questions

[bigz1983]

I have a 22 week old buff orpington/barred rock cross cockerel that my broody barred rock hen hatched that I plan on butchering soon.
I'm going to slow cook it in a crock pot and I have never done this before so I have a few questions.
After butchering can I immediately put in the crock pot?
Or do I need to freeze/refrigerate it for a few days?
I plan on skining it instead of plucking. Is it better to have the skin on it for slow cooking?
Can I put just straight water in the slow cooker with the carcass to make the stock?

 

[bbond]

Following. Just butchered a 11 month old cockerel. He’s in a salt ice bath in the fridge.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

I usually freeze mine for a couple days at least. However I'm sure its fine to cook right away. If you skin it you could wrap it with bacon to give it some fat so it doesn't dry out otherwise I would leave skin on. You can put 1 1/2 cups of water in, and it will make its own broth. I love to cook/bake!

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

Also did you know that the chicken processors soak their whole chickens in bleach water that is 10 times stronger than pool bleach! My husband and I saw a food documentary about how our food is processed and it was a real eye opener!

 

[frackmomma]

I've heard you should refrigerate for at least 24 hours before slow cooking to get past the rigor mortis stage.

 

[rjohns39]

The pro's who don't use bleach will chill and hold at 40* for 24-48 hours to allow the riggor to pass. It's pretty easy to tell when it loosens up.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

You can either place it in the crockpot immediately OR let it rest for 1-2 days in the fridge first, but ideally not inbetween. After a couple hours rigor sets in, and then some hours later rigor wears off. That rigor period is a recipe for awkward cooking. So if you're not going to throw it in basically while it's still warm from processing you should probably let it rest.

The skin has a lot of flavor and fats in it, so if you're making soup I would keep the skin on if you can and just skim off solid fats after the broth cools.

 

[Beer can]

It's best to let them 'rest' in the fridge for a couple days (immediate freezing doesn't do this) to get the rigor mortis out of them, makes them much more tender. Slow cooking and pressure cooking it probably doesn't matter much it'll get tender eventually.
Slow cooker works great for tough birds. You can see the progress, when the meat starts pulling away from the bone. Can take a long time.
I add carrots potatoes and onions.
Pressure cooker works great also even a tough ole bird will be meat falling off the bone, only takes about 20mins if you remove the weight immediately, maybe 15 if you let it cool down on its own. Too long and they disintegrate, bone and meat mush mess... not sure how those 'instant pots' work, never had one.
With the pressure cooker I cook it with some carrots onion celery, remove bird, debone meat, re-add the bones to the pot smashed up a bit, add a little vinegar, pressure cook for another hr or more. Strain and set it in the fridge overnight. Take the fat chunk off the top, the bone broth will be like jelly. Re-heat it add the meat and some taters carrots onion etc, and or egg noodles, best darn chicken soup ever.

 

[Beer can]

Following. Just butchered a 11 month old cockerel. He’s in a salt ice bath in the fridge.

I have brined birds before grilling/baking supposed to help.
I typically soak mine in a vinegar based marinade before grilling so sorta kinda brined.

 

[rjohns39]

Save the feet for your bone broth.