Smoke an older bird?

[Azriel]

I have a few DP roos that I need to process, one is almost 3 years old, the rest are 8 months and less. The 3 year old and two of the 8month are very large and full breasted. I have a friend with a smoker and was wondering if the 3 year old would be good for smoking, or should I just use the younger birds. I would like to do 2 or 3 that way.

 

[Oregon Blues]

Give it a try. A smoker is usually slow cooking, which is the way to cook older birds. If the meat turns out tough, then put your smoked meat into the crock pot with a couple of potatoes and cook it all day. It will be delicious.

 

[Azriel]

that does sound yummy.

 

[wyoDreamer]

Part of the equation will be how long you smoke them. I would be worried a litlle about it drying out too much with a really long smoke time. My brother in law does a smoked venison that is to die for, but he smokes it for 4 hours, then wraps it in tinfoil and cooks it in the oven at 325 for another 3 hours to finish it up. Venison is a very lean meat, just like the chickens will probably be.

Beef and prok can be smoked for long periods of time because of the fat layers and marbleing of the meat.