Strong Tasting Chicken? I found out why!

[spook]

I am curious if the testes are being removed without being ruptured. That is one of the quickest ways to spoil meat is allowing them to seep into the meat.
I think we would all be surprised at how many "intact" bulls that we eat. Age is the key to tender meat- or exercise.

 

[Scoop]

I am wondering if anyone has tried a pressure cooker for old roosters? I have an old one to cull this week and wonder if that would be the way to go. I'm planning on making chicken and dumplings.

 

[Opa]

I use the pressure cooker on all older birds and have been very happy with the result. It's a great way to start a pot of chicken and dumplings.

 

[wohneli]

This thread is making me hungry!

 

[farrier!]

Quote:
Let me know how well this works. I have a neighbor with free roosters, I need to find out their age......I am guessing about 8 months.

 

[warmfuzzies]

I had exacly the same experience as most, with our rooster. He was nasty! We actually never tried it, the meat smelled horrible. And I dont mind 'gamey' taste, we actually have eaten venison as our main meat for the past two years. But he was NASTY! It smelled spoiled.

And I have to take exception to the statement that we probably eat more bulls then we know. I live in a huge beef cattle production area, and I have most of my life. Yesterday we just got done working (and cutting) 50 head of calves. You dont raise them as bulls and sell them for meat. If they are bulls they go to sale to be sold as bulls, or to be sold as glue.

DH trucks, and he drives grain to several feedlots everyday. He says there are NEVER bulls in a feedlot. He actually just looked at me like I lost my mind when I asked him, cause he knew I knew better.

 

[wohneli]

I brined my 18 week old roos overnight and they only had the slightest gamey flavor. It actually enhanced the meat in our opinion.

 

[brandywine]

Goodness, I eat the meat of bucks in rut all the time, wild tom turkeys during mating season, bull elk ...

And I ate some eight-month-old guinea cocks that were clearly suffering from testosterone poisoning before I cured them with a trip to freezer camp.

I have not found that testosterone = toxic muscle meat.

We castrate calves and pigs for two reasons -- to make them grow larger on less feed, and to keep them from killing us and each other.

Ram lambs raised for slaughter are not always castrated.

If an animal's meat is rank, I'd look at either the slaughtering process or the animal's health.

 

[tackyrama]

Quote:
I have not tried a pressure cooker. The two rooster meals that tasted strong were fried and boiled. The 5 older rooster meals that tasted OK were slow baked. The consenses seems to be that mature roosters do not make a good meal. From now on I will make sure to get them in the freezer on time. The strong taste was not only very bad - it lingered, for a long time! UGHH!!

 

[gckiddhouse]

Quote:
Amen to all that. I am also a hunter, and I am reading this thread wondering where the logic is. The only 2 things that I know of that taint meat (in healthy animals) are

1. Not cleaning properly. It is important to keep the animal clean during processing. Males in any species have scent glands and such that need to be removed cleanly, but most come off with the skinning, or gutting process. So unless it was a messy kill, it shouldn't be a problem. It is VERY important to remove the esophagus in any species.

2. Freezer burn. I think this is the main culprit. Gamey taste is often just freezer burn. Freezer burn tastes terrible!!

Age shouldn't make it taste bad at all, it just isn't as tender. Old bull elk is not as tender as a young bull. Same goes for deer. We take bulls and bucks both during the rut and after as well as young calves or cows in non-antlered hunts. The cow tastes exactly the same as the bull (according to my palate). I wouldn't guess that chickens are much different.

A great remedy to soften older meat is aging the meat. We hang an older dear or elk for up to a week before butchering (well, we have a great processor who does it for us). Slow cooking is another. I slow cook my elk and deer roasts.

An animal that is working for its food is a healthy animal - one we are meant to eat.

My 2 cents.