Tell me the truth...

[Chickiemama1010]

I have a rooster. He's rather large, I would guess 10-11 lbs. Hes also a mean sneaky you-know-what. I have 6 black aussie roos, about 11 wks old from a straight run I got a while back. 4-5 of those are going to the freezer. I was planning on sending my current roo with them. He is going to be 1 yr old in a month or so. My husband doesnt want to eat him. Thinks he's going to be tough and gross and not edible. I think he will be maybe not suitable for roasting, but definitely fine for soup or pot pie or shredded chicken sandwiches or something of that nature. Hubby gets his info from our old landlord, who replaces his hens every 2 yrs and said he tried one time to slaughter and eat them, and they were so tough and stringy they just shoot them and toss them in the pond for the fish to pick at now. I think thats aweful. I just got into a huge fight with my roo a minute ago and there was a lot of spurring and kicking and punching and dancing. Hubby stood outside the run laughing. I was mad, and said ' can you help me?" he said sure and came back w/the shotgun. Not what I had in mind....But by the time he got back I had kicked him fairly hard, made him bleed a little on his comb, and knocked him out cold. I thought I killed him, and I felt terrible about it, even though hes a wicked you-know-what. DH wants to shoot him and toss him in the ditch down the road. I say no. We have an Amish man down the road that will slaughter, pluck and bag up birds for $1.00. Thats right folks, a buck. So, my question is, what would you do? Is he worth eating? Hes so big, he will prob dress out at 7lbs. Thats dinner 2-3 times for us. I feel like its worth a dollar to at least give this animal a chance to be eaten, and killed for a reason, as strange as that may sound. As opposed to letting DH shoot him with a SHOTGUN just to see the feathers fly. I'm not ok with that. I think he secretly will enjoy it. He's been asking me for 3 weeks now if he can just shoot him.

By the way, hes a golden comet rooster.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

crockpot him on low all day, then shred and let soak overnight in a nice homemade BBQ sauce that has some vinegar in it, then crockpot on low next day and serve amazing BBQ chicken sandwiches

Your husband will be glad for your level head and sanity.

 

[melodylee]

I'd say a buck for your piece of mind is a good choice...

 

[Bossroo]

After you butcher him, have him rest in the refrigerator for 2-4 days covered in a dish and plastic wrap for the rigor mortis to relax and then to age tenderise him. Then crockpot him on low untill the meat falls off the bone, then for soup or any dish you desire. Same for spent old hens after their egg laying days are over. Enjoy !!!

 

[Chickiemama1010]

See, I thought there was a method involving a few days in the fridge before the freezing to age the bird, and make them tastier/tender. I think my old landlord that said they werent worth eating past 3-5 months old is picky or didnt do it right. Hes a hunter and will only eat a deer with spots on it still or a button buck. Little ones. After a deer is over a year, 2yr tops, he says they are too gamy. He'll shoot any size though, and give the meat awa., I'll eat anything except wild geese. The canadian geese taste like liver and seaweed to me. And I refuse to eat groundhog, although I know some ppl do. I have a friend in NC who lives off the land, and off the grid for that matter, and she butchers her spent hens and says her 2-3 yr old barred rocks are delicious. And she was a vegetarian for 15 yrs.My roo is not quite 1 year old yet. He was from a late june hatch. he's just too mean. And after the bloody head/knocked out incident of just a short hour ago, he is still getting his hackles up at me and strutting around when I walked past the run. Stupid rooster. I planned to eat him once it was apparent he just couldnt play nice with the humans .Guess I will stick with the plan.

 

[eKo_birdies]

Quote:
...Well put

 

[Chickiemama1010]

Sounds Delicious. Maybe I'll take some to the Mike the old landlord. See what he thinks about year-old rooster.

 

[Chickiemama1010]

Quote:
And yeah, I should say so

 

[dancingbear]

Your landlord is an idiot. And either doesn't know how to cook, or won't bother to do it right. So instead he dishonors the older birds by taking their lives and wasting perfectly good meat. Too bad.

By all means, crock pot all day on low, or overnight, if you wish, and the bird will become tender. I do it all the time.
Old roosters make wonderful tacos, enchiladas, BBQ sandwiches, tamales, pot pie, casseroles, chicken salad, and of course, chicken and dumplings. Long, slow, cooking is the key. For an older roo like that, it can help to brine all day or overnight before cooking, but the main thing is low temp, and a LONG TIME cooking. I often start mine just before I go to bed, and by the time I get up the next day, it almost always fall-off-the-bone tender. On the rare occasion that it isn't, I just let it cook a few more hours. They always get there eventually.

You might find this link interesting:
http://mikes-table.themulligans.org/2010/01/01/coq-au-vin-french-fricassee-of-rooster/

As I read this recipe, I thought I might try it sometime, but allow the bird to simmer in the crock pot rather than on the stove top, so that if it takes longer to get tender than the recipe says, it won't scorch. I haven't cooked coq au vin, but I've read comments from people who have. You might not want to try this for your very first "tough old bird", though.

 

[Chickiemama1010]

funny you mentioned coq au vin. I am a huge fan of Alton Brown, and his show on Food Network called "Good Eats" He made that very dish just a couple weeks ago. The way he explains things, and breaks it down for you into simple, every day home-cook capabilities is great. Thats my issue with guys like Emeril. Not everyone went to cullinary school, and not everyone has or can afford to buy 300 rare ingriedients from specialty stores for one tues. night dinner. I thought of looking up the coq au vin episode online to see if I could watch it again, and to see if it was something I wanted to try.