Texas

[chickletteSarge]

Butcherd and ate my first chicken yesterday. The killing, cleaning and butchering wasn't too bad but that was one tough bird. It was a roo (I paid $15 for) that had just started crowing. I put him on the pit and got busy and forgot about it and cooked it till it was too tough to chew.
Is it possible to cook a young un-caponized roo tender on a pit. He felt tough before I cooked him.

roos are generaly tough and stringy to my knowledge... I have eaten 2 other than the broilers Ive raised... I have read that if you brine them in salt water they loosen up...

 

[bnjrob]

Butcherd and ate my first chicken yesterday. The killing, cleaning and butchering wasn't too bad but that was one tough bird. It was a roo (I paid $15 for) that had just started crowing. I put him on the pit and got busy and forgot about it and cooked it till it was too tough to chew.
Is it possible to cook a young un-caponized roo tender on a pit. He felt tough before I cooked him.

You need to rest the meat in the frig for several days, then brine it. I usually brine for at least 24 hours. Rinse off the carcass, pat it dry then let it airdry a bit more before cooking it.

 

[chickletteSarge]

im getting bunnies on the 1st ish!!! 3 breeding pairs!!! starting a meat project!

 

[Cockle-Dood]

im getting bunnies on the 1st ish!!! 3 breeding pairs!!! starting a meat project!

A particular breed or just some hardy crosses? Remember...sun=bad

 

[Cockle-Dood]

You've got the MIL dogs in order now the second line of critters is coming in.  The dogs were probably keeping the coons away.

No more signs of any critters...im starting to think that one some how escaped...really dont know where though!

I put loose dirt all around the outside of the coup to attempt to find some tracks since i couldnt find the live trap. And did another sand spot with some dog food on it. No tracks around the coup this morning and dog food wasnt touched until the songbirds and mockingbirds started moving around

 

[Little Wing]

roos are generaly tough and stringy to my knowledge... I have eaten 2 other than the broilers Ive raised... I have read that if you brine them in salt water they loosen up...

You need to rest the meat in the frig for several days, then brine it. I usually brine for at least 24 hours. Rinse off the carcass, pat it dry then let it airdry a bit more before cooking it.

OK so if I have to do all of that I will probably be selling the roos to the feed store and stopping by Whataburger for supper. I am thinking about getting a few broilers though.

 

[Cockle-Dood]

Are those same steps necessary for broiler processing as well?

 

[bnjrob]

Are those same steps necessary for broiler processing as well?

Resting the meat gives it time for the muscles to relax. And brining helps add juiciness and if you use a brine with herbs/spices it also imparts flavor.

Broilers are butchered young so they may not be as tough as other birds. But I've never had broilers so I don't know if they need to be brined. But I would imagine that they would need to be rested in order to get the muscles to go through rigor and then relax.

You don't have to go through that much work but I think that it improves the flavor and texture. The first bird we ever butchered just got cooked - it was young but it was not as tender or juicy as the oldest birds we've eaten and used the resting and brining method. The oldest that we've butchered and eaten was 10 month old cockerels. But the meat was very tender and juicy by resting and brining. I even brine frozen storebought turkeys for the holidays now to get the moistness into the them.

 

[Cockle-Dood]

I understand. So its rest them brine. After brining can they be frozen, or should the brining occurw before the actual prep of the bird to be cooked?

 

[bnjrob]

Freeze and then brine before you cook it.

It's more work to brine, but I've found that we get better texture and moistness more consistently than just cooking the bird and hoping for the best.