weird.

[FeaganFarm]

I had a 2 yr old rooster that I found with his head stuck in a crack in the doors of my horse trailer, he had been there a while. I got him loose and I knew he wasn't going to make it. It was very hot that day. I processed him, let the meat rest a cpl days and put him in the freezer. Didn't want that meat to go to waste. I've eaten old Yummy stewed roos before. I took him out the other day and cooked him low and slow all day long. ( crock pot ). The meat never did release from the bone and it was just weird and tough. I've stewed older roos before, no problems. I gave the meat to the dog, and saved the broth because it was Yummy. I put the broth in the fridge so I could remove some of the fat after it cooled. Well that pot of broth turned into broth jello. Seriously, it was a broth jello mold. So weird. Think it was stress related? That roo probably struggled to get loose for a cpl hours, in the heat. Never seen jello broth like that.

 

[jaj121159]

I just cooked an Iowa Blue Rooster that was processed at 6 months of age. I cooked it all day in a crock pot and got pretty much the same results with the jello. The dark meat didn't release from the bone like the white meat did. Honestly though it tastes great. Boy is the dark meat from those Iowa roosters dark.

 

[cooking chicken]

If you got chicken flavored jello without breaking bones, lucky you! I always break the long bones before stewing for stock so I end up with that chicken jello. Then I cook it down some more until it is so concentrated that it doesn't soften at room temp and cut it into cubes (about 2"x2"), throw the frozen cubes into a ziplock and into the freezer. I use it like stock. When I deglaze the pan with wine, I then toss in a frozen cube and a little water. Add some butter and you have a nice sauce. And about 4 million calories, but they're yummy calories.

 

[donrae]

That consistency is highly valued by many folks when making stock. It's the geletin from the bones and is very high in minerals, etc---a very nourishing stock. I don't know why the meat didn't loosen, that is weird. But enjoy your broth.

 

[Tiffrz-N-Kidz]

The EE capons and roos I processed made broth jello. Made some into chicken and rice soup by diluting it. It was AWESOME!

 

[Bucky182]

What you experienced might be due to the stress he was under while trapped in the horse trailer. I know I have worked for a short time in a custom butcher shop and you could see the differance between a high strung steer and a calm steers meat. The FDA inspector told me it was due to a hormone that they release. These steers are known as "Dark Cutters" and bring less money due to the fact the steaks or meat looks older than it is. They also claimed they where tuffer and never did well on the meat grid. (Limosiene (SP) ) are notorious for this.

Any animal that is stressed just prior to death probably has some hormone it releases that can effect the meat. I know hogs can, cattle can, deer can so why not a chicken?