What am I doing wrong?

[yotetrapper]

With tough ol chickens. I had to cull a year old rooster the other day, so I put him in a stock pot and simmered him for about three hours. Then I refridgerated him, still in the stock, and when I went to cut him up the next day I tried a piece of the breast meat and it was like chewing toothpicks! I spit it out it was so bad.

Can year old chickens be made edible? I have several more I need to cull so I'm wondering if I should even both cleaning them, or just compost them.

 

[JennsPeeps]

Try:

1. a pressure cooker
2. making recipes that call for day-long cooking, such as coq au vin (the acid of the wine is a natural tenderizer)

Did you brine the roo before preparing?

 

[yotetrapper]

I soaked him in salt water for about 8 hours. How do you pressure cook a chicken? All I've ever used my pressure cooker for was canning.

 

[JennsPeeps]

I've only used mine for canning, too, but seen lots of people on BYC say that it does wonders for a tough bird.

Here's how to do it:
http://www.google.com/search?q=pres...ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7GFRD_en

 

[shortcake1806]

I agree the pressure cooker works great for tough old birds. The crockpot can be great too. Long slow cooking works better.

 

[patandchickens]

Also make sure it is ONLY a simmer, never (at any point) a boil which will tend to vulcanize the meat.

GOod luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[yotetrapper]

Thanks guys, I'll try the pressure cooker on the next one then.