What is the best way to cook the bird?

[cassimcclurg]

I killed our first rooster a week ago. He was about 11 weeks old, unknown breed. After we started plucking him, we realized just how small he was but decided to go ahead with the rest of the processing for the practice of it. Once we got him done, we decided that maybe we would try to eat him after all. Since we thought we were just practicing, we hadn't been very thorough in the plucking so then we decided to skin him so that the remaining little bits of feather wouldn't be an issue. So now he's been in the fridge for a week and we haven't gotten around to doing anything with him. He's only about 1 lb, 5 oz. I know we're running out of time so I'm wondering - is there any point in cooking him and any way that he's going to taste good or should we just toss him and chalk it up to practice after all? If we do cook him, does anyone have a good recipe?


Thanks!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

He'll taste just like chicken. However, with 11 weeks under his belt, he'll have developed some true chicken flavor.
Sea salt, cracked pepper, Perhaps a bit of sage or thyme.
He's processed and in the refrigerator so whatever his weight, he's worth eating. Just cook him on low heat and slowly till the meat starts separating from the bone on the legs and thighs.
Put the breast down in broth so it doesn't dry out while you're trying to get the legs tender.
Or better yet, part him out and cook the breasts in a separate dish.

 

[cassimcclurg]

Thanks for the encouragement! I did cook him tonight. I rubbed him with olive oil and seasoned him with sea salt, pepper, rosemary, and some generic poultry seasoning I had. I browned him on the stovetop with minced garlic then put him in a small casserole dish and added some lemon pepper seasoning and some minced onion and a little water and covered the dish with foil. I cooked him at 375 for about 45 minutes. He was tasty! There wasn't enough meat on him for a proper meal but my family was each able to at least have a little taste and enjoy the novelty of our first homegrown meat and the carcass went in the freezer to be joined by others later for some future chicken broth/soup.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

That sounds awesome. Congrats. I hate throwing meat away.

I usually butcher closer to 20 weeks so I have to use much lower heat so I'm usually about 220F for around 4 hours.