What is the latest you can butcher a cockerel?

[wordgirl]

Just kinda wondering.

I know if you wait too long, the meat will not be the greatest!

 

[cassie]

The flavor will be great but the meat will be tough if not cooked properly. Old chickens make stew, fricasee, chicken and dumplings, chicken pot pie etc.

 

[wordgirl]

I thought rooster meat was strong-flavored, tough, and stringy. I could be wrong though. I've never tasted it.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

It's only too late to butcher if they die before you get to do it.

Like Cassie said, something low and slow will make it taste the best. Otherwise it will be as bad as the turkey at the Griswold Christmas!

 

[Sunny Side Up]

A lot depends on how long you let the meat "rest" after butchering, and the method you use to cook it. Older birds, both hens & roosters, do best when cooked slowly with lots of moisture. You can keep the cleaned bird in the refrigerator for 2-3 days, then marinate it for another day before roasting slowly with broth or veggies or etc. Or you can stew it or simmer it in broth for soup, or prepare in a crock-pot.

Older birds are supposed to have the most flavor, something many of us have never tasted if all we eat are the fast-growing Cornish Xs sold commercially. They're technically great big chicks, only 8 weeks old.

 

[dancingbear]

The latest you can butcher a cockerel is one year, because after that, it's no longer a cockerel. It's a rooster. After that, you can butcher anytime before it dies of natural causes.

The classic recipe for Coq au Vin calls for an older rooster, because they have more flavor.

Just don't try to cook them the same way you'd cook a 6-8 week old broiler bird.

Do a BYC search for "cooking older birds" you should find all kinds of great info.

Here's one link for a starter: http://www.albc-usa.org/documents/cookingwheritagechicken.pdf