When to eat chickens

[Oregon Blues]

If you want fried chicken with older birds, you can cook them until tender in the crock pot.

Cool the meat, cut it into pieces, bread it and put it into hot oil and fry it. You'll get fine, tender fried chicken.

But no, you can't cook a 2 year old bird like you cook a 2 month old bird. Flavor will be good, but the meat will be chewy.

 

[Marylizbet]

Thanks. Another question: Is it even worth killing the Isa browns? Or should I just let them lay until they are to old? Anyone know this?

 

[epeloquin]

I know this isn't the recipe thread but seeing as the issue of tenderizing meat has come up I thought I would share a recipe for a great marinade I got from a Filipino lady who went to our church.

1 Cup of good Soy Sauce
2-3 lemons
4-5 cloves garlic
1/2 cup of olive oil (not extra virgin and you could sub canola or veg oil)
1 tsp. hot chili flakes (optional)
1 Tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. fresh ground pepper.

In a mixing bowl put the soy sauce, cut the lemons in half, squeeze all their juice into the bowl and put the lemons in too, crush the garlic cloves and put them in, add the oil, chili flakes, salt and pepper. Mix it up. Place the chicken in a ziploc bag and pout the marinade over the chicken. Let marinade for a good four hours (overnight is better), turning the bag over half way through.

Take the chicken out, pat it dry and grill it or roast it in the oven!

By the way, for a little more Asian flavor you could add 1 tsp. of toasted sesame oil to the marinade.

Give this a try and I think you'll love it!!

 

[jdopler]

Another question on tenderizing.. I have read in several places that adding apple cider vinegar to the drinking water for a couple weeks will tenderize older chickens. Has anyone tried this?
And to the question of the ISAs I know that many cultures eat silkies, they sell in a local oriental market for $9 for that little less than 2 lb bird, so I would think you could do it.. Soup maybe?