Year old cockrel; worth eating?

[Ninjasquirrel]

Ive got a year old cockrel that has bitten me one two many times. Ive got at least 2 young cockrels in my brooder so I have his replacement lined up. Is he worth plucking and eating? Or would his meat be too tough?

 

[sourland]

Slow cooked for chicken stew or chicken and dumplings he would be fine.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If he is aged and cooked correctly he can be delicious. We all have our own recipes. If I were using a crockpot (and I do) when I butchered him I'd suggest letting him age for three days or so in the refrigerator or in an ice chest until rigor mortis has passed. I'd part him into serving pieces either at butcher or after aging, doesn't matter. Then put him in a large crock pot with your choice of any or all of these: A bay leaf, a dozen peppercorns, a rough cut carrot and or celery, maybe an onion and/or garlic. Your choice of herbs such as basil, oregano, parsley, or thyme. Cover with water. I don't know how big he is, you might want to cook half and freeze half for later.

Cook him on low. Six hours is probably enough but I tend to go 8. Remove the serving pieces with a slotted spoon and reserve the rest. The meat should not have cooked off the bone but be a bit gentle. It may be a bit more delicate than you expect.

At this point you have choices. You could dump the liquid and everything else still in the crock pot, you are done with it. I don't do that.

You can debone the chicken and put the bones back in the crock pot and cook it on low overnight with everything you reserved. As long as you don't use sauces or such that would contaminate the broth, you can wait until after the meal and put the bones back in the crock pot. Cook that on low overnight. Then sometime the next day (morning, afternoon, or evening) strain the liquid and de-fat it. It makes excellent broth. My procedure is to put it through a strainer to remove the chunks, remove the fat, then strain it through cheesecloth to polish it.

I've left out a few things since it is your first rooster and I want to make it as simple as I can. Other people will have totally different ways to cook him. If someone tells you that you can't eat an rooster all that tells me is that they don't know how to age and cook him.

Let us know what you decided to do and how it turned out. It's always good to get feedback.

 

[abpatchy]

Ive got a year old cockrel that has bitten me one two many times. Ive got at least 2 young cockrels in my brooder so I have his replacement lined up. Is he worth plucking and eating? Or would his meat be too tough?

Sure! they need to cook longer than storebought chickens to be tender. But they taste much better! I love chicken and dumplings from my roosters.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Ive got a year old cockrel that has bitten me one two many times. Ive got at least 2 young cockrels in my brooder so I have his replacement lined up. Is he worth plucking and eating? Or would his meat be too tough?

Makes fantastic sausage. Makes good burgers, too - put the seasoning right into the meat when you grind it.

Makes incredible stock.

Makes a good stew. Or a curry. Or a pulled chicken bar-b-q. or enchiladas.

Does NOT make a good roast chicken, fried cutlets, rollotini, or skewers/kebabs.

Basically, long, low, wet method (preferably strongly spiced - the flavor can hold up to that) cooking = good.

Fast, hot, dry method = bad.

This is a good time to consider mildly acidic marinades during your wet aging process, too - yogurt based, buttermilk based, and citrus (if not TOO acidic) all work great. Yogurt pH 4.3-4.4 Buttermilk pH 4.4-4.8. Good choices for long marinades.

Orange Juice pH around 3.5, too low! Bitter Orange juice (used in Mojo) 2.5 WAY too low. Lemon Juice pH 2-3 again, way too low. All of these should be thinned with water or similar to reduce the acidity. Around 2:1 of OJ to water, around 1:1 for bitter orange or lemon juice. Target is somewhere around pH 4.5.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

Too bad you can't have rice, but you could just use what you can eat and some liquid, 1 or 2 cups is enough.

Yea dieting sucks. I might just shred him up in the crockpot with some cream cheese and taco seasoning. It also depends on what I'm in the mood for since I dont cook them for a while. Its hard for us to transition from process to plate. I made fried chicken 3 days after one time and my fiancee just said he wasnt hungry. I felt a little weird eating it but I got over it.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

Slow cooked for chicken stew or chicken and dumplings he would be fine.

I was thinking Id put him in the crockpot with a little water and cook him on low for a good 4 or 5 hours. I dont really have a recipe picked out for him yet

 

[Parront]

I like the skin personally but only if I'm going to be frying the bird. My fiancee doesnt quite have the pull down method down to give the drumsticks an attractive look. I slaughter the birds and then he takes over processing and brings me in the bird all clean for me to put in the freezer. I'm just wondering since its an old bird and I wont be frying it if it might be a waste of time for him to pluck. We slaughter so few its not cost effective for us to buy a plucker so we do everything by hand. Plus the yellow jackets are a big problem here. I bought a gazebo with mosquito netting on the cheap for us to process in this time around but its such a pain.

I personally pluck them. Think that a lot of the flavor is in the fat that is under the skin. If you are keeping him a while, you can fatten him up a little in a small pen/cage. I cook them in the crock pot, with rice and mushroom soup, especially if they are pretty lean like a lot of roosters can be. Start @ 10 am, done by 6pm on low. An older bird is good pressure cooked and boned, just use the meat like canned chicken, or pressure can it with your broth. YUM! It takes an older bird to not turn to mush in the pressure cooker. I also like to keep the fat, put the liquid from cooking in the refrigerator and skim off the fat from the top the next morning. It is easy, the liquid will be a firm jelly. Keep the fat and use it to fry your potatoes, YUM!
This little guy was younger than yours, about 14 weeks and 2.5 lbs. 6 hours is plenty for younger ones like him.

 

[Xouie]

All chickens are worth eating.

Instant pot, then Chicken tacos or lettuce wraps. Yum!

 

[gatrapper]

LIke others, crock pot is the way to go. All my old birds (ducks, chicken, turkey, etc.) all go to the crock pot. We use the meats in soups, stews, casseroles, tacos, etc. Hard to screw anything up in a slow cooker.