Young cockerel recipes

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

How about spatchcock style cooked on the grill and rubbed with a southern style dry rub?

Umm, I'm hungry.

Plucking is not that hard, and IMO, it's worth it to get crispy skin and give you more cooking options.

Heat a large pot of water to around 150 degrees. After you have dispatched the bird and allowed the blood to drain out, hold it by the feet and dunk the carcass a few times in the scalding water. You can test if you dunked it enough by pulling on a wing feather. It should come out fairly easily. If you are plucking inside, pluck on something to help contain the feathers. A shallow plastic tub works well, or you can cut open an old feed back and lay it flat. It's a bit if a learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, it is a fast and straightforward process.

If you butcher around the 12-14 week mark, you should have a better sized bird, but one still tender enough to grill or deep fry. They are smaller than store birds, but very tasty.

Those are all great ideas, thank you all! Perhaps I’ll go ahead and try the plucking method on the first few, and if it seems to be going too slow I’ll switch to skinning... Can you use the same pot of water for 5 birds if you keep it warm, or do you need to change the water out? I like the idea of spatchcock preparation, can I do that at the time of butchering or need to let the bird rest in the fridge first? Either way, birds should rest in the fridge for a few days before freezing or cooking?

Thanks again for all of the great suggestions!

 

[Shadrach]

I don't eat many and the ages tend to vary a lot which apparently makes a lot of difference. I can't recall who it was but someone on BYC, told be to leave in the fridge for two or three days and then slow cook.
I'm not the greatest of cooks but the last chicken I ate I cooked for most of the day over my heating stove and it came up rather well.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

I don't eat many and the ages tend to vary a lot which apparently makes a lot of difference. I can't recall who it was but someone on BYC, told be to leave in the fridge for two or three days and then slow cook.
I'm not the greatest of cooks but the last chicken I eat I cooked for most of the day over my heating stove and it came up rather well.

We’ve not eaten any of ours! We are mostly in it for layers/pets but my DD really wanted to breed her own for interesting egg colors and feather pattens. I built a whole bachelor pad coop and run over the winter because my daughter couldn’t stand to get rid of last years cockerels! That’s at capacity now so when we were breeding these chicks, it was with the understanding that the cockerels would be food and not pets. No one is looking forward to processing these guys, but since it needs to be done, I’d like to make the most out of the final product. I’d like to get a nice family dinner out of it where we can enjoy the fruits of all of the work we’ve put into these chickens!

 

[Parront]

Those are all great ideas, thank you all! Perhaps I’ll go ahead and try the plucking method on the first few, and if it seems to be going too slow I’ll switch to skinning... Can you use the same pot of water for 5 birds if you keep it warm, or do you need to change the water out? I like the idea of spatchcock preparation, can I do that at the time of butchering or need to let the bird rest in the fridge first? Either way, birds should rest in the fridge for a few days before freezing or cooking?

Thanks again for all of the great suggestions!

Yes, just let the water heat back up after you do one. A small bird, you might not be able to get your hand inside to remove the entrails, so cut out the backbone (no meat there anyway) and open him like a book to dump the entrails, keep what you want like the liver & etc. Rinse, rest in frig a couple of days, grill your 8 week old! I like skin, and I think it is worth plucking to get it. But, you can marinate or baste to BBQ a skinless bird. Still worth eating, in my book. 1 per person! Think Cornish Game Hen, which is just a 3 or 4 week old Cornish-X about 18 oz dressed. Yours will be small but tastier than that store chick!

 

[Morrigan]

Yes, just let the water heat back up after you do one.

Ditto that.

 

[Parront]

We’ve not eaten any of ours! We are mostly in it for layers/pets but my DD really wanted to breed her own for interesting egg colors and feather pattens. I built a whole bachelor pad coop and run over the winter because my daughter couldn’t stand to get rid of last years cockerels! That’s at capacity now so when we were breeding these chicks, it was with the understanding that the cockerels would be food and not pets. No one is looking forward to processing these guys, but since it needs to be done, I’d like to make the most out of the final product. I’d like to get a nice family dinner out of it where we can enjoy the fruits of all of the work we’ve put into these chickens!

We have been known to have processing day on one weekend, and the BBQ party the next weekend. There is no really magic number of days to wait in the frig, your fresh, clean birds will be good for a week in the frig, so you have time to recover from doing the deed. I love fried chicken livers and onion the same day, though! The reward for all your work. But, I did 15 at a time back then. Five sounds like a better number to me now that I am older and wiser.

 

[Mosey2003]

I just cooked some skinned legs and thighs from 16-18 week old cockerels I butchered. I put them in a casserole, covered with broth, added herbs and seasoning, and let them cook covered in the oven at 200. Takes 3-4 hours. Nearly as tender as store chicken, I recommend doing older ones that way. 7 weeks is awfully young for dual purpose, I'd let them go until at least 12 weeks, myself.

 

[Parront]

I just cooked some skinned legs and thighs from 16-18 week old cockerels I butchered. I put them in a casserole, covered with broth, added herbs and seasoning, and let them cook covered in the oven at 200. Takes 3-4 hours. Nearly as tender as store chicken, I recommend doing older ones that way. 7 weeks is awfully young for dual purpose, I'd let them go until at least 12 weeks, myself.

Well, if they are anything like the Brown Leghorns I used to have, they are so annoying that they were fine eating no matter how small! Extra Leghorn-type males really never get very large. But, they get super busy with the hens, if you get my meaning!

 

[R2elk]

I stuff and roast them, make chicken noodle soup, chicken and dumplings or make a chicken gravy to serve over homemade waffles. The gravy is made the same way as preparing the chicken and stock for soup except instead thickening the broth with flour and adding back in the cut up chicken pieces.

Of course one could always make chicken pot pie.

 

[Mosey2003]

Well, if they are anything like the Brown Leghorns I used to have, they are so annoying that they were fine eating no matter how small! Extra Leghorn-type males really never get very large. But, they get super busy with the hens, if you get my meaning!

Right

I just did two 12 week old males for a friend and lemme tell ya, they are WEE little things. I'm actually a bit surprised, because I feel like the birds from my own line (a cousin to hers, if you will) are bigger at that age.