Chuck's in the crock!

This morning, Chuck made his way into the crock pot with an Italian spice blend and some water, set on high until I left for work and now on Regular temperature for the rest of the day. I'm super excited.

So my question for you is: how did you cook up your first home grown bird and what are your methods for softening up older birds? Any particular spices you find helpful? Meat tenderizer?

I had a whack of young cockerels (20 weeks old) processed. I wanted a quick bird dinner so I thawed partially, fried that cockerel leg and thigh, it was so tough I thought I was eating leather, smiling. I still have the rest of the bird in the freezer (along with about 6 others of the same age). I have yet to take a few minutes in time to slow cook that bird, but when I do I will also post my results. On the other hand, I have a whack of these cockerels and older ones to my Sister, back on the coast. She cooked them up, at different times and she was delighted. The family (of 6 kids) loved the taste of the bird and the texture. They were not tough. I know for a fact that she slow cooked them in the oven. Me...I was just in too much of a hurry to have a home grown bird and fried it. Won't do that again. My Husband is lacto-vegetarian (eats eggs, milk, cheese, just nothing that has lived), so it is a huge thing when I cook meat, which is all the time, I am type 0 blood and NEEEEEEED meat, smiling. I love meat, all types of meat. I don't know why I am so lax about pulling the rest of the bird out and slow cooking it, maybe cause it is the time of year when slow cooking is not my thing. But when I do, and I will, I will surely post my results. I have talked about this in another post, some long time ago, and was going to cook it and make a post on results, but just me and the back burner of time, rather lax about some things some times. Hmmmmm....when I cooked some pieces of one of the cockerels in the little toaster oven, they were good. I would not call tender, but firm, but very, very good. It was just those pieces that I quick fried -- did I mention they were like shoe leather or the toughest beef jerkey I have ever tried to chew on hee, hee, hee. Can't wait to hear how Chuck was....beautiful days, CynthiaM.

I made crock pot Coq au Vin with red wine and wild mushrooms and whatever veggies I had shrivelling in the fridge. It was deeeelicious!

The first time I processed some Partridge Chanteclers I dry roasted one to see if I could and if they were edible. I was plesantly surprised at how good it was! The skin was a bit thick, but the breast was tender and moist, not as much of it but it was lovely. The thighs and drumsticks were firmer, but not tough. Just a different texture than a store bird and the flavour was amazing!! I cooked it just the same as I would have a store bird.

Now I usually cook them really slow in my cast iron roasting pan. I put a little chicken stock in the bottom with some garlic, onions and bay leaves. Really I do this cause I am LAZY! They can even go in a little frozen and they still come out delicous.

I am going to try to do a bit of a roaster job on some of the boys this year. I really do like that slow, dry roast so I am going to try to feed them to grow a little more breast.

Your boy that has bred hens will be tougher and have a bit of a different flavour. I like the 'virgin' cockerels better myself.

I hope you enjoy him, and keep trying if it is not quite right the first time.

I have posted these pictures before, but I thought you may like to see them.

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Roast SUrplus Roo

Place bird in roaster and roast with some onions and potaotes for about 3 hours at low heat.

When it is discoverd that he cannot be chewed, repeat this process again the following day.

When he still cannot be consumed, apply heat with a blow torch. Make sure bird is evenly flamed. If still tough, splash on a little diesel fuel and repeat flaming process.

Day 4 sees bird tossed into a cement mixer for several hours of tenderization.

Day 5, bury bird. Do not worry, the dogs will not dig him up.

uno wrote:Roast SUrplus Roo

Place bird in roaster and roast with some onions and potaotes for about 3 hours at low heat.

When it is discoverd that he cannot be chewed, repeat this process again the following day.

When he still cannot be consumed, apply heat with a blow torch. Make sure bird is evenly flamed. If still tough, splash on a little diesel fuel and repeat flaming process.

Day 4 sees bird tossed into a cement mixer for several hours of tenderization.

Day 5, bury bird. Do not worry, the dogs will not dig him up.

BWAHahahahhahahahaha!!!!! Uno your to much, I needed that laugh thank you!! Hahahaha

Awh! *Rubs belly* That was a somewhat gratifying meal I must say. I was somewhat creeped out, mind you, about eating something I knew at one time and something I killed no less, but it was a tasty meal.

I put him in the slow cooker with some cold water and Italian spice and left him on Normal Temperature the whole day while I was at work (10 hours, give or take). He was fall-off-the-clean-bone tender after all that bubblin'. I was surprised at the amount of dark meat despite reading about it. I could best describe the meat as a tinge gamey, but, I liked it enough to try another one sometime.

Thanks for everyone's yummy stories, I'll have to try something similar to the dry roasting soon. Last time I roasted a chicken in the oven I... well it deflated. Even the barn cats wouldn't eat it.

Moose isn't with me for my cooking skills and looks, that's for sure LOL

Sweetened wrote:I was somewhat creeped out, mind you, about eating something I knew at one time and something I killed no less, but it was a tasty meal.

I put him in the slow cooker...

It helps if you don't call him "him" and "he", or god forbid, name it.

We ate our first rooster a couple of months ago. I didn't think I could do it because I raised him from a day old but I did and he was delicious and tender. We made coq au vin in the slow cooker. Someone told us to leave them in the fridge for two or three days then put them in the freezer, then they won't be so tough. We already had them in the freezer so we thawed them in the fridge for a few days. It seemed to work.

Yuuuummmmeee, I still remember the flavour of the chew bird. The one I did in the toaster oven was so good too, and not near so tough. Gonna pull the rest of the bird out tomorrow and slow cook it for the day, promise....and I will report my findings too. Today I have to make a teriyaki stir fry that I started like two days ago and never got around to thickening the sauce. We make the most DELICIOUS homemade teriyaki sauce, with noodles, hmmm.or maybe rice. Yummee, hungry at 7:30 am for a good dinner. Have a most awesome day, CynthiaM.

farmchiq wrote:

Sweetened wrote:I was somewhat creeped out, mind you, about eating something I knew at one time and something I killed no less, but it was a tasty meal.

I put him in the slow cooker...

It helps if you don't call him "him" and "he", or god forbid, name it.

Also helps if it was a particularly nasty bird. Like my Wyandotte that went for me every time I opened the door.

Note; maniacal gloating laughter after each bite may draw a certain amount of confused looks.

Fowler wrote:

farmchiq wrote:

Sweetened wrote:I was somewhat creeped out, mind you, about eating something I knew at one time and something I killed no less, but it was a tasty meal.

I put him in the slow cooker...

It helps if you don't call him "him" and "he", or god forbid, name it.

Also helps if it was a particularly nasty bird. Like my Wyandotte that went for me every time I opened the door.

Note; maniacal gloating laughter after each bite may draw a certain amount of confused looks.

I'm sorry, if it's on my property and a name comes to me, it shall be named. It wasn't naming him that creeped me out, I've just never eaten anything I've killed (excluding veggies I've ripped from the ground).

Chuck had turned vicious after I gave his girls to Winston (understandable, I suppose) and started attacking legs any time someone went into the coop. Ultimately, there were bigger hens that don't lay worth a heck I could have knocked out, but Chuck's meanness put him to the front of that line. He was a great roo for protecting, would have been good to protect free ranging girls, but I don't take kindly to being attacked.