Eating Rooster?

[Kazbah]

So we have 4 roosters that are 6 months old. Do you think they'll be too tough to eat???

[Rouge]

Not at all! I'd probably go for something slow cooked, rather than baked or pan fried etc.

[~me~]

My mum used to use the roosters to make chicken stock. Otherwise yes, something slow cooked.

[Rouge]

Just checked my French cookbooks and readitionally coq au vin was made with rooster as it could handle the cooking time and the flavour was better.

[Kazbah]

Ta ladies. Guess what's for tea tomorrow night.

That's right, Ivan

ETA - thanks Rouge. Might look it up.

[Rouge]

Oh noes. I couldn't eat things I named lol.

[TeniBear]

Huh. You learn something new every day. I didn't know the texture/flavour/whatever might be different in a rooster Makes sense now I think about it...

[Astrid]

6 months is still young and not yet a full rooster. The original coq au vin was peasant food and made with the older roosters. That is why the rooster had to soak in red wine for 24 hours to break down the fibres.

We have eaten 6 month boys and they are fine. Homegrown chook is so different to commercial raised ones, even the ones which a "free range" or "organic". They are stringier, darker in colour and have a lot more flavour.

Seperate him for a week or so if you can, so you can "fatten" him up a bit. Then make sure he has no food the morning of the day of dispatch. Best to have an empty crop, otherwise he is a bit harder to dress (the fancy term for gut). If you need more info on how to do it, pluck and gut, just ask

I reckon Nigellas Praised chicken is a good recipe for a young boy.

ETA: We named one of the first boys we ate, and we named him after FIL

[Kazbah]

Well the 4 boys are all seperate in a small area which we've now covered to block out light - they are crowing, and we're not allowed roosters here. Plus we've actually got more roosters than we're allowed.

Originally I was thinking of roast chook, but now looking for slow cook recipe

[Tinks]

When I was a kid we ate our troublesome rooster, it was tough so definitely slow cook Ivan.

Kaz, I've heard if you lower the roof of their pen they are less likely to crow because they can't extend their necks.

[Astrid]

I don't think toughness is a real problem (unless it is a very old bird), that is how chooks are meant to be, not what we get commercially. Our tastes have become so used to the white, very soft meat of the commercial eating breeds.

The Chef on the Cook and the Chef, used to get complaints that his duck was tough. Of course it was, the duck had waddled, swum and actually flown. He response to the customers was "learn to chew".

[Floweryfields]

Oh noes. I couldn't eat things I named lol.

Me either.

[Kazbah]

Well DH was very sooky, I had to do it (expected) and then we left them to hang for a little not realising that you're supposed to put them in the cooler within 20mins - my memory of granddad getting dinner ready (dinner being the noon meal) involved the chook hanging from the line for a bit .. Ah well.

So tonight's tea is free-range chook from woolies ...

[Astrid]

Ours hang long enough for the blood to drip and for us to get ready for plucking. Plucking itself can take 20 minutes, then 5 for gutting (I am getting quicker though). Oh how we wish for a plucking machine.

[Phteven]

How many pheasants can a pheasant plucker pluck?

[Little Chicken]

I'm a pheasant plucker and a pheasant pluckers wife, I'm always plucking pheasants, it's a pheasant plucking life.

[Kazbah]

I've been looking at stuff and might give skinning a go? I won't be roasting them so the quick butchering will suit. Ah well, there's 2 more chooks that might be roosters.

[Livinthedream]

Huh. You learn something new every day. I didn't know the texture/flavour/whatever might be different in a rooster Makes sense now I think about it...

Rooster or Hen, they all taste the same. You would be eating boys when you buy stupormarket chooks.
The difference in taste is the age. Bought chook are rarely over 45 days old, so they are very soft and pulpy. They are also bred for very white meat. Home grown chook has a much "gamey-er" flavour and it takes alot longer for them to grow to a decent table size (like 180 odd days) so the meat is much stringier, more steak like, and often darker, like duck.
The reason folks talk about eating the roo's is cause the hens are good for laying eggs, so no-one wants to eat them.
You get just as many boys as girls when you breed, so you gotta find a use for the boys, so they usually become fertilzer or food