| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| chick-chick |
Posted - Jun 12 2011 : 11:52:34 AM
Well we butchered our first hen yesterday, (well I just put out the hit on her,my nephew, husband and son did the butchering.)
I took it out the fridge today to make soup (the hen was about 2 years old) snd BOY it is STIFF!!! Is it suppose to be that stiff? I put it in the pot and have been boiling it for about two hours and I don't seem to be getting anywhere with it. What did we do wrong?
Any sugggestions?
Plus I learned an important lesson, you don't give names to your furture food.
In God We Trust |
| 8 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| batznthebelfry |
Posted - Jun 13 2011 : 08:11:02 AM
most chickens we get at the store are around 6 months old when butchered & feed heavy all that time...plus they aren't allowed to free range & most of the time never leave a building so we have gotten used to soft chicken meat...when you raise your own even young if they are getting out into the fresh air, running & having a good time they are developing muscle....I bet you noticed how red the leg meat was compared to store bought meat...you just have very healthy chickens even if they are not heavy & fat.....After they hit a year old they will be tougher & like what is said they do better in stew/soup pots....I had to butcher 2 very old hens who I had taken from a friend...the leg mites had gotten so bad she didn't know what to do & when I took them they were in just too much pain so I butchered them.... now their meat was beautiful, a healthy deep red, good muscle, some fat but they were not good for baking...yeah I tried.....I think if I had baked them like a roast with water they would have softened up but I ended up having to tear the meat off the bone & & threw it in a pot on top of my woodstove with lots of vegs.......I will tell you those old girls made wonderful veggie chicken soup......Made me realize that old timers probably throw a fit the first time they ate the Colonals chicken since the flavor would be so different & have a watery taste to it.....amazing how different the taste is to a good healthy home raised chicken is to the ones we buy in the stores......makes my heart hurt for the factory chickens knowing they were not loved or cared for like I take care of mine....Michele'
Chickens rule!
The Old Batz Farm
Hen #2622 |
| CMac |
Posted - Jun 13 2011 : 07:32:03 AM
I learned a lot from this thread. Thanks for asking the question Liz. And thanks for all the answers Ladies!
Connie
"I have three chairs in my house: one for solitude, two for friendship, three for company."
Author: Henry David Thoreau |
| homsteddinmom |
Posted - Jun 13 2011 : 07:11:26 AM
I dont think there is anyway to really tell that is ok to eat. But at least you know where it was and what it has been eating so i would have no trouble eating it. you jsut have ot think about what has happened to chickens processed out and sold to stores. Were the fed poison, were they sick, things like that and they sold them to someone to eat!
Homesteading Mom in East Texas. Raising chickens, Rabbits and goats here on my farm! |
| chick-chick |
Posted - Jun 13 2011 : 05:57:27 AM
After boiling it for over four hours it was finally less tough and I'm making soup. I think the next time I'll use a crock pot!
This is new to us, when we got the hens they were for laying/pets so we named them. But the hen wasn't laying and the practical side set in, sooo Off with her head it was.
She was a buff orpington and she was fed feed and did alot of free ranging but she was really skrawny. After the I started cooking I found out about ageing it in the fridge. Live and learn.
But I do have one more question..how can you be sure when you butcher it that it is ok to eat?
As I said before this is all new to us.
Thanks
In God We Trust |
| msdoolittle |
Posted - Jun 12 2011 : 8:32:24 PM
Older birds are going to be tougher. I age my meat for 2 days in the fridge, even on my young birds. Anyway, I think the Crock-pot would be your best bet here. 'Slow and low' is the way to cook tough meat! :0)
FarmGirl #1390
www.mylittlecountry.wordpress.com |
| amomfly |
Posted - Jun 12 2011 : 5:02:58 PM
When we butcher old hens we take breast meat and leg meat, soak it in thenderizer,put it thru a meat grinder and add more tenderizer and spices, then we pack it in jars and can it at 15 lbs. for 15 min. That is then what we call chicken bologna!
Then with the carcases[and the little meat left] we thow it right then in big pots and boil it for like an hour. We then pick each chicken clean and can that meat and all the broth. Now you have the perfect quick chciken for chicken and noodles, chciaken and dumplins ot whatever!
Older hens [roosters too] are usually tough.
This is the best way I have found to deal with it.
Come visit my blog
http://angieruralliving.blogspot.com/
God Bless
Angie-amomfly
#1038 |
| Dusky Beauty |
Posted - Jun 12 2011 : 2:46:52 PM
I remember Kris talking about doing in her mean old rooster who was I think 3, and she said he was really tough-- she ended up making dumplings out of him because she couldn't do anything else.
I was just thinking to myself what I would do with such an old chicken, and I figure 14 hours in a crock pot is the way to go!
"After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut.” ~Will Rogers |
| oldbittyhen |
Posted - Jun 12 2011 : 1:14:28 PM
1st off, on the old side, a pressure cooker is what is needed, 2nd off, what's the breed, cause there are several breeds that just do not work out as a meat bird, 3rd, what was her diet, was she feed to be a meatbird, or just scratch and or free range...
And yes nameing food is not a good idea, my breeders are named, and their kids, lambs, beef, etc are numbered...
"Knowlege is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad" |
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