Cooking Older Chickens

[Davy Crockett]

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions.
RevDoc, I know now to butcher younger chickens.
But, these birds got away from me as I tried to find a way to butcher and clean them in under an hour or more each.

But, I tried one in the slow cooker yesterday.
A splash of vinegar as Summerthyme suggested, some oregano, garlic and onion salt and poultry seasoning.
I also rubbed salt into the cavity.
Slow cooked for 6-1/2 hrs and it was very good.

[Animal Lover]

I just bought 10 skinless, boneless chicken breasts in a family sized pkg. because it was on sale. When I got home, opened the pkg. to wash the chicken before re-packaging to freeze, I noticed how big each breast was! Me thinks I got some old rooster breasts! Groan. I love soup, but my wonderful hubby doesn't like any soup. None. I will try doing one at a time wrapped in foil with a bit of well seasoned italian oil, wrap and cook long and slow in the oven. Wish me luck.

[Davy Crockett]

They may not be old just because they're big, Animal Lover.

[Summerthyme]

Animal Lover... VERY unlikely that you got "old rooster breasts". For one thing, even the biggest, oldest roo just doesn't have that much breast meat. We butchered some egg laying cross roosters along with my Slow Whites and the last of the CornishX last week- the CornishX breasts (pullets) weighed THREE POUNDS. The Slow Whites (also pullets) weighed around 1 1/2#. The egg laying crosses weighed a few ounces.

What you probably got is CornishX breasts from birds which got a couple weeks older than the usual 7 weeks they normally butcher at. They'll be delicious- don't worry about it.

Summerthyme

[natty threads]

I like to make henchilladas with old chooks.

Also, if you grind up the darker meat with Savory and maybe a little cumin or fennel you get a real decent breakfast sausage.

[Animal Lover]

It was wonderful!! Now I don't have to worry about all the others being tough. Thanks everyone. Summer you always make me feel better. Thanks a lot. I was afraid I had made a big mistake.

[Animal Lover]

Thanks everyone. It was wonderful! Now I don't have to worry about the others being tough.