Heritage breed chickens are very different from the typical chicken that most of us Americans are accustomed to eating. Today, typical chickens that are raised for meat production on American farms and available for purchase in most stores, including “health food” stores with their “all natural” or “organic” poultry, are usually butchered at between 8-12 weeks old. However, heritage breeds can be butchered at any age and are usually best when butchered at older ages. The key to learning to cook these traditional birds is understanding the age and sex of the chicken when trying to decide how to serve it as food and then collecting recipes that are suited to these unique birds. The “meat” birds that I would PREFER to sell from our farm would primarily be roosters or spent laying hens, all of which would be a minimum of six months old, with the majority of our roosters being less than one year old and our stewing hens around 2-4 years old. These birds will all have a rich, deep flavor in both their meat and in the broth that they produce. While the typical grocery store chicken can be fried, baked, grilled, broiled or cooked in the crock pot with an outcome of tender yet flavorless meat, these old-fashioned, healthy, older heritage birds should definitely be cooked differently if you want to discover the rich, flavorful meat. Thinking back to about 30 years ago, I remember when I would shop at the store for chicken and have to decide if I wanted broilers, fryers or stewing hens. A few of my older recipes actually specified the type of chicken needed for each recipe. Real, healthy poultry should have a different flavor profile depending upon the age and sex of the bird as well as the cooking methods that you employ. For the purpose of today’s article, I will give some tips on cooking roosters to produce a delicious feast.
The most striking difference between a typical heritage breed bird and the modern conventional bird is the carcass shape. Accustomed to the unnaturally heavy breasts and smaller legs and thighs, the look of the longer, narrower, naturally shaped breast with longer legs and larger thighs may appear strange. There is usually more dark meat in proportion to white meat in heritage breed chicken, while conventional birds tend to be the opposite. Because of the younger butchering age and the lack of movement associated with conventional birds, the meat is softer and has very little flavor, while heritage meat has rich flavor and a firm texture and yields a rich, dark, flavorful broth when stewed. Frequently, you may notice yellow fat, which is reported to indicate high levels of beta-carotene.
Another important difference between conventionally raised birds and pastured or free range birds is the texture of the meat since confined birds, and/or birds butchered at a very young age, don’t develop as fully as naturally raised birds and therefore their dark meat is nearly as tender as the breast meat. Because the older, naturally raised birds received more exercise, they will also be more flavorful, but, if not cooked correctly, they can be tough. This variation in meat texture and muscle mass has a direct correlation with the difference in cooking time that is needed to correctly cook the perfect chicken. The older the bird, the slower the meat will need to cook. The birds will need more time for the legs and thighs to cook than for the breast meat to cook, which means that it will be easy to overcook the breast meat and dry it out before the dark meat is completely cooked. Though good recipes will deal with solutions to this problem, a plan is definitely needed to prevent the white meat from becoming dry and tasteless or to prevent the dark meat from being undercooked.
Another important difference between conventionally raised birds and pastured or free range birds is the texture of the meat since confined birds, and/or birds butchered at a very young age, don’t develop as fully as naturally raised birds and therefore their dark meat is nearly as tender as the breast meat. Because the older, naturally raised birds received more exercise, they will also be more flavorful, but, if not cooked correctly, they can be tough. This variation in meat texture and muscle mass has a direct correlation with the difference in cooking time that is needed to correctly cook the perfect chicken. The older the bird, the slower the meat will need to cook. The birds will need more time for the legs and thighs to cook than for the breast meat to cook, which means that it will be easy to overcook the breast meat and dry it out before the dark meat is completely cooked. Though good recipes will deal with solutions to this problem, a plan is definitely needed to prevent the white meat from becoming dry and tasteless or to prevent the dark meat from being undercooked.
A typical roasting age for heritage breed birds should probably be considered from 5 months to around one year old and should usually weigh around 3-6 pounds for most breeds. Having a much richer flavor, these roasters can be baked uncovered in recipes that use temperatures in the 300-325 degree range, though frequent basting will probably be required to keep the white meat from dying out. Using a baking pan with a tight-fitting lid may eliminate the need for regular basting. It doesn’t hurt and sometimes helps to throw in a little bit of broth or water (just a cup or two) into the bottom of the baking pan. If the breast meat isn’t still moist by the time the dark meat is fully cooked, tender, and flavorful, try cooking at a lower heat for a longer cooking time. Sometimes I’ll flip the bird upside down for the last 30 minutes or so to allow it to fully cook on the other side. I’ve used this cooking method with mixed results on these heritage roosters. I’d definitely opt for the cooking liquid, though. A 3-4 pound chicken should take approximately 3 hours to cook using this method, but periodically use your meat thermometer during the last hour or so of baking and pull out immediately when the meatiest parts of the chicken reach 165 to 180 degrees. Make sure that the thermometer doesn’t touch the bone or you will get an incorrect reading. Though it is important not to cook the chicken past 180 degrees for the best flavor, you definitely want to cook it until it reaches at least 165 in order to kill all of the bacteria (particularly salmonella and campylocbacter) that the raw meat may be harboring.
Hens at over a year of age and roosters of any age can be stewed for a delicious treat. If you think that you don’t like stewed chicken meat due to its stringy, flavorless texture, you just weren’t using a good, flavorful, heritage breed, older bird. Try it again and I suspect that you’ll love it. Even the younger roosters have delicious taste and texture that hold up to stewing, but an older bird is best for the broth flavor. These birds, though regularly found at the grocery stores a few short decades ago, are a rare delight since, due to the ability to sex birds fairly accurately at hatching, very few roosters are allowed to live beyond their first day. When cooked slowly using moisture at low temperatures, dinner will taste superb. This meat can then be added back into the stew or drained and used as cooked chicken in casseroles, salads, pies or sandwiches. The most important factor is to keep the temperature of the meat from rising above 175 to 180 degrees or the the meat will be tough no matter how much it is falling off of the bone. While stewing, the broth should never boil, but be kept at a simmer. If steam-baked with a couple of cups of water in the tightly sealed baking pan, the oven temperature should never rise above 325 degrees.
Hens at over a year of age and roosters of any age can be stewed for a delicious treat. If you think that you don’t like stewed chicken meat due to its stringy, flavorless texture, you just weren’t using a good, flavorful, heritage breed, older bird. Try it again and I suspect that you’ll love it. Even the younger roosters have delicious taste and texture that hold up to stewing, but an older bird is best for the broth flavor. These birds, though regularly found at the grocery stores a few short decades ago, are a rare delight since, due to the ability to sex birds fairly accurately at hatching, very few roosters are allowed to live beyond their first day. When cooked slowly using moisture at low temperatures, dinner will taste superb. This meat can then be added back into the stew or drained and used as cooked chicken in casseroles, salads, pies or sandwiches. The most important factor is to keep the temperature of the meat from rising above 175 to 180 degrees or the the meat will be tough no matter how much it is falling off of the bone. While stewing, the broth should never boil, but be kept at a simmer. If steam-baked with a couple of cups of water in the tightly sealed baking pan, the oven temperature should never rise above 325 degrees.
The best broth is made from older, heritage breed chickens. The rich flavor of this strong broth is not only delicious, but very healthy. The other day I made a chicken stew from a roasting aged rooster and, when I refrigerated the leftover soup the entire broth was completely congealed from the rich concentration of gelatin. Typical grocery store chickens, even those that say “naturally raised,” lack the flavor of these delicious pastured, heritage breed chickens. There are, however, a few things to keep in mind when making broth from pastured, heritage breed chickens. First, to protect the flavor of the meat, try not to boil the water but simmer it instead. For the best extraction of gelatin, don’t cook it for much longer than an hour or so, though sometimes I can still retain the gelatin when cooking in a crock pot all night long. Second, the older the bird, the richer will be the flavor. Third, the leftover bones and skin that were cooked using a dry heat method will make an excellent broth for a second purpose. Simply cover the bones with water and simmer for a couple of hours or boil for one hour. Adding a splash of vinegar will help to draw the minerals out of the bones without affecting the flavor. You can also add washed whole vegetables or parts like celery tops or onion skins. The broth will last for over a week in the fridge or for 3-4 months in the freezer. I often save my bones in the freezer until I get enough to make a large batch of broth at a time. Older roosters will probably have a stronger flavor than older hens.
As a general rule, the older a bird is, the slower it should be cooked and the more flavorful it will be. However, I have found that roosters as young as four months old turn out beautifully when using a slow-cooking method. Chefs prefer older, more flavorful birds for making some of the traditionally made recipes such as Coq au vin, but you could try it with younger, pastured, heritage breed birds with surprisingly good results. Happy eating!
Some slow cooked recipes to hunt down to get you started are:
Coq Au Vin (roosters are the traditional bird for this recipe)
Chicken and Dumplings
Stewed Chicken
Chicken Bone Broth - email me for my recipe
Chicken Noodle Soup
Chicken and Rice Soup
Stewed Chicken in Coconut Milk - email me for my recipe
-Trisha
As a general rule, the older a bird is, the slower it should be cooked and the more flavorful it will be. However, I have found that roosters as young as four months old turn out beautifully when using a slow-cooking method. Chefs prefer older, more flavorful birds for making some of the traditionally made recipes such as Coq au vin, but you could try it with younger, pastured, heritage breed birds with surprisingly good results. Happy eating!
Some slow cooked recipes to hunt down to get you started are:
Coq Au Vin (roosters are the traditional bird for this recipe)
Chicken and Dumplings
Stewed Chicken
Chicken Bone Broth - email me for my recipe
Chicken Noodle Soup
Chicken and Rice Soup
Stewed Chicken in Coconut Milk - email me for my recipe
-Trisha
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