Well, it was a practice day.
I sent three meat chickens to the great beyond.
I worked a deal with Sprite. She raises eggs and her biddies are getting old. Since I was raising chicks anyway, it was pretty easy to add a few more. I expect to deliver them tomorrow.
In return, she paid for the cost of the chicks PLUS I get her old biddies to can in the pressure canner AND I get to graze her pasture (which she wants to keep open and the fences in good repair). A win all the way around.
It was good practice and small trial-runs are optimum for incorporating learning.
The current plan for the tough, old, stringy girls is to skin them to save labor. Then to bone the bigger cuts of meat and pack pints for pressure canning. The remainder of the carcass (less feet, neck, etc.) will be cooked in a stock-pot and the bones fished out. The stock will be pressure-canned in quarts for soup stock.
For the record, the chickens I processed today were bigger than they needed to be. I was able to cut each breast into quarters which will be eight-servings-per-bird of breast and another four of leg-thighs and then whatever soup-stock I get from the remainder. If my calculations are correct, that adds up to at least 12 meals per-bird given the serving sizes Mrs ERJ and I eat for our main meal.
Chicken guts are prime for attracting yellow-jackets and I draped fly-paper over the gut-bucket and placed it near an active nest. It should get exciting.
I assume chicken guts would also be dandy for catfish and bullhead bait.
Please update us on the "accumulation" of yellowjackets!
ReplyDeleteirontomflint
Free range chickens for the win... ANd NO plucking required!
ReplyDeleteChicken feet make the best chicken stock! We use the feet and neck for one soup, cut the birds in half ( we could go quarters) and freeze for roasting later. Use the remains for another soup. We cook one day a week and eat the food over the week. the soups usually make enough to freeze a few as well.
ReplyDeleteThe feet and beaks are the best part. The feet have great collagen for mouth feel of the broth (think chicken aspic) and the beaks have a great flavored fat. Roast the feet with any bone you pull out under a broiler till well browned. Add dripping and roasted bits to broth. Don't roast the beaks, just add to the broth(cheesecloth is your friend.)
ReplyDeleteAfter we cook our chickens (roast for Cornish Cross, crock-pot chicken stew for the tough, free-range birds) and make broth from the carcasses, we pressure-cook the carcasses, feet, hearts and gizzards at 15 lbs for an hour. This makes the bones crumbly and turns the feet, including the nails, into beautiful gelatin. We smash the bones up with a potato masher and use the bone broth as a supplemental food for the dog. DIL, a city girl, was scandalized when I told her that Jello was purified chicken feet.
ReplyDeleteAs others have said, keep the feet!!!!
ReplyDeleteEvery Jewish mother from the east to west coast had a heart attack today when reading you threw away the neck and chicken feet. When we were in Chicago (when it use to be safe) one meat market sold chicken feet. Had to call in order prior to arriving as they sold out each day. Umani (sp?) to the max.
ReplyDeleteSo, pop bought 100 chickens. He got a really great deal. He didn't realize they were alive, so we spent the best part of the day killing, plucking, cleaning chickens. My job was to burn the pinfeathers, over the kitchen stove, that are left after plucking. We got done and went out to eat. Nobody wanted chicken. The smell of burned pin feathers lingered a long time.
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ReplyDeleteChicken fat makes great cookies. Woody