Let's Talk BBQ
Recipes => Recipes => Poultry => Topic started by: SmokinKat on June 12, 2014, 05:24:47 PM
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Chicken butchering time, that is. A few months ago we got a batch of meat chicks, and their 12 weeks 'expiration date' (optimal growth time) is nigh upon them.
I think we ended up with 48 all told (chickens are really hard to count, before they're hatched or otherwise!) We've had great luck with them all, but a couple of days ago we noticed one wasn't up and moving around very well (the downside of meat chickens is that they grow so fast and so well that they can become too heavy for their own good.) We've cut back on their feed a bit to make sure the others don't end up porking out TOO much before I'm ready to butcher. This one was alert and healthy otherwise, so we decided that we should dispatch the one chubber instead of letting it suffer.
(http://i965.photobucket.com/albums/ae138/katrinarounds/fatties1_zps43259c36.jpg) (http://s965.photobucket.com/user/katrinarounds/media/fatties1_zps43259c36.jpg.html)
I figured that since I processed more than a dozen chickens last year, it would all come back to me really easily, especially since I was doing just this one. Well, suffice to say that it wasn't quite like getting back on a bike after being away from it for awhile... Quite a bit more awkward, and much, much messier.
We let the meat rest overnight (we do this with all our meats-- giving it 24 hours before freezing or cooking helps make sure the rigor mortis phase has passed, so the meat is more tender). Which is awesome, because I typically have no desire to eat the meat directly after butchering it. This one was just a shade under 5 lbs.
I mixed up a rub with paprika, cayenne, sugar, salt, mustard powder and orange peel, and rubbed it down with olive oil and rub over and under the skin.
(http://i965.photobucket.com/albums/ae138/katrinarounds/firstchicken_zpse1645675.jpg) (http://s965.photobucket.com/user/katrinarounds/media/firstchicken_zpse1645675.jpg.html)
James was off doing errands until about 8, so I let the chicken smoke for a couple of hours before cranking it up to finish it off when he got home.
(http://i965.photobucket.com/albums/ae138/katrinarounds/crispy_zps4b235ee1.jpg) (http://s965.photobucket.com/user/katrinarounds/media/crispy_zps4b235ee1.jpg.html)
Man alive was that some tasty, crispy skin! Meat was juicy and flavorful, and for a rub made of random crap thrown together, it turned out pretty tasty. (I've got my set of redneck Savor Spices on order, can't wait to have some "real" rubs in the house again!!)
James recently asked me, "So... what exactly do you DO with all the pictures you take of food??" He didn't care for my answer of "Disproving the existence of unicorns." ::)
(http://i965.photobucket.com/albums/ae138/katrinarounds/plate_zps2697a868.jpg) (http://s965.photobucket.com/user/katrinarounds/media/plate_zps2697a868.jpg.html)
Even the dogs got to enjoy our first chicken of the season-- they love the feet! Of course with three dogs and only two feet, I had to break into the stash in the freezer so no one got left out. Pups will have feet-treats for a good long time after I finish with the rest of the flock!
Here's Bayou enjoying a little snicky-snack. She's the one who will hide the chicken feet in the couch cushions if allowed to go inside during snack time, which we've found is a VERY unpleasant discovery, so they're now banished outside for treats.
(http://i965.photobucket.com/albums/ae138/katrinarounds/bayoutreat_zpsc41e58e4.jpg) (http://s965.photobucket.com/user/katrinarounds/media/bayoutreat_zpsc41e58e4.jpg.html)
I'm going to try and write up a butchering tutorial/commentary on my blog after I do this next run of chickens if anyone is interested. We'll see if James can avoid fainting long enough to snap a few pictures of the process for me this time around. :)
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Nice write-up, pics, and of course that hen looks great Kat! Nice job! :P
Psssst keep the smelling salts handy! We don't want Jim missing too much action!
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I'll have some on standby-- there's no way I'm going to be able to pick that big lug up off the floor by myself! :D
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I butchering post is always a good thing,I await yours Kat.Chicken meal looks darned good too!
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Great lookin' Yardbird Kat. Hope you got a big freezer 8)
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That is some good looking bird.
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Chicken looks real delicious Kat! Yes, please do a tutorial!
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Nice looking chick there Kat. Being raised on the farm I remember killing chicken for Sunday dinner. I like the shot of the dog and the chicken leg. ;D ;D
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Great looking yardbird. ;)
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Chicken looks great Kat!
Nice color on the skin ;)
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Excellent job on the butchering and smoking, love the picture of the pup.
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Great looking yardbird. ;)
X2
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Great looking chicken. Even better the pictorial...! Look forward to the butchering "lesson." Thanks!
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Nice Kat, great looking plate of food and always enjoy your writing!!! Don
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Kat since it is the season. Rescue a couple short traffic cones from being run over. Cut the top 3 inches or so off. Invert them and secure to a couple of 2x4's they make great chicken holders while dispatching the birds. Being wedged inside the cone they don't bruise up at all and they dont fall out of the holder.
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That looks good. I have to ask, are you a "chop the head off" person or "grab it by the head and sling it around till the head falls off" person?
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Kat since it is the season. Rescue a couple short traffic cones from being run over. Cut the top 3 inches or so off. Invert them and secure to a couple of 2x4's they make great chicken holders while dispatching the birds. Being wedged inside the cone they don't bruise up at all and they dont fall out of the holder.
Yes! James works for ODOT (Oregon Dept. of Transportation) so he 'rescued' a couple of cones for me last year! It really is a great way to hold the chickens and keep them from flopping everywhere. We have a horse shower stall in the barn, so we have the cones secured to the wall (with easy access to the hose to spray everything down).
That looks good. I have to ask, are you a "chop the head off" person or "grab it by the head and sling it around till the head falls off" person?
I'm a "chopper". :) I actually hadn't really ever heard of the sling-it-around method until Smokin' Don had posted about his 'tough Aunt from Georgia'! I didn't grow up around farm life, so 99% of what I've learned is through books, blogs and You-Tube, and apparently neck wringing isn't as in vogue these days, since I don't remember seeing that suggested.
With these chunky chickens, I'm not sure my wrists are quite strong enough to sling them around till their heads pop off! I'd be afraid of botching it and ending up with a "Mike" like Doc Holly mentioned earlier on Don's thread: ( http://www.miketheheadlesschicken.org/history ) and I am just not the sort of woman to have enough patience to feed a headless chicken with an eyedropper for years on end!!