I have read if stewed properly, "older" hens are still fit to eat, but they don't define "old". Our buff orpington layers are 2 3/4 years old. Is that too old? Yea or nay. Thanks.

-- Gertie (hirefams@mhtc.net), May 05, 2002

Answers

Not at all- the older hens are the best for stewing- try coq au vin, it's very nice, and easy to make as well.

-- Elizabeth (ekfla@aol.com), May 05, 2002.

Those old hens make the best chicken and dumplings ever!

-- Cheryl in KS (klingonbunny@planetkc.com), May 05, 2002.

Gertie,

I eat them 5 years old or older! (I know, I know but when you have children sometimes ya just gotta wait!)

Several ways to get them tenderer, pressure cooker, slow cooker and cook them for 2 days, oven on a very low temp. 250^ there about for hours. I like the slow cooker / crock pot this gives me the best chicken soup then I shred the chicken and use in many different kinds of dishes.

Older chickens have more flavor and a my favorite over the younger ones. So I forgo the tenderness for flavor.

-- westbrook (westbrook_farms@yahoo.com), May 05, 2002.

Agreed - the older the bird, the more concentrated the taste.

Don't forget to use the legs as well. They start off looking pretty disgusting, but if you scrub them, then bring a saucepan of water to a rolling boil and parboil the legs, you will then be able to cool them and peel off the old knobbly outer skin and surface layers of spurs and nails, and get down to a clean inner skin. At that stage, you can make soup or stock from the legs - incredibly concentrated taste, and rich in gelatine too. If you don't use it any other way, you can use it to cook the rest of the bird in - helps to keep the taste of the rest of the bird in the meat rather than having it leach out into the cooking liquid.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), May 05, 2002.

Just another way to prepare chicken or turkey feet

Chicken Feet Soup

8 chicken feet 2 stalks celery 4 cups of water 1 parsnip (turnip) chopped parsley 1 onion quartered salt and pepper to taste and any other herbs and spices or vegetables have on hand

Cut nails from feet and dip in boiling water for about a minute. Peel the skin off of the feet. Simmer everything for as long as you like :) about an hour or two or longer if in a crock pot, on a wood burning stove in a dutch oven same as crock pot. You can strain vegetables out or leave in add noodles and serve.

-- westbrook (westbrook_farms@yahoo.com), May 05, 2002.

I'm not much for eating chicken, but I have a friend who prefers the taste of older roosters and hens. This is what she says:

Cooking time and method.

If you use a pressure cooker, than you are just making stock.

She saves bones and pressure cooks THOSE for stock! She pressure cooks them on low for several hours, then removes them. They're practically powdered bones and she feeds them back to the chooks. The remaining rich bone stock is used for soup or to cook rice. (She almost never cooks rice in plain water.)

As for cooking wild birds (or older roosters), it usually involves a dutch oven or a covered cast iron pan, and lots of veggies, slow cooked in the oven. Tenderizes them. That is why so many WILD bird recipes involve fruit! Tends to tenderize tough birds.

A crock pot is also good with a 24 hour cook time.

She often just makes a good stock/soup, then shreds the meat for tacos and salads.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2222@yahoo.com), May 05, 2002.

I either pressure cook or just plain cook on stove and then cool and get meat off bones. Then I pressure can the meat. Gooood Stuff!!!

-- debbie long (dlong@simplot.com), May 06, 2002.