Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

How do you cook your heritage chickens? Do you boil or bake them? I just find when I cook mine they seem to be dry and tough. They sure aren't like cooking hybrid birds. I would appreciate any of your ideas or best recipes.

Instant Pot. Or any pressure cooker. Then pop them in the oven on broil until browned.

I leave them for at least a week in the fridge before I freeze/cook them. Then they are fine.

Oh geez, I don't have a pressure cooker. Do you think it would work just as well to slow boil on stove top? I do like making my own broth. I have baked them in the oven and after one meal make chicken fried rice and then boil the rest up for soup.

Sure, as long as you let them rest, as @Killerbunny suggests, it should be fine.

ok, thanks Jaye and KB! I am going to try this tomorrow, as I have one to do. I would really like to try some pieces cut up one day, but that is more work.

You can boil the chicken, which will give you some nice stock and then put in the oven for 1/2 hour, which will give you a respectable impression of a roasted chicken.

The longer you let them rest in the fridge, the more tender they will be. Though, there are some, like spent Leghorn layers, that make excellent flavourful stock but the meat is SO tough and stringy that they're near impossible to chew no matter what you do. I like to cook "old rooster" in the slow cooker with some acidic sauce, like tomato or, my favourite, Italian dressing, yum!. If all else fails, cut into small pieces for soup, or turn it into ground chicken.

Thank for the suggestions OC and www. Unfortunately I don't have a slow crock either, as the previous one I had quit working and I never replaced it. I had thought that the chicken only had to rest in the fridge for 24 hours, so it is good to know it needs to be for a week. At what age is a heritage rooster best to cull?

Mine are usually 20 - 24 weeks old. I do use birds up to a year though especially the turkeys and as long as they rest for the week they are fine.