Rooster Tastes Different?

[Noncentzter]

I was chatting with my mil just the other day and talking about butchering the extra roosters. She said that she wouldn't eat a rooster cuz they'd be stringy and not any good. I questioned her about the age of the bird she was eating, but she didn't waiver and said age didn't matter.

So my questions are: Does a rooster taste different from a hen? At what age do I butcher them? They are currently about 10 weeks old.

 

[briana1975]

I was told to butcher them by 16 weeks no later. Our were good. The overly aggrisive roosters were older about 26 weeks. Flavor was fine but really needed to be in a crock pot to cook.

 

[LarryPQ]

Well, I have only been eating my roos. None of the hens have needed to be shuffled off yet. The meat has a better texture than the store-bought meat---which I find grainy and weird.

I think the meat is different from the store-bought, but most of those are meat-bird roos anyway, right? When chicken goes on super-sale, those are laying hens that are past their prime. The super-sale chicken is tougher, and hard to cook.

I bet if you cook it right, no one wil know the difference.

 

[Ibicella]

They still taste like chicken, but they do tend to be stringier. Butchering at 16 weeks or so, then letting the meat rest a few days in the fridge or a brine, and then slow cooking on low heat (like a crock pot) makes them tender and fine eatin'!

They are also awesome for making broth with.

 

[sourland]

Flavor is fine, butcher young according to recommendations for that breed. Older roosters though flavorful are tough and should be crockpotted or made into soup.

 

[patandchickens]

I don't honestly taste any difference between pullets vs cockerels at 14-18 weeks. They're all very tasty

And assuming you cook them appropriately, i.e. a little slower and moister than you would with storebought chicken, not tough at all.

I too was skeptical about eating grown, sexually-active roos (having heard they taste very gamy), but the other week I finally "dealt with" a very aggressive roo who had turned 1 yr old the day before I processed him. I let the meat rest in the fridge for 4 days, then pressure-cookered him for an hour, and OH MY GOSH that was the BEST chicken I've ever had. The dark meat was incredibly dark, almost turkey-tasting but not gamy at all; the white meat was similarly flavorful. The stock from cooking him, and then from boiling the carcass afterwards, was SUPERB.

And no, the meat was not tough at all (mind you I rested it and then pressure-cooked it). I'd say it was "dense" -- benefitted from being cut or diced into small pieces -- but not at all stringy or chewy. Just WONDERFUL.

Highly recommend

But you do need to remember what you're cooking, and not treat it the same as a mushy soft saline-injected CornishX boneless breast from Krogers

Good luck, have fun,

Pat