Just butchered my first bird. 10 Month old rooster had white kidneys?

[3KillerBs]

Those are some huge testes!! I’ve only ever had one rooster with testicles like that. Why are they so large?

The more mature the rooster the bigger the testes.

They're like peas in store-bought roasters and go on up in size.

 

[Molpet]

I have found the breed makes a difference, also in winter the testicles have regression.
I was wondering why I had testicle color and size differences in the fall and winter. https://www.backyardchickens.com/account/alerts

 

[Castlemaid]

OMG!!! YES! They were the testes! Boy, do I feel stupid now.... but of course, videos of chickens being butchered, showing how the internal organs look wouldn't have testes as part of it. I googled it, there are recipes for fried chicken testicles? Is that for real?

Okay, you guys can stop laughing at me, though I deserve it...

On another note, what's the best way to prepare a 10 month old rooster for the table?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

OMG!!! YES! They were the testes! Boy, do I feel stupid now.... but of course, videos of chickens being butchered, showing how the internal organs look wouldn't have testes as part of it. I googled it, there are recipes for fried chicken testicles? Is that for real?

Okay, you guys can stop laughing at me, though I deserve it...

On another note, what's the best way to prepare a 10 month old rooster for the table?

I'm not laughing at you, in just laughing at the mix up. I'm sure the bird wouldn't have thought it was funny mixing them up either

 

[hysop]

OMG!!! YES! They were the testes! Boy, do I feel stupid now.... but of course, videos of chickens being butchered, showing how the internal organs look wouldn't have testes as part of it. I googled it, there are recipes for fried chicken testicles? Is that for real?

Okay, you guys can stop laughing at me, though I deserve it...

On another note, what's the best way to prepare a 10 month old rooster for the table?

I made mine into “rooster” pot pie. It was delicious. Got a lot of stock from him.

I let him sit in a tray of salt water, covered, in the refrigerator for a few days. Fully submerged if possible. Then with new water I added veggies to the pot like carrots, celery, onions and some spices like rosemary and bay leaves. Boil then simmer for a few hrs. I strain the stock and put up. I gave the veggies to my dogs, I’m sure I can give em to my chickens depending on what veggies I add. I debone the chicken and found a good pot pie recipe.

Unless you wanna roast yours. I haven’t tried that.

 

[Castlemaid]

I made mine into “rooster” pot pie. It was delicious. Got a lot of stock from him.

I let him sit in a tray of salt water, covered, in the refrigerator for a few days. Fully submerged if possible. Then with new water I added veggies to the pot like carrots, celery, onions and some spices like rosemary and bay leaves. Boil then simmer for a few hrs. I strain the stock and put up. I gave the veggies to my dogs, I’m sure I can give em to my chickens depending on what veggies I add. I debone the chicken and found a good pot pie recipe.

Unless you wanna roast yours. I haven’t tried that.

Mmmm, that sounds good... Yes, I’ve read about brining. I’ve got the bird brining right now. I would like to try a low slow roast.

 

[hysop]

Mmmm, that sounds good... Yes, I’ve read about brining. I’ve got the bird brining right now. I would like to try a low slow roast.

Let me know how that works out for you. I have a couple chickens in my freezer I wanna roast

 

[Chickenman MAN]

They

OMG!!! YES! They were the testes! Boy, do I feel stupid now.... but of course, videos of chickens being butchered, showing how the internal organs look wouldn't have testes as part of it. I googled it, there are recipes for fried chicken testicles? Is that for real?

Okay, you guys can stop laughing at me, though I deserve it...

On another note, what's the best way to prepare a 10 month old rooster for the table?

They probably exist. You get 'sweetbreads' or testicals of a particular animal, I imagine they are edible...Idk how weird this is but according to Fred whatever his name is (famous chef) when cooked properly they melt in the mouth...ew

 

[U_Stormcrow]

OMG!!! YES! They were the testes! Boy, do I feel stupid now.... but of course, videos of chickens being butchered, showing how the internal organs look wouldn't have testes as part of it. I googled it, there are recipes for fried chicken testicles? Is that for real?

Okay, you guys can stop laughing at me, though I deserve it...

On another note, what's the best way to prepare a 10 month old rooster for the table?

We aren't laughing, all of us have been there at one time or another. That you are asking questions speaks well of you.

...and at that age, I like slow, wet methods of cooking - stews or braising. I don't find brining imparts any tenderness at all, just moisture retention and allowing flavor addition for smoking or similar. Aging the bird at least 3-4 days in the fridge will help, you will get the same result whether brining or not, but I suspect that where many get the idea that brining tenderizes, because they are basically wet aging at the same time.

The other thing I like doing with birds that age is mechanical tenderization - sausage.

Yes, fried sweetbreads are a thing. There was a time when every part of an animal was put to use. I don't care for the texture, so they get fed back to my flock. They do seem to like it.

 

[3KillerBs]

Indeed, we are not laughing.

If you don't know in advance it's easy to make that mistake because the testes are very much the shape of and close in proportional size of mammalian kidneys.

I've been cutting up grocery-store chickens since I was about 12 and didn't know until about 10 years ago that the spongy red stuff stuck beside the backbone in the thigh area was the kidneys. I was more used to mammalian anatomy than bird anatomy.