Pressure Cooking Old Hens/Roosters

[Maeschak]

Hello all,

I've got 7 old laying hens butchered and in the fridge (spatchcocked for quicker cooking). I have read that some folks pressure cook their old birds and the meat comes out good enough for enchiladas or the like. Can anyone give me instructions? Do they need to rest before cooking, how long of a cook, how much fluid, etc would be greatly appreciated. (I pressure can raw packed chicken all of the time but have never pressure cooked an old chicken).

Full disclosure: I am more interested in the stock I am going to make after stripping the birds of their meat than the actual meat and really want to get these birds cooked quickly (Crockpot is way to slow).
Also, someone has given me the pressure cooker recipe before on this site but I just can't find it now. I believe, but am not sure, that the recipe was a 15 minute pressure cook with just a few cups of water.

Thanks so much!

 

[cavemanrich]

I do not use a pressure cooker and don't have one now. I know that it does cut down cooking time. I have read on posts of 20 minutes or so. Trial and error is a way to go. If after said time period it is still insufficient , then continue for longer. I would also suggest that you cook chicken with bones and all since you are interested in the stock mainly. You get all the flavor doing it that way. Long ago when I did pressure cook a chicken, the stock seemed slightly cloudy. We now cook our chicken soup in a regular fashion. (chicken soup is different than just chicken stock). When it starts to cook, we remove the mung from the top with a large spoon. After a while no more impurities surface, so its set. Soup boils for 2 to 3 hours on low heat. Soup is very clear. If you are using the pressure cooker, you don't have the option to remove that mung. It gets boiled in to the resulting stock that may be cloudy, but just as good in taste.
I am cooking store bought chickens this way which are young. The few chickens that I keep are pets only.
You may have to cook older chickens considerably longer.
WISHING YOU BEST....

 

[BarneyChick97]

I have a pressure cooker (not electric) and do love it. I have cooked some old laying hens (they were about 3 years old), however, I didn't do that in my pressure cooker. I did use a slow cooker, and it was for HOURS, slow, and I had planned on making them for enchiladas as well ....

However, the meat was NOT good!!! It was super tough, and the breast meat was very small, and tight?! Even after cooking it for so long.

Now, I HAVE cooked one a couple of our turkeys (cut up into parts, because they obviously wouldn't fit) in a pressure cooker for thanksgiving. That was amazing! To also make sense of this, our turkeys we let go for about 6 months, and they have always been 25-33LBS or so.. so we ended up parting them up, and threw a leg, a wing, and breast meat.....it was very good! Best turkey Ive had, and its definitely never dry!!

 

[Maeschak]

I have a pressure cooker (not electric) and do love it. I have cooked some old laying hens (they were about 3 years old), however, I didn't do that in my pressure cooker. I did use a slow cooker, and it was for HOURS, slow, and I had planned on making them for enchiladas as well ....

However, the meat was NOT good!!! It was super tough, and the breast meat was very small, and tight?! Even after cooking it for so long.

Now, I HAVE cooked one a couple of our turkeys (cut up into parts, because they obviously wouldn't fit) in a pressure cooker for thanksgiving. That was amazing! To also make sense of this, our turkeys we let go for about 6 months, and they have always been 25-33LBS or so.. so we ended up parting them up, and threw a leg, a wing, and breast meat.....it was very good! Best turkey Ive had, and its definitely never dry!!

Thanks @BarneyChick97 - I don't know if a 6 month old turkey is as tough as a year/two year old chicken, but can you tell me how you pressure cooked your turkey? Parted it up with a couple cups of stock or something? And for how long?

 

[BarneyChick97]

No its not tough at all... but you could certainly try it. If there was any hope for a tough old bird, its a pressure cooker!
My mom always told me, if you cooked a bird for longer than an hour, you cook it to death. lol..you might want to do that.
I always add some kind of broth (I like Better than Bouillon), throw some carrots, onion, celery, garlic, and rosemary (fresh rosemary is the BEST!!). I would cover it at least half way with liquid, and I would start at 45 mins, and check it. You dont have to thaw it, but when I cook just frozen chicken breasts, I time for 45 mins. So you might need more time with bones. The worst that will happen cooking it for longer is that its going fall apart. So as long as you aren't going for presentation. I would think it would be somewhere around 1 hour. You cook on high until it gets to high pressure, and then turn your heat down to a medium, and then start your timing then.

If anything you will at least have some amazing stock.

 

[Parront]

Hi, I scanned some pages from my vintage pressure cooker cookbook, copyright 1974.
Here is a link:https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/pressure-cooker-fried-chicken.73205/
An older bird would be 20 min at pressure, cut up and browned first. In my small cooker you use 1 cup of water.

 

[Maeschak]

Thanks so much everyone- I tried 20 minutes w just a bit of water. It was horrendously tough (which is ok, I'm mostly after stock).
Then I tried 20 minutes with the birds fully submerged in water and the meat came out so incredibly tender. Bland, but tender! I'll just use the meat for soups. Now, onto the stock!

Thanks again for the input-

 

[Parront]

Thanks so much everyone- I tried 20 minutes w just a bit of water. It was horrendously tough (which is ok, I'm mostly after stock).
Then I tried 20 minutes with the birds fully submerged in water and the meat came out so incredibly tender. Bland, but tender! I'll just use the meat for soups. Now, onto the stock!

Thanks again for the input-

Thanks for the feedback! I use a small cooker, and I did some 3 year old Orpingtons years ago, used them for chicken meat in chicken salad sandwiches and chicken noodles. A lot does depend on the size and age of the chicken.

 

[Pensmaster]

Thanks so much everyone- I tried 20 minutes w just a bit of water. It was horrendously tough (which is ok, I'm mostly after stock).
Then I tried 20 minutes with the birds fully submerged in water and the meat came out so incredibly tender. Bland, but tender! I'll just use the meat for soups. Now, onto the stock!

Thanks again for the input-

Did you let them rest in fridge before pressure cooking or put the straight in the cooker?

 

[speedy2020]

I used the Instant Pot pressure cooker and filled with 4"-5" of water. It took about 8-10 minutes at high pressure and let the cooker sit for 30 minutes. There is no rest in the fridge need. I also cut the chicken legs and wings to make it fit nicely in the cooker.