The Way it Ought to Be - Chixperiment Continues

One of the most rewarding things that we do is raise our own food.  It's rewarding from a number of perspectives.  First and foremost, our food is supplied by God; without Him nothing would be possible.  Sometimes we take credit for our accomplishments but we never forget the One that gave us the opportunities and abilities.  We have been richly blessed.

Second, by raising our own meat we know what was fed to the animal, how the animal was treated and cared for, and have the assurance that the butchering and processing was done humanely and with respect.

In 2009, we began breeding for a meat chicken that would reproduce on it's own and yield consistent results.  Here it is 3 years later and so far we've been happy with what we're producing.  Last fall we had a Bantam roo develop a crush on the fat white hens and sometimes when we incubate our meat bird eggs we get a surprise.  These are 2 of those surprises, they are half meat bird half bantam which means they are kind of small.  They hatched a few months ago, and now that we can determine they are roosters, it's time to go to freezer camp.  In their case, they became stock. 

We go through a lot of our home canned chicken stock.  I use it in most recipes that call for water or broth.  It's not really difficult to make, and the flavor difference in the dish you're making is unbelieveable.  PLUS no part of the bird is wasted.  These birds were free ranging, so they ate very little grain or commercial feed.  First they are killed and plucked.  Unfortunately the barred bird was in a molt and there were a lot of pin feathers to contend with.

From there we gut them, and remove the heads and feet.  Next they are thoroughly washed in cool water, and I do a butterfly cut (split the bird down the back) and flatten them out on a roasting sheet.  I rub each one with a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper and roast them for about 40 minutes in the oven.

Next I remove all of the meat, and put the bones, skin, necks all into a stockpot...along with the pan drippings from the roaster.  The bones and skin are what is used for making stock.

The meat is packaged in 2 cup packages and vac sealed and put in the freezer.  I'll use it later in soups or casseroles.  Do you see all that dark meat?  You can not get that beautiful color and flavor from a grocery store bird.  That dark meat is created when the bird gets plenty of exercise.

Next I gather the ingredients for the stock.  Celery, carrots, onions, garlic....

All of these are rough chopped and put into the stockpot with the skin and bones; then covered with water.

Allow it to come to a boil and maintain a low rolling boil for about 6 hours.  Then strain and put into sterilized jars.  Cap the jars and process them in a pressure canner for 25 minutes at 11 pounds and you've got 7 quarts of the finest stock you have ever tasted!

The strained bones and veggies can be fed back to the chickens, or ground and turned into dog food along with the heads, feet, and offal.