Cooking pastured chicken

[Guest]

We have a leg and thigh share with a local farm.  So, I usually cook my chicken in a crockpot.  I reserve the mire-poix and juices to blend into gravy and use the crock to make broth after.  After about 8 hours, the legs almost always pull out of joint...done.

 

Twice now, we have tried roasting or grilling the chicken for a change of pace.  My husband checks the meat with a thermometer (two have been used).  He sticks it in the thickest part of the meat without touching the bone.  He removes the meat from the heat at 160 and lets it rest.  This is what we have always done with chicken.

 

Both of these recent sets of chicken looked raw.  The juices were red or pink.  Did something go wrong or is this what we can expect from health, happy chickens? 

[Tom Denham]

I've seen what you are talking about... good, pastured raised poultry can take longer to roast. With a whole bird, the breast might be nicely cooked while the legs and thighs need more time. One approach is to take the breast out when it is done and put the thighs and legs back in to roast longer. 

[Tallulah Wolf-Angel]

I've noticed this too. Glad it's not just me 

We generally just cook the bird longer so the dark meat can catch up. We haven't noticed any harm to the breast meat. We start our roasting chicken with the breast down, so a few extra minutes at the end when the breast is up doesn't dry it out.

[Physibeth]

I've also noticed this after slow cooking a chicken for over 10 hours. Seeing I usually freeze and reheat I don't generally worry about it though.

[KJ!]

The way the chicken is - does one say butchered? - can make a large difference to the finished bird. Does your grower bleed their chickens when they're killed?

[Guest]

Thanks, everyone.  We cooked the legs and thighs (we have legs, thighs, feet, and eggs only) to 170 and they seemed cooked by normal standards.  I may stick to that number in the future.  They were definitely not overcooked.

 

As for the way they are processed, I have helped at one farm, although they are further away so we only get lamb there now.  We did bleed those, if "to bleed" is what happens when they are hanging from a cone right after the fatal cut.  These chickens...not sure.  Would one way or another give me more pinkness or more of a red look close to the bones?

 

I haven't been eating much chicken since I read that the omega content is a little skewed and I have had nice beef, pork, and lamb.  I do have a bunch of these guys - 4 sets of four a month for many months with 4 more coming on Sunday.  I also have a big batch of beef to pick up at a ranch and a half of a pig coming.  I need to get eating.

 

Oh and there is the matter of 17.5 pounds worth of half of a turkey.  Oh my.  Seems it was a growing season around here!

[KJ!]

Got to get eating, I love it! Yes, I as I understand if the animal is not bled out it results in blood-gorged tissue and doesn't cook as cleanly. Envy your farm share setup !