How to Cook Heritage Meat Chickens (or turkeys) so They Taste Good!

If you’ve ever butchered a heritage chicken for meat, you probably figured out pretty quick that they are not really the same as store bought chicken! With less fat and more muscle, heritage meat birds tend to be a little on the scrawny side, and can even be downright chewy! Learn how to cook heritage meat chickens (or turkeys), and make them taste good!

 

Heritage Meat Chickens

 

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Commercial meat chickens are hybrids that are typically kept confined and butchered at 6-8 weeks of age.

Heritage breeds, on the other hand, are often free ranged, building muscle instead of fat. They are typically not butchered till at least 4-6 months of age, or even a few years old if you butcher your older laying hens. Suffice it to say, that while heritage meat chickens might have more nutritional value, their flavor can be lacking. Actually it’s not so much the flavor that’s the problem, it’s just that they are tough!

In this article, I’ll talk about two ways to cook heritage meat chickens so they will be more tender. And if you haven’t butchered your meat chickens yet, you’ll find some tips at the end for raising better heritage table birds.

These tips will help you to cook an enjoyable meal while enjoying the health benefits of heritage poultry!

 

Method #1: Slow Cooking with Water

 

 

Cooking with water is a great way to tenderize and add moisture to a heritage chicken.

If you don’t want extra fat, this is a great way to go!

My favorite easy way to cook a chicken in water is with the crock pot.

 

Cooking a Heritage Chicken in a Crock Pot

Step 1: Thaw chicken (s) if frozen. Wash chicken in cool water and place in a crock pot. If your birds are small, you might be able to fit two.

Step 2: Add 4 cups cool water for one chicken, or 6 cups for two.

Step 3: Season with sea salt and spices of choice. I like to use fresh rosemary and rainbow peppercorns.

Step 4: Cover and cook on high until the meat begins to fall off the bones. This will vary with your crock pot temperatures and the size of your chickens, but in my crock pot it takes about 4 hours. Expect heritage chickens to take about twice as long as a hybrid meat chicken.

 

Crock pot cooked chicken can be served plain, added to your favorite chicken dish, or made into a delicious soup or stew. You’ll get a delicious broth using this method that can be saved for another recipe!

 

Method #2 Cooking Heritage Chicken with Added Fat

 

The second method, a little closer to the roasted chicken you are used to, involves covering your chicken inside and out with fat. You’ll get a really moist and flavorful meat by cooking this way.

You can use whatever fat source you would like, from yummy bacon to butter or coconut oil. A store bought chicken typically has a lot more fat on the bird, so by adding fat to a heritage meat chicken you are just mimicking that.

This method also works great with turkeys and ducks!

 

 

How to Cook a Heritage Chicken with Fat

Step 1: Thaw meat if the chicken is frozen. Wash in cool water and place in a roasting pan with sides.

Step 2: Smother chicken inside and out with a layer of fat. You can use coconut or olive oil, but will get the best flavor using an animal fat such as butter, lard or bacon fat.

Step 3: Season the bird with spices of choice. Optionally, you can stuff the inside with vegetables such as onions, garlic, carrots and celery.

Step 4: Place in a 450 degree oven. Lower the temperature to 325 and bake until the meat reaches 165 on a meat thermometer.

Step 5: Be sure to save the bones for a nutritious homemade bone broth!

 

Cooking a Heritage Bird with Bacon

A variation of this recipe is to cover the chicken, duck or turkey in strips of bacon, secured with toothpicks.

You can find complete instructions for cooking a turkey this way right here: Bacon Wrapped Turkey

 

 

Tips for Raising Heritage Meat Chickens

If you haven’t butchered your meat chickens yet, these tips will help you raise tastier heritage meat birds!

 

Tip #1: Limit Exercise

Heritage meat chickens can develop a lot of muscle while free ranging, and muscle can be tough.

To get a more tender chicken, you’ll need to limit their exercise by confining them to a smaller area

 

 

Tip #2: Feed Corn

Everyone talks about how too much corn makes fat hens that don’t lay well. But if you would like a nicer meat bird, that is exactly what you want!

We separate any birds that are going to be butchered from the rest of our flock and feed them a special diet to fatten them up a bit more. Ours get 70% of their dry feed as an 18% non-GMO grower feed and 30% organic cracked corn. They also get some veggie scraps to ensure they have a wide range of vitamins and nutrients. They receive the added corn for at least 3 weeks prior to butchering.

The better nutrition your heritage meat chickens receive, the more nutritious the meat will be!

You can find organic cracked corn on Amazon, but I also recommend checking with your local feed store! If I can’t find non-GMO corn elsewhere (thanks to recent supply chain issues!), I’ll order a bulk bag meant for human consumption from Azure.

 

 

Tip 3: Meat Chicken Breeds

Finally, if you are considering raising chickens specifically for meat, you can buy hybrid broiler chicks and feed them a commercial broiler diet to grow chicken that tastes like what you are used to.

You can also look for heritage meat chicken breeds that were bred specifically for meat, as opposed to a dual purpose breed. A great choice for a purebred meat bird is the heritage Cornish (most hybrid meat birds are a cross of Cornish with other breeds).

You can order heritage Dark Cornish chicks here from McMurray Hatchery!

Another option is the Aseel, or Asil, an aggressive meat chicken breed that takes care of itself and needs lot of space. These birds can be hard to find and aren’t recommended for beginners!

The Buff Orpington was one of the original meat chicken breeds, but has been more recently bred for increased egg production instead.  The Australorp, although dual purpose, descended from the original Buff Orpington and can still make a decent meat chicken.