Cooking the perfect roast chicken

resortofchooks · **Joined:** Tue Aug 16, 2011 11:10 pm **Posts:** 27

Cooking the perfect roast chicken
The ultimate chicken tasting test produces a shock result, writes Richard Cornish.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/ ... z1VuGf5SuO

andre · **Joined:** Tue Oct 13, 2009 5:21 pm **Posts:** 612

They all use pretty much the same super-fast growing chicken genetics but differ by conditions under which they were raised. As they discussed on Gourmet Farmer last night it is about price (they were talking about pigs).

In the 'good old days', roast chicken was a very special thing and was much more expensive than the best beef roast.
The chickens were grown out long and slow and were from traditional meat breeds or crosses.

These days that would make it well over $40 a kilo. Who would pay that for a whole chicken these days?

OakA · **Posted:** Fri Aug 26, 2011 10:38 am

It also tasted like chicken.
I well remember those days Andrew, it was a special treat for Xmas, Easter or birthdays.
We considered ourselves lucky as we lived in a rural area and had our own as well as being in a poultry farming area of outer Sydney we could buy cast hens for 5 shillings (50 c) each.
It was my job to dress and mum boiled or steamed the fowl only roasting/browning in the oven.
Not much beats a prime fat ckl or plt at 8 to 10 mths for flavour, rather than a 6 wk old baby.

Rhode Red · **Posted:** Fri Aug 26, 2011 11:08 am

I was also one of the "lucky" few who grew up in the country, living on home grown poultry (chicken, turkey and duck). We purchased very little feed, generally they were fed on corn and spent the day free ranging around the farm and cattle yards.

I fine that the commercial chicken have very little flavour compared to my home grown cockerels (7-9 mth old RIR's). Even my daughters prefer the flavour and really enjoy when I decide to have one for a Sunday roast. Unfortunately I don't grow enough to have one ever weekend.

Many of my feeding and raising techniques come from my granparents. In some ways they really had the right system for growing poultry. Many tend to be a bit on the "soft" side and this tends to help "poor" genes being kept in our strains of poultry. The down side of these genes are the low fertility, production and hatchability.

More people should look to grow their own birds to experience the best tasting poultry.

Rhode Red

Petite Poulet · **Joined:** Thu Jun 09, 2011 7:17 pm **Posts:** 5219

Maybe, some of you with years and years of Chook Wisdom could perhaps start a new topic about the "Good Old Days" and what you fed your chooks and how you raised them!

I honestly think that many of us in the younger generations would be very interested in learning about these important things before they are long forgotten in the passing of time and the corruption of modern day living

"The years teach much which the days never know."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Petite Poulet · **Joined:** Thu Jun 09, 2011 7:17 pm **Posts:** 5219

Petite Poulet wrote:

Maybe, some of you with years and years of Chook Wisdom could perhaps start a new topic about the "Good Old Days" and what you fed your chooks and how you raised them!

I honestly think that many of us in the younger generations would be very interested in learning about these important things before they are long forgotten in the passing of time and the corruption of modern day living

"The years teach much which the days never know."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

I have decided to put a new topic called "The Good Old Days..." in Poultry Health & Wellbeing and invite you all to share your infinite years of Chook Wisdom.

Thank you, kindly

resortofchooks · **Joined:** Tue Aug 16, 2011 11:10 pm **Posts:** 27

I too remember the slow grown and natural taste of what I call real chicken seem for the most part that has been lost to 'fast food' I will check out your topic Petite Poulet

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