Despite all of bogus information on the Internet, I believe that you’ve got to go back to the days before industrial farming and development specialized birds for laying and birds for meat. Back in those days most farms had a yard full of chickens that were raised to lay eggs. Old layers past their prime usually ended in the stew pot, and ‘spring’ chickens were young, superfluous males - they grew slowly and didn't offer a daily return for their feed.
I stopped at the Queen Anne Farmers’ Market a few days before heading to Oregon to buy some eggs from Dog Mountain Farm, and to my delight both David and Cindy were in the booth. After chatting for a bit David mentioned that they had Colored Ranger roosters available, and my eyes just about popped out of my head. David rummaged around in the cooler in response to my standard question and pulled out a bird tipping the scales at just a pin feather under 5-1/2 pounds. With visions of real Coq au Vin dancing in my head I plunked my money down. As you can see from the photo, the bird is massive compared to the Poulet Noir and Colored Ranger hens, even to the Rhode Island Red hens. Slow braising in red wine and stock with bacon, shallots, and mushrooms it was to be I thought as I drove away. Well, that was the plan anyway.
As I contemplated a market run to buy the last few ingredients with the future Coq au Vin drying in the fridge, I had a change in heart. I had been burned so to speak in the past by roasting more mature birds, with a tough, stringy result. I had neglected to ask about the age of the bird when I bought it, but I decided to take a chance by roasting it low and slow, about 280 degrees - it turned out to be 14 weeks old. Yes, it’s the easy way out…if it works…but it will also offer me a ‘real’ taste of the unadorned rooster.
Update: Success, and oh, so much flavor and texture.
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