Does anyone still eat capons?
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marzig20 They are a rare find. When you find them they will be quite pricey compared to roasters or fryers. Commercially speaking most male chicks are destroyed soon after hatching, being either gased or shredded. The poultry industry seems to agree that male chicks are mostly useless as cost to raise is not as practical compared to hens.
Deepwoodsbutcher Management made us order them for the holidays. I think they were well over $2.00/lb twenty years ago. The package always said surgically removed. Out of a case of six we might sell one or two. After Christmas employees could buy for half price.
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marzig20 They are a rare find. When you find them they will be quite pricey compared to roasters or fryers. Commercially speaking most male chicks are destroyed soon after hatching, being either gased or shredded. The poultry industry seems to agree that male chicks are mostly useless as cost to raise is not as practical compared to hens.
Deepwoodsbutcher That is really sad, because regardless of what business apparently thinks, there are good uses for them. Before you know it, someone will try to figure out how to just make eggs hatch pullets!
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marzig20 Yes, I still use them in some of my recipes, but they are getting harder & harder to find, like a whole lot of other good things, it seems that I have had to search futilely for at least a year or so now. I wish I knew how to do them myself, but they say it is pretty tricky, plus I have probably gotten soft in my old age. My grandfather used to be very good at caponizing the cockerels & would do it for folks regularly when he was younger. There is a chemical way too I understand, but I remember when I was in school I would hang out with the AG sections a lot because I liked it (they told me I really needed to focus on Architecture & let the Ag folks handle the agriculture end, in jest) & I would hear that you need to be careful about using the chemical method as if you ate too many of them, it might rub off on you.
calldoctoday said in Does anyone still eat capons?:
marzig20 Yes, I still use them in some of my recipes, but they are getting harder & harder to find, like a whole lot of other good things, it seems that I have had to search futilely for at least a year or so now. I wish I knew how to do them myself, but they say it is pretty tricky. My grandfather used to be very good at caponizing the cockerels & would do it for folks regularly when he was younger. There is a chemical way too I understand, but I remember when I was in school I would hang out with the AG sections a lot because I liked it (they told me I really needed to focus on Architecture & let the Ag folks handle the agriculture end, in jest) & I would here that you need to be careful about using the chemical method as if you ate too many of them, it might rub off on you.
Might rub off on you is pretty funny! From what I’ve been reading the chemical is temporary and lasts about six months.
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From what I just read, some folks are opposed to caponizing over here because it is apparently done on unanesthesized birds. It is currently illegal in the UK.
I can remember eating them occasionally when we were young.
processhead I really do not understand the logic of it, as it comes from some folks. It is basically the same as a steer & I cannot imagine that many 1st world societies refusing to eat beef for the most part. For that matter, same goes for most any other male animal that tastes really good.
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calldoctoday said in Does anyone still eat capons?:
marzig20 Yes, I still use them in some of my recipes, but they are getting harder & harder to find, like a whole lot of other good things, it seems that I have had to search futilely for at least a year or so now. I wish I knew how to do them myself, but they say it is pretty tricky. My grandfather used to be very good at caponizing the cockerels & would do it for folks regularly when he was younger. There is a chemical way too I understand, but I remember when I was in school I would hang out with the AG sections a lot because I liked it (they told me I really needed to focus on Architecture & let the Ag folks handle the agriculture end, in jest) & I would here that you need to be careful about using the chemical method as if you ate too many of them, it might rub off on you.
Might rub off on you is pretty funny! From what I’ve been reading the chemical is temporary and lasts about six months.
marzig20 OK, I have never done much reading on it, as I recall, but never forgot the comment from a long, long time ago. Yes, it is funny, but when they said it, I wondered about the possibility & it stuck. I can remember it like yesterday standing there talking to those two Ag professors. I wasn’t that young either as I had gone back to school after working full time for over 10 years.
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marzig20 OK, I have never done much reading on it, as I recall, but never forgot the comment from a long, long time ago. Yes, it is funny, but when they said it, I wondered about the possibility & it stuck. I can remember it like yesterday standing there talking to those two Ag professors. I wasn’t that young either as I had gone back to school after working full time for over 10 years.
calldoctoday I was out filling up the turkeys and this elderly lady shopping with her teenage granddaughter yelled across the store “hey butch I can’t remember what they’re called but do you got any n*tless roosters?” Her granddaughter about died from embarrassment.
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calldoctoday I was out filling up the turkeys and this elderly lady shopping with her teenage granddaughter yelled across the store “hey butch I can’t remember what they’re called but do you got any n*tless roosters?” Her granddaughter about died from embarrassment.
marzig20 That will keep me laughing for the rest of the day!!!
In fact, your post needs to somehow be put at the top for the week as the post of the week! -
I remember my dad caponizing back when I was 5 or 6. Back then we got laying chickens which were generally a smaller breed and the roosters were small and gangly. By caponizing they grew bigger and fatter and more desirable to eat. He had a special electric tool that burned “them” off. But since they are located next to the aorta it was a delicate operation. (We usually ate chicken on caponizing day!) The newer meat breeds now days eliminate the need to caponize.
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Huh, never knew this was a thing. I can’t imagine there is much reward for the time involved with such a task. I don’t foresee us rushing out to castrate any of our roosters.
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Huh, never knew this was a thing. I can’t imagine there is much reward for the time involved with such a task. I don’t foresee us rushing out to castrate any of our roosters.
Ridley Acres Indeed it was & very worthy if done right. If not, there is nothing left to be.
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I haven’t seen them in grocery stores for years. When you ask somebody in the meat department they don’t know what it is.
marzig20 It’s been awhile, but great eating. Haven’t seen it but I think I’ll ask my wholesaler about them.
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marzig20 It’s been awhile, but great eating. Haven’t seen it but I think I’ll ask my wholesaler about them.
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The caponing of birds was one of my mom’s jobs on the farm. Not sure how she did it, and she has passed so I can’t ask now…
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I haven’t seen them in grocery stores for years. When you ask somebody in the meat department they don’t know what it is.
marzig20 I was just to my Smith’s (Kroeger) and they had a few.
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bocephus said in Does anyone still eat capons?:
marzig20 I was just to my Smith’s (Kroeger) and they had a few.
Did you happen to notice the price by any chance?
marzig20 Sorry no I didn’t look that close.
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