Chantecler Roaster

Chanteclers

When we first started farming we started pasturing poultry. We took a workshop and followed the new trend of raising meat birds in Chicken Tractors on pasture.  Traditional meat birds (Cornish Rock) are moved a few times a day in moveable pens (tractors) and live outdoors eating grass and bugs etc...

We quickly figured out that this hybrid chicken variety is an eating machine...we spent a lot of time training them to eat grass and encouraging them to be more active in hopes to develop the fuller flavor and witness natural chicken behavior. There was, however, not much natural about this bird you see hybrid birds which are 100% of the chicken you buy, have been programmed to eat, eat, eat. ("What is a hybrid") They are not very hardy and can easily succumb to injuries due to their size.  We understood why they were content to live in a small moveable pen, they don't really move much having been bred for factory farming. They were also very pricey on feed in their mere 10-12 weeks of life and it seemed that most of the feed really just came out the other end.  When you are feeding  Certified Organic Grains things get expensive real fast.  The tipping point for us was how it made us feel- we did not enjoy these not so pretty and unperson-able birds.

We decided to go with a traditional Heritage Bird the Chantecler, the only Heritage chicken ever developed in Canada's.   What a difference! Not only in raising but in taste! These birds are active and have great personalities! They love, love , love to forage and naturally do it all day long. I have yet to see a chicken sitting ( which is what the others did the better part of their day). We can bred them ourselves and no longer need to depend on Hatcheries.  Yes they take 6-7 months to grow but those months are enjoyable... they eat way-y-y-y  less, don't stink, are beautiful and strong.  They can not be raised in "chicken Tractors" and need room to roam but hey that's less work for us too!  Our farm is our small piece of paradise and these guys fit in and act like real chickens!

The traditional roaster on left and the Heritage Chantecler on right.  They have definitely changed the shape of chickens over the years!

And how are they to eat? Wonderful.  Smaller but juicier and tastier.  They have a smaller breast and bigger legs.  They seem to self baste being slightly oily- so no need for oil or butter. They are slightly firmer and by far the best chicken we have ever tasted!  Definitely a must try!

In 2013, our first year of raising Chanteclers,

 we became obsessed with roasting the perfect bird. Our preferred method is as simple as is gets.

You will need only 4 ingredients...no oil or butter and no water we've tried and it's better without:

Roasted Chantecler Chicken

Ingredients:

-Chantecler

-Granitewear Chicken Roaster (This type of roaster was designed to retain moisture and brown the bird without taking the cover off and I believe is an important element in roasting Heritage chickens) 

-Salt and Pepper

- 1/4 to 1/2 Flour (depending how thick you like your gravy we do 1/4)

Heat oven to 325

Take note of the weight of your bird it's important! : (30 min per pound + additional 30 min to roast top)

Sprinkle bird with Salt and Pepper

Put in roasting pan breast side down ( sometimes we do ans sometimes we don't)

Now set your timer to cook bird for 30 minutes per pound.

When that is done, flip bird so that the breast is up put lid back on and roast another 30 min. ( If you haven't flipped just roast the additional 30 min)

Remove bird to a plate and make gravy

Tip: Since oven do vary some....our bird at this point often has collapsed. When ready legs just pull off easily. If for some reason your birds leg doesn't pull off but springs back another 15 minutes may be necessary


Prepare a container with about 2-3 cups of water and have near you at stove.
Put pan over stove-top burners and sprinkle about 1/4 of water to the pan  whisk it as best you can scrapping up any bits you can then add 1/4 flour and continue scrapping while mixing the flour into a nice paste it is good to try to brown the flour without burning.
When all flour is a paste and browned as much as you can without burning start adding your water and whisking.
Salt and pepper to taste.
You will eventually end up with the most succulent brown gravy!

A wonderful roasted base to work with.

Start adding water to your browned paste and keep whisking.


Here is a great link to cooking Heritage Chicken it explains how to cook the different ages - you would read parts pertaining to roasters as our Chanteclers are processed between 6-9 months: http://www.albc-usa.org/documents/cookingwheritagechicken.pdf