Extra taste, zero waste! Laying hens are very tasty when used as boiling fowl.
If you use a whole boiling fowl, your chicken soup will be especially tasty and nutritious. Reduced to a broth, the liquid will make a tasty basis for poultry sauces and stews. The meat of a boiling fowl can be used for a hearty chicken soup and other recipes.
While the term “boiling fowl” may be easy enough to understand at a literal level, many may not know exactly what’s behind the name. Boiling fowl are exclusively female hens that were previously laying hens. They grow from chicks into laying hens in the rearing shed and then spend around a year in the laying barn. After around 500 days, the hens are slaughtered and sold as boiling fowl.
Chicken meat is sold in shops under various labels. The label provides clues as to which recipes and cooking methods are best suited to the meat in question.
Chicken can include both male and female broilers that have been reared in feedlots, specifically for the meat industry. These birds quickly reach the desired weight for slaughter (30 to 70 days depending on the rearing method). Their meat is suitable for all poultry dishes – whether crispy-fried or in a curry.
Unlike a broiler, a boiling fowl is not reared solely for consumption, but instead has a comparatively long life as a laying hen. Boiling fowl used to be considered as high in fat, however this is seldom the case with modern-day breeds.
Compared to chicken meat, the slightly tougher meat of a boiling fowl makes an aromatic basis for soups and sauces once cooked. The meat should also be eaten as it is very tasty. What’s more, it is sustainable to use the meat from hens that would be slaughtered anyway as part of the egg production process.
One of the most famous chicken dishes is the healthy, hearty chicken soup. Traditionally it was made for the sick and for mothers after childbirth to help them get their strength back. This soup is particularly flavoursome when you make it with boiling fowl as opposed to chicken or chicken breast.
Whether you buy it fresh from the butcher or frozen, you must first prepare the bird. A fresh fowl should be washed thoroughly inside and out under running water in order to rinse off any remaining blood and remove any residue left over from slaughter.
A frozen boiling fowl must first be completely defrosted, which can take up to 15 hours depending on the size. Cooking a boiling fowl from frozen is not recommended as the meat will not cook evenly. Cooked properly, however, it is delicious.
When preparing the boiling fowl, kitchen hygiene is paramount as bacteria multiply quickly on raw poultry meat. Pour away all of the defrosting liquid and wash any used knives, bowls and colanders thoroughly.
Boiling fowl is primarily used in the making of flavoursome soups and hearty broths. You can always use the following basic recipe for a tasty chicken soup and then go on to use the liquid and the meat in other dishes, as desired.
1. Place the whole rinsed boiling fowl in a suitably sized pan and cover with water.
2. Add finely chopped vegetables (carrot, celery, leek, onion, parsley), season with salt, pepper and a bay leaf, and bring to the boil.
3. Simmer the liquid until the meat is cooked. Add more water if the boiling fowl is no longer completely covered. Depending on the size of the boiling fowl, the cooking time is around 2 hours.
4. Once cooked, remove the boiling fowl from the pan. Now you can strain the soup.
If you want to enjoy the soup fresh, add raw vegetables to suit your taste and cook for a further 10-15 minutes. However, you can also reduce the liquid to a broth and freeze it in small portions. Broth can also be kept unrefrigerated for a while: pour it into preserving jars while it is still hot and screw the lids on tightly. This will ensure you always have a tasty basis for poultry sauces, soups and stews.
The meat of a boiling fowl is best removed from the skin and bones immediately after cooking. Providing it is still hot, it should come away relatively easily. Chop it up small and add it to the hot broth or turn it into a tasty fricassee.
These tasty morsels of boiling fowl are also ideal for poultry salads or as an accompaniment to leaf salads. We don’t recommend grilling a boiling fowl, however. Laying hens have much less meat on them than chickens.
MyFooby Login
You must log in to your MyFooby account to save recipes. Still no account? Register now!
Log in with Supercard IDNo Supercard ID yet?
The Supercard ID is the unique login for all of Coop’s digital services.
Register for Supercard IDChoose a cookbook
Like this recipe?
ith myFooby, you can not only access your saved recipes on all your devices, but also save interesting stories and helpful cooking instructions and easily refer back to them.
L'article te plait ?
ith myFooby, you can not only access your saved recipes on all your devices, but also save interesting stories and helpful cooking instructions and easily refer back to them.
Do you want to remove this recipe?
Do you want to delete the recipe permanently and remove it from all cookbooks?
Supprimer l'article complètement ?
Do you really want to delete this article from your cookbook?
Successfully saved!
Saving failed!
Please log in!
Log on now – easily and conveniently – to FOOBY with your Supercard ID, save the shopping list on all your devices and benefit from additional advantages.
The recipe has been saved in your shopping list under myFOOBY.
Unfortunately, the shopping list was not saved.
Like this recipe?
Now you can user your Supercard ID to log in to FOOBY easily and conveniently and make use of all the functions and advantages.
Choose a cookbook:
L'article te plait ?
ith myFooby, you can not only access your saved recipes on all your devices, but also save interesting stories and helpful cooking instructions and easily refer back to them.
Supprimer l'article complètement ?
Do you really want to delete this article from your cookbook?
Remove recipe?
Do you really want to remove this recipe from the cookbook?
Delete the entire recipe?
Do you really want to delete this recipe from your cookbook?
Successfully saved!
Like this recipe?
Log in with your Supercard ID to have access to a cookbook with your favourite recipes from all your devices.
L'article te plait ?
ith myFooby, you can not only access your saved recipes on all your devices, but also save interesting stories and helpful cooking instructions and easily refer back to them.