Category: Butchering

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Spicy Chicken Rub: spice up that grilled chicken!

Grilled chicken, GMO free, pasture raised, free range

Spicy Chicken Rub: spice up that grilled chicken!

This past week we harvested most of this batch of chickens from the field.  The nutrients from the green grass make all the difference in the chicken.  We’ve had a lot of rain this summer and the grass is very rich.  This chicken tastes fabulous!  We like it without any added seasoning, especially if it’s cooked on the grill.  But, if you like a little seasoning on your birds, this recipe makes a great rub to spice things up.  It’s written for a whole roasted chicken, but works fine as a rub on chicken parts, too.

Roasted free range, grass fed, beyond organic whole chicken.
Print
Spicy Chicken Rub
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
2 hrs
Total Time
2 hrs 10 mins
 

Roasted whole chicken is easy as anything, and this rub will liven it up!  Easy and tasty!

Course: Main Course
Ingredients
  • 1 whole chicken, about 4 lb.s
  • 1 tbsp. sea salt
  • 2 tsp. paprika
  • 1 tsp. cayenne pepper (more or less, to taste)
  • 1 tsp. onion powder
  • 1 tsp. thyme, dried
  • 1 tsp. black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Instructions

  1. Combine all the spices in a bag or bowl.

  2. Rinse the chicken inside and out.  Rub the spices under the breast skin and on the skin of the whole bird.

  3. Place bird breast up in a covered pot (roasting pan or crock pot) and bake at 325 degrees for about 1 1/2 hours. Bird is done when the drum stick meat starts to pull away from the end of the bone, or the juices run clear when you poke the thigh.

  4. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

This can be used on chicken parts as well!  Rub the mixed spices onto the parts.  Lay the parts flat in a baking dish.  Bake at 325 degrees for about 1 hour.

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“Is chicken butchering fun?” Find out from this Northern Michigan poultry processor

Michigan poultry processing at bakers green acres marion michigan

“Do you like butchering chickens?”  We get asked this question fairly often through the summer.   The answer, in a nutshell, is

“NO.”

So, why do we do it?  I made a quick video recently asking the kids that question:

The simple answer is that we take pleasure in helping you grow your own chickens by performing this task, and we take pride in doing excellent work at a “dirty job.”  There are few things more edifying than sitting down to dinner with your family and feeling confident that you are feeding them food that will build their bodies, strengthen their minds, and satisfy their hunger because you grew the food on the table.  Growing the animals is one thing, but butchering isn’t for everyone.  I, personally, can’t take an animal from one moment to the next.  I’m blessed with lots of boys who, while not taking pleasure in the task, are able.  Likewise, many of our customers are grateful to be able to drop off feathered, squawking/quacking/honking/gobbling animals and come back a day later for a packaged bird ready to go in the freezer.  We’re glad to help with that part of Anyone Can Farm.

Another gratifying part of the custom processing (we process your animal for you) business is the great conversations we have with so many interesting people.  We learn things about different walks of life, and we share our farming know-how when folks hit issues.  It’s a great exchange and makes the business feel like a small community, especially when we see people year after year.

So, that’s why we do what we do.  Not fun, but gratifying for many reasons.

If we can’t help you farm, that’s OK.  We’re happy to be your farmer (shop now!), or we encourage you to find someone to be your farmer.  Anyone Can Farm!

Poultry Processing at Bakers Green Acres Michigan
The crew hard at it, more or less.
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Stir fry and Bone Broth

Have you ever set about making dinner and realized the meat you have won’t quite match the plan?  You can cut almost any piece of meat according to your needs.  Today I had chicken.  I was short boneless skinless breast for the stir fry for supper.  What I had was chicken legs and chicken thighs.  With a little know-how I overcame the problem, and caught it on video for you!  Along the way, I share how I make use of the bone and skin I don’t use for stir fry: bone broth.  Check it out:

GMO free, free range, pasture raised chicken in a colorful stir fry: a recipe for health.

How to make

Bone Broth

You’ll need a stainless steel stock pot or crock pot. Never use “non-stick” or aluminun cookware as they can release toxins into the broth.

Place beef, pork, chicken, fish, etc. bones in the pot. Any bony part of any animal will do.  Chicken feet are a great asset to any broth.  If they are very meaty bones, I remove the meat when it’s tender and falling off the bone, then return the bones to the pot for the broth.

Add cold water to cover bones.  Add 1 glug, more or less, of apple cider vinegar.  The acid helps pull the minerals from the bones.

Simmer the bones and water, occassionally skimming off any sludgy looking stuff on top.  This isn’t 100% necessary, but you get a much clearer, cleaner broth for the effort.   Simmer for about this long for this bone:

  • beef, pork, lamb, goat: 3-4 days
  • Poultry: 24-48 hours
  • Fish: 12-24 hours

In all cases, the denser the bone, the longer you can simmer it.  When it gets mushy and/or crumbly, you’ve pulled everything out that you can.

Strain the broth through a cloth to get a beautiful, gelatinous, clear broth.

Compost the bones (or give large animal bones to your dog) t0 complete the cycle of making the absolute most of this gift.

Buy Chicken Breast Now!

Buy chicken thighs now!

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FarmStead News Feed

Farmstead Feed: Jill shares the latest from the Farmstead Desk

Fun in the shop: meet the chicken processing team

Fun in the shop: meet the chicken processing team

by | Jun 1, 2018 | Green

We have a day off in the shop today.  The chicken processing shop is usually humming on Fridays, which is when we do custom chicken processing.  The weekly routine is that people who have scheduled their birds (chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks, guinea hens) or rabbits...

Business changes, Passion doesn’t

Business changes, Passion doesn’t

by | Apr 29, 2018 | Green

The more things change, the more things stay the same. So the saying goes.  Did 2017 bring change for you?  Maybe 2018 is the year those changes are really felt. This year is our year of change.  Our business model is changing.  But our passion is still the same.  You...

Fall pigs: why now is the time to get your hog!

Fall pigs: why now is the time to get your hog!

by | Oct 10, 2017 | Charcuterie, Green, Hog Harvest, Lard, Mangalitsa, Mangalitsa Farrowing, Mangalitsa Sow, Non-GMO Pasture Raised Pork, Organic Pork, Pasture Mangalitsa, Pasture Raised Pork

Way back when, long ago, in the mists of time, the folks who homesteaded the land had hogs.  Fat hogs.  Hardy hogs.  Hogs that didn’t need a lot of pampering and could live off the land.  Even in the fall, going into winter, there were no worries about taking...

Integrity Matters: know or learn to be your farmer

Integrity Matters: know or learn to be your farmer

by | Sep 13, 2017 | Charcuterie, Chickens, Education, Farm to Fork, Free Range Chicken, Hog Harvest, Mangalitsa, Non-GMO Pasture Raised Chicken, Non-GMO Pasture Raised Pork, Organic Chicken, Organic Farming, Organic Pork, Pasture Mangalitsa, Pasture Raised Chicken, Pasture Raised Pork

“Trust is the combination of intelligence and integrity.” “Husbandry, which is not replaceable by science, nevertheless uses science, and corrects it too. It is the more comprehensive discipline. To reduce husbandry to science, in practice, is to...

Pasture (Grass) plus Chickens: goodness to share

Pasture (Grass) plus Chickens: goodness to share

by | Jun 13, 2017 | Green

  Last night was a idyllic summer evening: warm, just a little humid from the day and the threatening clouds, rosy colored sky.  The chickens on the pasture (real, actual grass) were resting, waiting for their dinner.  These chickens are content.  They have room...

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The End – Poultry Processing Season has ended for 2016

Poultry Processing at Bakers Green Acres Michigan

The End – Poultry Processing Season has ended for 2016

 

It happens every year.  It makes us happy.

The last day of poultry processing.

Rachel, Jim, and Dorothy take a break between groups of birds to express their joy.

This year we went out with gusto.  For starters, we had a full day of about 175 birds.  For seconds, that count included Continue reading The End – Poultry Processing Season has ended for 2016

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