Tipping point

Well, it's happened again - later than it should have done because I've been poorly, but it had to come; the garden has been put into winter mode. The second half of the summer planting has been stripped out of the tunnel* and the bare soil mulched; the stewing carrots (donkey carrots, Witchypoo calls them) have been lifted and stored in straw, and the parsnips will follow them shortly; and the three remaining cockerels have been dispatched and frozen. They were our first crack at the 'meat bird' lark, and I've learned a lot.

Primarily, I've learned that although 'dual purpose' birds are heavy enough for the table, in our case they don't put on weight quickly enough to make it worth bringing on males for the purpose; it's more a case of spare hens making good eating. When it comes to raising a clutch of eggs for meat next year, I'll be getting hold of a dozen eggs from a faster-growing breed like Dorking or Cornish Cross.

However, I've also learned a bit about hanging chickens. Everybody knows that in cool climates like Britain, hanging game birds helps to tenderize the meat and intensify the flavours; but a few cooks go out of their way to get hold of hung chickens too, so I decided to give it a try; instead of being dry-plucked while still warm (my preferred method), I hung them feathers-on and guts-in in the shed for three days and hoped for the best.

I have to say, I didn't have much fun when it came to plucking them. I found that although getting the feathers out wasn't much more difficult than plucking a warm bird (as opposed to a cold fresh bird, which is really hard), the skin was much more prone to tearing. I resorted to a hot-water scald for the second bird, but that just made matters worse so I went back to dry-plucking for the last.

Don't forget to warn family members what you're up to.

The next problem was drawing (gutting) the chickens. Never my favourite activity, this was also more difficult with the hung birds. The smell wasn't a problem because I had a heavy cold anyway, but the tubes seemed less forgiving than when fresh and I ended up having to delve and scrape with all three birds. Yucksome.

All three birds are in the freezer now and I'll let you know how the flavour turns out, but unless it's absolutely knockout I shan't be hanging chickens again. Taking a warm bird from coop to chiller in less than two hours is far easier - and far closer to dinner time!

*The first half came out a couple of months ago to make room for winter planting, a ruthless but necessary step. If you want to be cropping fresh produce from the tunnel in the winter, you have to get it growing well in the autumn - and that means a few sacrifices.