Cooking a Capon

[Adamrg]

Been wanting to try cooking a capon. Anyone have any experience? Is it any different than a chicken or turkey? Trussing/spatchcock/internal temp/stuffing cavity? Any feedback, recipes, photos would be great!

[IowaGirl]

Other than the fact it's a neutered male, a capon is not any much different than a large roasting chicken or a small turkey. My dad raised capons, and they were always tasty.

Follow whatever seasoning, prep, and cooking method for turkey or chicken that strikes your fancy.

Cook to at least 145 F and hold at that temp at least 30 min (Serious Eats, Turkey stuffed Turkey with Gravy) or cook to 160 F and serve immediately (Amazing Ribs, Grilled Spatchock Turkey with Citrus-herb Salt and Sage Butter).

I prefer to cook a spatchcocked bird or parts rather than cook the whole bird intact -- shorter cook time and less chance of overcooking the breast.

Another interesting option is to make a ballotine or roulade (in other words, a boneless turkey roll) with or without a stuffing.

Enjoy!

[Adamrg]

Awesome, thanks for the post!

[IowaGirl]

Okay, I just happened to stumble on my notes of a capon cook I did last November --

8.5 pound capon, spatchcocked
Dry brined with about 1/2 tsp kosher salt per pound of bird.
No note of how long I dry brined it, but my usual for poultry is 1-2 days
Simon and Garfunkel herb rub (recipe here on AR), about 2 TBL or however much looks right

Cooked on my Weber 3 burner gasser (but any charcoal cooker will work fine)
Center burner was kept off. Outside burners set to low to medium-low as needed to keep the grate temperature about 325 F.
Put a disposable foil drip pan under the grate with about 1/2" of hot water in it so drippings wouldn't burn
Added light smoke using an Amazen smoker gadget
Cooked to an internal temp of about 160 F in breast and 180 F in thigh
Total time for the cook about 2 hours

My comments after that cook -- "Meat is moist, skin is crispy. Skin is not something I care to eat (capons are older so the skin isn't as tender as younger chickens), but the skin is a good heat shield to keep the surface of the meat from drying out. Flesh was a little pink on the inside of the leg and thigh, but temps checked OK."

[smokin fool]

My sister in law loves capons, the only thing I can add is they can be greasy if you catch the drippings for pan gravy.
The grease in the gravy sent my stomach into back flips so find a away to skim the fat from the drippings.

[Jerod Broussard]

No escapon from a capon......unless you are a testicle.

Worked with a USDA Grader who raised capons when he was growing up. He raised a ton of them darn things.

[IowaGirl]

I was too young at the time to be interested in the fine details of how my dad turned roosters into capons, but I do remember he had a special rooster-sized set of tools for the procedure.

[Jerod Broussard]

You come in from each side apparently. Double yikes!

[smokin fool]

OUCH!!!!

[Monopauly]

That’s interesting. I came here looking for a way to cook a capon and here’s a post at the top. I’m going to try to rotisserie mine on a low temp. In some parts of continental Europe where I live capon is more traditional than Turkey for Christmas and this will be my first time trying it.