We're having 'Cornell Chicken' pork tonight.

[trof]

Although it’s closely associated with the New York State Fair and Cornell University, Cornell chicken had its debut in Philadelphia in 1946, at a University of Pennsylvania dinner honoring Pennsylvania governor Edward Martin. Dr. Bob Baker, a young professor of poultry science, was asked to come up with an unusual dish for the occasion. Baker’s research centered on finding ways to get people to eat more chicken.

Strange though it seems today, until then chickens were raised commercially primarily for eggs. Fried chicken was a spring specialty, eaten when the young birds were tender. In later months, larger chickens were roasted, baked or stewed; and only those larger chickens were considered flavorful enough to make chicken stock and salad. Chicken was a treat: Herbert Hoover’s campaign slogan promising “A Chicken in Every Pot” implied prosperity.

Baker’s idea was to develop a market for a chicken with a dressed weight of 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 lbs., which would increase poultry farmers’ turnover. And so was born the “broiler.”

Baker’s grilled chicken was a big hit at that university dinner. But it wasn’t until he joined the poultry sciences department at Cornell University in 1949, and his recipe and method appeared in a university publication, that it became famous as Cornell Chicken. Baker opened a stand, Baker’s Chicken Coop, at the New York State Fair to serve his special creation. More than 60 years later, Cornell Chicken is still an integral part of the New York State Fair. Baker’s Chicken Coop is still in existence. Now run by Baker’s descendants who still use his original recipe and method, it serves as many as 5,000 chickens a day to hungry fairgoers.

Recipe
CHICKEN BARBEQUE SAUCE

1 C. oil
1 pint cider vinegar
3 T salt (maybe a bit less)
1 T poultry seasoning
1 t pepper
1 egg

Beat egg, then egg and oil, the add vinegar and the rest.

[orangecrush]

1. ...

[wishstar]

2. I never knew the history, although I grew up there and ate many BBQ chicken meals

One of my favorite things about upstate NY has always been the BBQ chicken at fairs and prepared by volunteer firefighters in many rural villages as fundraisers throughout the summer season. They all use that same wonderful oil and vinegar recipe.

Thanks for posting

[Warpy]

3. Fried chicken was spring and early summer

because that's when roosters started to make themselves known as mean, noisy buggers. You'd keep the year's best looking one around to keep the hens happy (and look out for them, his job) but his competition would be destined for the frypan.

Hens past their prime laying years were far too tough to fry. They required long cooking, either stewing or baking, and were at their absolute bet as chicken soup, some of the meat going into pot pies or chicken salad.

[dem in texas]

4. Fryers were seven weeks old and weighed under 2 pounds.

When I was a child, my mother used to raise chickens. We had three "brooder" houses and 3 chicken yards. We sold fertile eggs to the hatcheries around Dallas and hatched lots of chickens in the spring. When they were big enough to be fryers, my mother would pay neighbors to help her kill and dress the chickens, which she sold to small grocery stores in the area.

She kept plenty of hens to lay eggs to sell to the hatcheries and there were always some mean rooster waiting to "spur" you when you went in the chicken yards to feed and water the chickens. We kept a board by the gate in case we needed to defend ourselves against the roosters.

Yes, when the hens got old, they were ready for the stew pot. chicken pot pie, roast chicken and dressing, lots of great dishes could be made from those old hens.

The best thing in the world is fried chicken made with a real fryer which should weigh less than two pounds. It was almost like eating quail. Now it is hard to find a chicken that weighs under three pounds. Some weigh 5 pounds and are not fit to eat.

I like to buy whole chickens, I like white meat and my husband likes dark meat and a whole chicken works fine for us. I found a nice chicken at Sprouts about 2 weeks ago, it was barely 3 pounds. I am going to go back and see if I can get another small one there.

[Warpy]

5. I go by keel bone

If the end is still soft cartilage, it's a fryer. If it's starting to firm up, it's a little old to be a fryer. If it's bone, you've lucked out and gotten an old stewing hen.

The reason "fryers" weigh so damn much now is that they bred them with those enormous breasts to the point the poor chicken has to brace itself on the side of the feed dish to stand up by the time they're scooped up for slaughter.

My granny didn't have that many backyard chickens, just enough to provide eggs for the house with a few to hatch in the early spring, the roosters being nasty and noisy and destined for the frypan.