What to do with chicken heads & feet?

I'm cooking up 4 silkie chickens for dinner tonight -- they're tiny, about a pound each. They also come with their heads and feet attached. I'm roasting the birds themselves, but what should I do with the heads and feet? Any suggestions appreciated!

Nozlee Samadzadeh
  • 32439 views
  • 10 Comments

10 Comments

Stephen C.
Stephen C. July 9, 2018
I buy 3 to 6 kilo of chicken heads and pressure cook them until the bone is soft. First I remove the beaks, cook and blend. Upon cooling it turns into a brown gelatin which I use to feed my dogs and cats. I mix it with cooked rice or corn and the animals love it.

Chicken heads are BBQ'd and sold as street food in the Philippines and the feet are used in soup to thicken the stock.
 
Kalyan
Kalyan August 2, 2017
A quick question. Does anybody know the nutritional content of chicken head? Can't find it anywhere. Thanks in advance....
 

Voted the Best Reply!

babytiger
babytiger June 23, 2012
If you aren't into eating those parts, then put them in stock.

Frankly, killing an animal and not using all the useable part, that is gross.
 
Sam1148
Sam1148 June 22, 2012
Put them on skewers on the lawn as a warning to others. (G).
Or dry the feet and make a necklace.
Okay. /snark off.
The stock suggestions. Or simmer the feet with a soy orange, lemon, ansise sauce for a couple of hours. and eat the gelatinous stuff from the feet.

 
paseo
paseo June 22, 2012
The combs of a silkie are really teeny tiny and not worth the effort - said birds per Nowzlee are only a lb each so you would probably have to suck the brains out with a straw. I have roasted them with the head and feet attached but no one ate them and we are all nose to tail people - not enough there.
 
chef O.
chef O. June 22, 2012
Yuck! Toss them they are gross
 
pierino
pierino June 22, 2012
Pardon me chef of the future but those parts are not "gross". I don't toss out anything that's edible. My ethic when it comes to killing and eating an animal is to use everything that you can. That's why I have no ethical issues in eating foie gras; because I'm ready to eat the whole damn beast in one form or another.
 
ninele
ninele November 1, 2021
Foie gras is unethical not gross. You don't let the birds move and stuff them with corn despite them really not willing to eat anymore. Their liver then gets really big because of this unhealthy lifestyle. It's *very* cruel to birds.
 
ChefOno
ChefOno June 22, 2012

Feet are a good source of collagen for stock.

 
pierino
pierino June 22, 2012
I agree with ChefOno on the stock answer. But if you also want to snip off the combs and fry them in a little oil, those are really good too. After that we're talking about cracking open skulls and scooping out brains. Zombielicious.
 
Recommended by Food52

Popular on Food52