Camp-Braised Cockscombs
Chicken combs soaked in milk, braised soft, peeled, and finished over a fire. Strange, and worth it.
- calories
- 260
- weight
- 5 oz
- cal / oz
- 52
- protein
- 22 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 90 min
- total time
- 110 min
- water
- 1000 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Dutch oven
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Cockscombs | 1 lb | ask for the largest ones the farm has; small combs are all work and no meat |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | enough to cover, about 2 cups | any kind; the soak happens at home |
| Kosher salt | 1 tbsp | for the braise water |
Method
- At home, cover the combs with milk in a sealed container and leave them in the fridge overnight. Drain and rinse them in the morning. Pack them in a hard container on ice.
- At camp, put the combs in a pot with a tablespoon of salt and about a liter of water. Set it over the fire or in a dutch oven with coals under it.
- Bring it to a bare simmer and hold it there. Rolling boil tears the combs apart. Give it an hour to an hour and a half, until a comb gives with no resistance when you press it.
- Lift them out and let them cool enough to handle. The outer skin slips off under your thumb, the way it does on a tongue. Peel every one. This is the tedious part and there is no shortcut.
- Return the peeled combs to the pot with a splash of the braise liquid and set it back over low coals for a few minutes to glaze and warm through. Salt to taste and eat them hot.
Cockscombs are mostly collagen, and collagen only becomes food if you hold it at a low simmer long enough. That is the whole recipe. The result is soft and mildly chicken-flavored — closer to a dumpling than to liver — and none of the organ-meat character people brace for.
The milk soak is a home step, not a camp step, because it needs a real fridge overnight. Everything after it is one pot and a fire. Size matters more than technique here: big combs peel in seconds and hold their shape, small ones cost you twenty minutes of picking at skin for very little in return. This is a first-night meal on a cooler trip, not something to carry into the backcountry.
Packing
Do the milk soak at home the night before — you need a fridge for it, not a cooler. Peeled or unpeeled, the combs ride in a rigid container on ice and get cooked the first night out. Save a cup of the braise liquid for the finish; dump the rest well away from camp.
Variations
- Turkey combs are bigger and peel faster if you can get them.
- Stir the finished combs into a pot of rice or beans instead of eating them on their own.
- Hold the braise liquid and use it as the base for the next morning's grits.
https://foragerchef.com/how-to-cook-cockscombs