Cornish Game Hens

Been way too long since I fired up the Egg. 9 days!! I know, I know. I was out of town, but I did use my old offset and I did cook over live fire during that time. With the weather changing and the evenings getting cooler, last night was the perfect time to sit on the patio with a cold beverage, fire her up and throw some meat on. Earlier in the week, I spotted some Cornish Game Hens sitting in the freezer and took them out to thaw. Decided to keep them relatively simple and spatchcocked them, let them air dry in the fridge for 2 hours (that's all the time I had), applied some Grill Mates Montreal Chicken Grinder from McCormick. They went on to the Egg at 350, using the grate extender from BGE (I really need to toss this and get an Adjustable Rig) and used apple wood for smoke.



Checked on them after about 30 minutes. My Egg was running a bit hotter in the rear, so I gave it a 180 degree spin


After about 50 minutes they were done and ready to be pulled


Served them up with some broccoli and some spaghetti that was tossed with pesto that my brother and his gf had made.


Pretty darn tasty meal. The CGHs, IMHO, had a slightly stronger, richer flavor than normal sized chickens and were more tender and juicy. The spice I choose and the apple wood paired with it perfectly, not being too strong and overshadowing the hens, but allowing the flavor of the hens to really shine through. I don't think there is any polite way to eat these, and since it was just Mrs. G and myself, I picked it up, ripped off the leg and went to town, juice dripping down my chin and hands. Messy, but oh so worth it. And there is something to be said about not fighting over the favorite parts of the chicken. We both got a leg, a thigh, a breast and a wing. Not to mention there is a whole nother one we can either eat for leftovers of figure out something to do with. Maybe pizza?

I think next time, I'm gonna leave the CGHs whole and stuff them with some kind of wild rice, mushroom and sausage filling....

Outstanding, Girffin! My wife and I love cornish hens. I just read your full write up on your blog. Those are some interesting facts that you shared! Never knew that a cornish hen could actually be male.

Thank you. I like to do a little bit of research before I write a post. And by a little bit, I mean a little bit....maybe 5 minutes worth. Figure I get to learn a lil something and hopefully my readers do to.

Pass me a plate! The game hens look really good and I like the sound of that stuffing idea!

I need to figure out something for dinner tonight and a hen would be a good idea, but around here they're not always stocked in the stores and when they are they're usually frozen. Maybe I'll just go get a bar burger instead.

Yeah, they are always frozen here, hence why I never buy them. For some reason, I saw them last week and decided i wanted them and threw them in the freezer. Saw them this week and pulled them out a few days in advance to thaw. Really glad I did. Hope your bar burger is good. I need to think of something for dinner.

Those look really good. I don't recall ever seeing them spatchcocked, but I bet they were nice and moist.

I'm curious what is it you don't like about the grid extender? It looked more like you were using it to raise the level of the grid up to the hinge level, and not really as a second-tier of shelves. Inquiring minds want to know because I have one and so far it's done what I needed it too. I am also thinking about getting the extra fire ring they sell so you can do direct grilling but yet raise the shelves to the hinge level. If that is what you were doing with the grid extender, I must admit I never thought of doing it that way.

Jim

I do use it to raise the grate higher from the coals. I've found that it just doesn't seem that sturdy to me. And as far as cooking on two levels...not so much. hard to access the bottom level. I mean it works and all, just not great. I'd rather get the Adjustable Rig from the Ceramic Grill store.

http://www.ceramicgrillstore.com/big-gr ... e-rig.html

Check into it. it seems like it would do the job much better and offer different configurations. Not to mention, when you use it to raise your grate, you have more surface area then the grate extender.

An interesting thing I did one time was to pull out the original grate and dropped the grate extender with the legs down directly onto the coals to drop the level I was grilling at for some steaks I was doing. Worked great but I don' think it will really hold up to that high heat over and over again.

YUM!!!!

Love CGH's.

Thanks for sharing

Griffin:
I've seen that rig before and while I liked the concept, I personally didn't care for the extra wide bars it uses. If someone else makes something with a more traditional width bar I'd consider getting it. For now I am going to get the fire ring extender.

Jim.