Brined, seasoned and smoked- cornish game hens

Brined

Seasoned

Mid cook on my Traeger Pellet grill

Done


Who says men can't cook? Not my lady lol

 

And they were "drumroll" Amaaaaaaaaaazing

 

They look awesome! and mouthwatering!

 

Yummy!!!

 

Those are beautiful

 

Thanks everyone, I take a lot of pride in the food that comes off my grill Cooking makes me happy

 

Nice birds. Eating makes me happy… can I come ovah?

 

those look amazing. love doing a brine on things, keeps it so moist.

 

Another challenge FHC has for me. I will have to try brining something and slow cooking it seeing as I don't have a smoker or a grill.

 

WoodWidow, for birds I just cook them on the bbq like I would in the oven. I did these at 375f for an hour. I reserve the slow cooking for pork and beef. A brine would even be good for the oven, and you can add liquid smoke to the brine to give it a smokey flavor if you don't have a smoker. The olive oil in the brine gives the skin a nice crunch when finished

 

Sure, post this and not invite me over for dinner. I swear, some peoples kids....
So, you like that Traeger. I have a friend that likes his also. I just have to know,- can it cook a Tri-tip? If so, I'm all in.
Tri-tips are special to me, and after many hundreds of them, I know what they like.
Ever tried one? In the Traeger? Thanks, JB

 

I did a scaled down version for the little birds but here is my base recipe.
1 gallon warm water
1/3 cup table salt (lots of recipes call for 3/4 cup kosher here but 1/3 table works great for me, any more and it's too salty)
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup soy sauce -OR- 1/3 cup liquid smoke
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 - 1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper for spice (optional)

Sometimes I'll cut the salt back and do a little garlic, onion, or seasoning salt. Sometimes some other stuff. It really depends. Those game hens got brined for 1.5 hours and were amazing and juicy. If doing a larger bird I'd probably go 3-4 hours depending on size etc. Keep in mind the longer you brine the saltier it will be. I did an overnight brine one time and it was just waaaaayy too salty but everyone has a preference.

Just mix it all up in a huge vessel with a good whisk making sure all the spices dissolve, throw your bird in, then place in the fridge to brine. When the pit is warmed up take out your chicken and rinse thoroughly on the inner cavity and the outside with cold water and start cookin!

On these birds I sprinkled just a little bit of Italian blend seasoning (comes in a grinder at the supermarket), and a little pit of a garlic/peppercorn rub. It doesn't take much as the bird is already a bit seasoned from the inside out.

 

Tri-tips come out AWESOME on the Traeger. Just like any other tri-tip cook make sure you don't overcook it or it will be tough. I usually pull them when they get to around 135f in the center then wrap in foil and put in a cooler to rest for about 30 minutes so all the juices re-distribute throughout the cut. Don't forget to give them a nice healthy squirt with apple juice every hour or so during the cook

 

Any special pellet you like? I'm all in- gonna hit the new Murdochs tomorrow. ( unless you know where I might find a better deal...wink, wink, )

 

My boss might throw you a deal on a Traeger but she's out of town right now. Honestly places like that can usually sell them for about what we pay for them I would definitely suggest getting a smoker with the digital controller, or buying one of the more dummied down versions and adding a digital controller (can be cheaper that way) as the digital controller makes it much easier to avoid over/undercooking your food.

I like the fruitwoods for poultry and usually mesquite, hickory etc. for Beef and pork. Traeger actually makes a pretty decent pellet but my favorite are the ones made by Milts. Rumor has it Milts went out of business though so that might be out of the question. Lil Devils are OK but there are better out there. See what they have to offer and ask them what they sell the most of. A few extra bucks can go a long way with a smoking pellet, much like a heating pellet.

 

Thanks J. You gonna be around the shop on Sat.? I may head that way, gotta head up to Como and don't want to fight the ski traffic.