What is life without experimentation? Dull in my opinion.
Here is a little experiment done on some little birds conducted in my little smoker... i hope you like:
I bought a dozen 22 oz gamehens at the old Costco, and defrosted them over 2 days in the fridge.
Once thawed, I made a brine of 1 part Tenderquick, to 3 parts papaya nectar, and 3 parts water, 1/4 part kosher salt, and 1/4 part brown sugar. Birds sat in the brine for 12 hours.
The next day, I smoked them with Cherry wood in my Master Forge propane, using the brine for the waterpan.
They took quite a while. I was surprised at how long really. I ran them at about 150 for 2.5 hours, then turned them up to just over 200 to bring the internal temp to 165. That took over an hour. The wings legs and thighs were to die for, I found the breast a little grainy in texture, but delicious in flavor. They seemed a little over done to me. Is a lower internal temp ill- advised?
The papaya seemed to help break down the meat. very tasty little morsels. nice fruit character.
I got some netting from the butcher to hang the birds, but alas, it was too small, and I could not fit them. I have since ordered some larger nets, and I will try the same brine with the birds hung during the smoke to see if that improved the breast meat...plus i LOVE all those netting marks!
Heres the pics:
Here is a little experiment done on some little birds conducted in my little smoker... i hope you like:
I bought a dozen 22 oz gamehens at the old Costco, and defrosted them over 2 days in the fridge.
Once thawed, I made a brine of 1 part Tenderquick, to 3 parts papaya nectar, and 3 parts water, 1/4 part kosher salt, and 1/4 part brown sugar. Birds sat in the brine for 12 hours.
The next day, I smoked them with Cherry wood in my Master Forge propane, using the brine for the waterpan.
They took quite a while. I was surprised at how long really. I ran them at about 150 for 2.5 hours, then turned them up to just over 200 to bring the internal temp to 165. That took over an hour. The wings legs and thighs were to die for, I found the breast a little grainy in texture, but delicious in flavor. They seemed a little over done to me. Is a lower internal temp ill- advised?
The papaya seemed to help break down the meat. very tasty little morsels. nice fruit character.
I got some netting from the butcher to hang the birds, but alas, it was too small, and I could not fit them. I have since ordered some larger nets, and I will try the same brine with the birds hung during the smoke to see if that improved the breast meat...plus i LOVE all those netting marks!
Heres the pics:
