For more how-to recipes visit: http://howtobbqright.com/ Cornish Game Hens or Rock Cornish hens as they’re sometimes called are young (usually less than 5 weeks old) chickens. For my smoked Cornish game hens recipe I started with 4 Cornish hens. After an overnight thaw, open the packaging and remove any giblets or neck parts from the cavity and rinse the Cornish hens under cool water and pat dry with a paper towel. We’ll cook these Cornish game hens whole on the smoker, and to add a little extra mass to help them cook evenly, we’ll stuff the cavity with a Boudin pork sausage (a type of sausage made with rice, meat, and a ton of spices). Bust the sausage out of the casing and stuff about 1/4lb in each Cornish hen. If you can’t find boudin in your area you can substitute a different kind of sausage, dirty rice or use traditional bread stuffing. Tie the Cornish game hens legs with a small length of butcher twine to keep the stuffing in the bird and tuck the wings tips behind the back. Melt a stick of butter in a small bowl and brush the outside of each Cornish hen. The butter keeps the Cornish game hens skin moist and helps the hens to brown during cooking. It also gives the seasoning something to stick too on the Cornish game hens. For the smoked Cornish game hens seasoning I use this recipe(it’s more than you will need for 4 hens) -1 cup Salt -½ cup Granulated Garlic -¼ cup Black Pepper -2 TBS Poultry Seasoning -1 tea Cayenne Pepper Sprinkle a little of the seasoning over each Cornish Hen. Let the Cornish game hens hang out on the counter while your smoker comes up to temperature. For smoking Cornish Hens I run my pit at 300 degrees. You can use any smoker or grill (set up for indirect cooking); just hold the temperature in the same 300 degree range. I used my Yoder pellet smoker filled with BBQer’s Delight Cherry pellets. (Another good option would be pecan) Once the cooker is up to temperature, place the Cornish Hens on the pit. These Cornish game hens smoked fairly quick and you don’t want to over shoot the final temp. Check on the Cornish game hens every 30 minutes and it’s best to insert a digital thermometer after an hour. The target temperature is 165 in the breast and once it starts climbing after an hour you need to really watch it. Anytime you’re cooking a stuffed bird it’s important that the stuffing itself reaches a safe eating temperature of 165. So when the breast temperature until it reaches 165 make sure the stuffing is hitting the same temperature. These Cornish hens hit 165 after 1 hour 50 min. The skin should be browned but not too dark. Remove the Cornish game hens from the smoker and tent with aluminum foil for at least 20 minutes. Leave the foil loose so that steam can escape while the Cornish game hens are resting. You can serve these Cornish Hens whole or for a better presentation cut them in half so your guest can see the stuffing inside. For more how-to recipes visit: http://howtobbqright.com/ For Killer Hogs BBQ Sauce, Rub and Competition BBQ equipment, visit: http://howtobbqright.com/bbqshop/

• published: 26 Sep 2014
• views: 1069