Cold Smoked Cornish Game Hens! Doesn’t it sound weird?? I know what you are thinking, man you gotta smoke with heat. Well, I am here to tell you the flavor is amazing if you cold smoke, the meat is exposed to more smoke longer when means it absorbs more flavor! (I have included affiliate links to products I love. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)
Now the old lady is obsessed with finding deals, I remember the first time I asked her to pick up some she had a cow at how expensive they were. She now just picks them up on $5 Fridays at Safeway for the two-pack. It works out perfect since I like to brine my chickens frozen to grab them frozen.
Cold Smoked Cornish Game Hens Supplies:
- Cold Smoke Generator
- Plastic Bin to Brine In
- Gas or Propane Grill
- Pellets for your cold smoke generator
Now I sit here and wonder however did I smoke and grill without Smoke Chief Cold smoke generator! Now I will preface this by saying I AM NO PROFESSIONAL, I am a homegrown, self-taught, Google searching, and recipe modifying guy, but my food tastes amazing! I prefer to use apple pellets, but a buddy swears by hickory. As you smoke I suggest you try different pellets to find what flavor suits you. (I even wrote a guide on how to Cold Smoke with a smoke chief -> here)
Smokehouse Products 9500-000-0000 Smoke Chief Cold Smoke Generator
Super Smoker Variety Value Pack – 1 Lb. Bag – Apple, Hickory, Mesquite, Cherry, Pecan and Jack Daniel’sSmokehouse Products 9770-020-0000 5-Pound Bag All Natural Apple Flavored Wood Pellets, Bulk
Cold Smoked Cornish Game Hens Ingredients:
- Frozen Cornish Game Hens (I did four)
- 1 Gallon Water
- 3/4 Cup Salt
- ¼ Cup Garlic Salt
- ¼ Cup Worcestershire Sauce
- 4 Tbsp Black Pepper
- ¼ Cup Montreal Steak Seasoning
- Ice
How To Make Cold Smoked Cornish Game Hens:
In a large bin that has a lid pour in all your brine ingredients and give the brine mixture a good swirl. If your Cornish game hens are thawed then throw in some ice to the brine as well.
Set in your game hens in the brine I don’t fully submerge mine since as they thaw they will add more liquid, you can add more water later on if necessary.
Storing in the fridge they stayed cold and icy so I didn’t add ice be sure to monitor the temperature and follow food safety guidelines for meat temperature.
Make sure your grill is clean before you start the cold smoke.
Follow the directions for setting up your cold smoker.
On your top rack and bottom rack space out your Cornish game hens.
Fire up the cold smoker and let the fun begin. I set times for every half hour to 45 minutes to go push pellets down and rotate the chicken around. The cold smoke will fill your grill to flavor up the Cornish game hens.
Now as you can see even though its a cold smoke the hens start to cook a bit, the cold smoker puts out some heat right next to it. Since then I have learned to put the hens on the other side they still get the smoke but it doesn’t cook them.
Allow the hens to be smoked for a couple hours on the grill with just the cold smoker.
Once you are close to wanting to eat fire up a couple of burners and allow the chicken to cook at a low heat. I fire up the burners on the opposite side of the grill from the chicken so they take a bit longer and also will absorb more of the smoke flavor.
Once they are done they will have an amazing crisp skin and color to them!!
Now we were celebrating a buddies birthday so we also had a nice lobster tail to go with the Cold Smoked Cornish Game Hens and some Smoked Loaded Baked Beans as well. It was the perfect dinner by the time we paired it up with some nice cold beers!
What do you make a cold smoke generator? What would you serve with cold smoked cornish game hens?
WHAT TO SERVE WITH SMOKED CORNISH GAME HENS:
- Caesar Salad
- Rice
- Smoked Baked Potatoes
- Smoked Deviled Eggs
- Grilled Twice Baked Potatoes
- Smoked Potato Salad
- Deviled Egg Macaroni Salad
OTHER SMOKED CORNISH GAME HEN RECIPES TO TRY OUT:
- Sweet And Spicy Cornish Game Hens
- Mediterranean Smoked Cornish Game Hens
- Coca Cola Smoked Cornish Game Hens
- Smoked Cornish Game Hens With Brine And Dry Rub
- Smoked Cornish Game Hens Brine
Delicious Cold Smoked Cornish Game Hens!!!
Ingredients
- 4 Frozen Cornish game hens
- 1 gallon Water
- 3/4 Cup Salt
- ¼ cup Garlic Salt
- ¼ cup Worcestershire Sauce
- 4 tbsp Black Pepper
- ¼ cup Montreal Steak Seasoning
- Ice
Instructions
- In a large bin that has a lid pour in all your brine ingredients and the brine mixture a good swirl. If your Cornish game hens are thawed then throw in some ice to the brine as well.
- Set in your game hens in the brine I don't fully submerge mine since as they thaw they will add more liquid, you can add more water later on if necessary.
- Make sure your grill is clean before you start the cold smoke.
- Follow the directions for setting up your cold smoker.
- On your top rack and bottom rack space out your Cornish game hens.
- Fire up the cold smoker and let the fun begin. I set times for every half hour to 45 minutes to go push pellets down and rotate the chicken around. The cold smoke will fill your grill to flavor up the Cornish game hens.
- Now as you can see even though its a cold smoke the hens start to cook a bit, the cold smoker puts out some heat right next to it. Since then I have learned to put the hens on the other side they still get the smoke but it doesn't cook them.
- Allow the hens to be smoked for a couple hours on the grill with just the cold smoker.
- Once you are close to wanting to eat fire up a couple of burners and allow the chicken to cook at a low heat. I fire up the burners on the opposite side of the grill from the chicken so they take a bit longer and also will absorb more of the smoke flavor.
- Once they are done they will have an amazing crisp skin and color to them!!
Notes
Seriously, I started salivating at the first glance of these. I might have to borrow my neighbors smoker and make these! Or just give him the recipe and ingredients and let him do it 🙂