Delicious Cold Smoked Cornish Game Hens!!!

Cold Smoked Cornish Game Hens! Doesn’t it sound weird?? I know what you are thinking, man Dave 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! Now how do you cold smoke Cornish Game Hens?? That’s the fun part of this meal!   (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 how ever 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 GeneratorSuper 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 of water
• 3/4 Cup of salt
• ¼ cup of garlic salt
• ¼ cup of Worcestershire sauce
• 4 tbsp black pepper
• ¼ cup Montreal steak seasoning
• Ice (for next day)

Cold Smoked Cornish Game Hens Directions:

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.

Note *I put my frozen Cornish game hens in the brine on a Tuesday night and smoked them on Saturday.  Storing in the fridge they stayed cold and icy so I didn’t add ice*

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 Crockpot 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?

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Delicious Cold Smoked Cornish Game Hens!!!

Part of the secret of Cold Smoked Cornish Game Hens is in the brine, that helps to flavor the hens. Once you get a cold smoker generator it is so easy to learn how to cold smoke, and once you get started on doing this you will be hooked and find ways to cold smoke every thing that you can!

Course Entree

Cuisine BBQ

Keyword bbq, cornish game hens, grilling, smoked foods

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 6 hours

Set In Brine 3 days

Total Time 3 days 6 hours 10 minutes

Servings 8

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

1. 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.

2. 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.
3. Make sure your grill is clean before you start the cold smoke.
4. Follow the directions for setting up your cold smoker.
5. On your top rack and bottom rack space out your Cornish game hens.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Allow the hens to be smoked for a couple hours on the grill with just the cold smoker.
9. 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.
10. Once they are done they will have an amazing crisp skin and color to them!!

Recipe Notes

 *I put my frozen Cornish game hens in the brine on a Tuesday night and smoked them on Saturday. Storing in the fridge they stayed cold and icy so I didn’t add ice*