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Grilled Spatchcocked S&G Cornish Game Hens

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    Grilled Spatchcocked S&G Cornish Game Hens

    SWMBO has been requesting Cornish game hens for a while now. Childhood memories and all. So HWMO did his best... I spatchcocked and dry rubbed them at 9am, left them uncovered in the garage fridge all day. Hit them with the S&G rub - first time using that and everybody loved it - while the grill preheated. I used 3/4 of a chimney of Weber briquettes (always used KBB but still testing Weber since they were 40% off) and a small applewood chunk in a dry SNS on my 26” kettle. Had it preheated at 350F and the meat on and lid down at 5:15pm. Found it difficult to get probes in such a small bird, but tried one in a breast and one in a thigh just to see. For most of the cook the bottom dampers were 1/2 - 2/3 open, top vent was 2/3 open. After 45 min the thigh probe read 165F and the breast 150F. I checked the same spots on a different bird and got similar readings, so I took all 4 of them off. They all rested for ~10 min while sides finished. The three we ate were all cooked well and moist with a good flavor, if anything the breasts were more "done" than the rest. Our only issue was with the skin which was a bit chewy in spots. Maybe I should have seared skin side down at the end as I’ve done with chickens. Either way, these were more work on the front and back end than a chicken, and we don’t plan on having them again any time soon. *whew* Not my favorite thing by a long shot, and I won’t be experimenting or looking for improvements with CGH specifically, but as always - looking for feedback so I can get better. Thanks!
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    #2
    Beautiful!

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      #3
      Yum.. Nice work.

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        #4
        They do look very good. I always cook chicken with the vents wide open on my kettle. That helps greatly with crisping the skin.

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        • FishTalesNC
          FishTalesNC commented
          Editing a comment
          Ah, thanks RonB, when I’ve done chicken in the past I was at higher temps with vents open fully and the skin was better. I had it closed up more trying to see if 350F had some magic to it based on some things I read. I’m starting to think spatchcocked birds are better high and fast. I’ll definitely open it up next time.

        #5
        I used to love those little birds but have not had one in 25 years or so. Those look good!

        I think hot and fast is better myself for chicken, after doing it both indirect and direct this past year. Of course, when I grill direct with my kettle, I’m using Grillgrates, so it’s probably closer to indirect on a regular kettle, but with the full grate usable for the most part. I need that extra space as I’ve been doing 3 or 4 5 pound birds at a time!

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