Smoked Cornish Game Hens

For Father's Day David got some grilling toys, including a couple of smoke boxes.  We don't have a real smoker, but we have used cedar blanks and foil packets with wood chips in the past. I thought they might be fun to play around with.

We soaked mesquite chips and loaded the boxes. I googled a recipe from the Neely's for smoked cornish game hen that seemed pretty straight forward. I rubbed my hens with salt & pepper, smoked paprika and garlic.  The instructions said "Prepare your grill/smoker for indirect heat with charcoal and hickory chips. Maintain your temperature at 275 degrees F."  We have a gas grill, not charcoal, but 275 degrees is 275 degrees, right? Smoke for 40 minutes, glaze, smoke 15 minute more and rest and serve. Easy!

Not easy.

This is the first time we have ever really tried to monitor a low temperature on the grill. It's not easy. Since it was my big idea and David wanted to watch the soccer game, I spent the first 30 minutes basically sitting on the patio next to the grill watching the thermometer. Too hot? Open the lid, turn down the burner. Too cool? Turn the burner back up.  I tried to keep it at that exact temp because game hens are so small, I knew I could over cook them easily.  It was a pain, but after doing it once and getting the hang of it, I think I could do it again with more confidence.

About 30 minutes in I noticed there wasn't any smoke and I opened the grill to find what looked like raw birds. I'm not sure how the Neely's recipe works ... maybe the charcoal makes a difference?  I have no idea. But it was bust.  So, in desperation, I turned the heat up to about 375 and the smoke started to billow. I cooked them for another 30 minutes and let them rest under tented foil for 15 minutes while I steamed the broccoli. I figured they would be rubber, but that's all I had for dinner and I had already invested the time.

They came out PERFECT!! They were cooked through. Juicy. Falling off the bone good. I couldn't believe it. You would have thought I did it on purpose. I took the idea for the Neely's sauce and put some butter, apple cider vinegar, orange juice, chicken broth, salt and pepper, garlic, grated onion and red pepper flakes into a sauce pan and reduced it down. Then I served it over the broccoli and bird.

If I was to make these again, I would do the EXACT same thing.  275 for 30 minutes and 375 for 30 minutes. Delicious! Whew .... I just lucked out of that one.