Smoked pheasant

N

Nasty-G

Active member
Anyone smoke pheasants? I know, they are hard to lite. Just wondering how to keep them moist as they are pretty dry. Thanks.
 
Nasty-G said:
Anyone smoke pheasants? I know, they are hard to lite. Just wondering how to keep them moist as they are pretty dry. Thanks.
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I pluck several a year for "hot" smoking. Usually with a last bird of the day, I start plucking as soon as I kill it but while walking toward the truck. My experience is that if you put it in a saltwater brine (mix rate doesn't seem to matter, just salt and water). Then put some wood chips in water they light the gas grill and put the temp at 200-250 put the bird and wood chips on the grill. It usually takes about 45 minutes and is always moist.

Not sure if that is what you are looking for but I think the brine is the secret (Butterball goes one step further and injects the brine in their turkeys). That and watch it closely, once it is done or close to done remove from the grill.

Now I am hungry :eek:
 
Thanks. Seems like the brine is the key to keeping them moist. My birds are all skinned. Don't have the patience to pluck the,
 
Nasty-G said:
Thanks. Seems like the brine is the key to keeping them moist. My birds are all skinned. Don't have the patience to pluck the,
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They actually pluck pretty easy IF you do it right away. I would say I have about 75% success, the other 25% the skin just tears. :(
 
I skin them,dry rub them with Morton Tender Quick,garlic powder,onion powder and black pepper,let them sit in fridge,not making contact with each-other for 2-3 days.Now smoke-cook at 200 or so deg until you get the smoke flavor you desire.A little smoke flavor goes a long way with me so I leave them in until they get a nice red color on them,this comes from the interaction of the cure with the smoke.Now heat them through in the oven until you get to 165 deg in the deepest breast meat,not touching bone.These are wonderful.I like to slice it thin and serve with cheese and crackers,also makes a bitchen chicken salad. Hope this helps and let me know how it goes.Oh ya,if you can find a sweet wood like apple the pheasant really likes it.
 
Last fall we had a few birds professionally smoked, with a store somewhere in north Minneapolis. I didn't care for the results...tasted like ham.
 
Probably tasted like ham because they used hickory. That's too strong for pheasants. A milder smoke like alder or mesquite or even oak and apple will work better.
 
smoked pheasant

We smoked skinned pheasant breasts wrapped in bacon recently using cherry wood. Came out very tender and delicious. We brined the breasts in apple juice, onions, smashed garlic, cloves, and a few additional items. The breast were deboned and split in half. This is the first time we have done anything other than fish and will be doing it again very soon!!
 
ranchodeluxe said:
I skin them,dry rub them with Morton Tender Quick,garlic powder,onion powder and black pepper,let them sit in fridge,not making contact with each-other for 2-3 days.Now smoke-cook at 200 or so deg until you get the smoke flavor you desire.A little smoke flavor goes a long way with me so I leave them in until they get a nice red color on them,this comes from the interaction of the cure with the smoke.Now heat them through in the oven until you get to 165 deg in the deepest breast meat,not touching bone.These are wonderful.I like to slice it thin and serve with cheese and crackers,also makes a bitchen chicken salad. Hope this helps and let me know how it goes.Oh ya,if you can find a sweet wood like apple the pheasant really likes it.
Click to expand...

You just made pastrami. Go ahead and get a proper dry rub formulation and it will be even better (I pastrami a lot of meat).
 
Smoked Pheasant

I smoke whole breasts all the time. Use my Weber Smoker keep at 200 -220* use Pecan wood and both marinate overnight in Apple Juice (and garlic, and Hot sauce and a ginger etc) and smoke over a pan of Apple juice (my smoker has a bowl designed for that purpose). Wrap the Breasts in Peppered Bacon and smoke for about 3 hours.
Make a Boubon reduction or a Sweet Raspberry Chipolte BBQ sauce and smother them and keep them warm in the oven for next couple hours.
What I don't eat I cube up and put in my Chili or home made raviloli. Pretty tasty. Here's a link to my blog article about smoking pheasant breasts... Used Peach cider in this one but theory the same.


http://cookingwithike.blogspot.com/2010_10_01_archive.html
 
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