- 6
Ingredients
- 4 cornish hens, 1-2 lbs apiece (mine were roughly 1.5lbs each)
- Kosher salt (Diamond Crystal) - 1 tsp per hen
Preparation
Step 1
1. Pre-salting the hens. One day before cooking, rinse and dry the hens. Carefully run your finger under the skin on the breast to loosen it. Sprinkle each bird all over with 1 tsp of salt - I get some inside the cavity, some under the loosened skin on the breast, and then coat the outside with the rest, concentrating on the thick part of the breasts and the legs. Put the chickens in a pan where they have a little space around them, wrap in plastic wrap, and let rest in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.
2. Truss and spit the hens. One hour before cooking, take the tray with the hens out of the refrigerator. Truss the hens (see rotisserie poultry overview for details) and put them on the spit. It helps if you have four sets of forks for your spit for this. Put the hens on in two sets of two - first bird on the spit feet first, then the second bird breast first, so the neck part of the backbone of the two hens are touching. (see the picture, below.) Then use a fork to secure the first pair of hens. Repeat for the second set of hens. Let sit at room temperature while you prepare your grill.
3. Prepare the grill: Set your grill up for rotisserie cooking at high heat. For my Weber Summit, this means turning the two outer burners (burners 1 and 6) to high, and turning the infrared burner to high. Then I put my drip pans in the middle, over the unlit burners. (See here for more rotisserie setup details.)
4. Cook the hens. Put the spit on the grill, put your foil pans under the hens, and start the spit spinning. Cook with the lid closed. It will take for 30-45 minutes, depending on the size of the hens. (It took 35 minutes for my 1.5lb hens). Check the internal temp on the hens after 20 minutes, and every 10 minutes thereafter - you want 160*F to 165*F in the breast, and 170*F to 180*F in the thigh. Remove the spit from the grill (while wearing gloves!), and remove the hens from the spit. Cover the hens with foil, and let rest for 15 minutes before serving.
5. Make a sauce from the drippings. (Optional) If the drippings aren't burnt, remove the drip pans from the grill. Skim off the fat, then scrape the rest of the drippings into a small saucepan. Add one cup of homemade chicken stock, and bring to a simmer. Add any juices that come out of the chicken during the resting and carving to the saucepan. Simmer until slightly thickened, then add salt and pepper to taste. (Note: watch out for burnt or sooty drippings, especially if you cooked on a charcoal grill. Either skip the drippings, or just make a sauce by reducing some homemade stock, and adding the juices from carving.)
6. Final prep and serve. Cut the hens in half - I find a half a hen to be a good serving for an adult, with one hen per person if they're a big eater.* On a cutting board, run a chef's knife through the cavity and split the chicken along the backbone, then turn it over and split through the breast.
Variations:
*Brine instead of overnight salting - if you don't have the time for the overnight salting, use a wet brine instead - check my Brined and Herb Rubbed Cornish Game Hens recipe.
*Herbs under the skin, or in the cavity - I got the idea for the overnight salting from the Zuni Cafe Cookbook. In that recipe, they also have you put a small piece of thyme under the skin of the breast.
*Spice rub instead of just salt - use your favorite spice rub on the hens, making sure you get it under the skin of the breast and in the cavity of the hen.
*Marinate the hens instead- Skip the salting, and use your favorite marinade. Steven Raichlen recommends a herb/mustard/lemon marinade. (From Steven Raichlen's How to Grill)