Cornish Game Hens

[DaveT261]

I want to do 6 game hens on the Bradley, should I smoke them whole or should I butterfly them.  My worry is not getting done because I will be using 3 racks on an unmodified smoker, uncooked chicken scares me to death.  The weather has been miserable here and I have not been able to do much since buying it so I am still flying by the seat of my pants on the Bradley.  I am also wanting to do a marinade, will 6 hens cause too much moisture in the smoker,and last but not least what is the suggested cook temp. 

I have done wings and they turned out fantastic, they were actually the best chicken I have ever done on a smoker.

[Habanero Smoker]

Butterflying them is the best way to go, and you should be able two get to hens on each rack. The marinade should not create that much extra moisture, just don't put them in dripping wet, and keep your vent wide open at the beginning of the cook. Preheat your cabinet to 250°F, before placing the hens in, and cook at 225 - 250°F. When preheating the cabinet you want to keep the vent 1/4 - 1//2 open, then after the chicken is place in, move the vent to the wide open position.

If your smoker continues to struggle for a long period of time to recover to the temperature you want to cook at, you can remove some or all after the smoke have been applied and move to a grill or kitchen oven. You may want to do this anyway when they are close to being done to improve the skin texture.

For hens I use about 1:40 hour of smoke; either apple, maple or pecan.