First Smoke turned out great!!

[Tim S]

The wings came out great. I soaked them in a brine for 10 hours then hit them with 2 hours of smoke at 225 Degrees.
I used a 50/50 mix of special blend and hickory alternating each one in the generator.
Needless to say the Wife was impressed and I am anxious to try some pork ribs. Thanks to all of you Guys for the advice you have given me.

Tim S

[Oldman]

Well Congrats on your first time out~~!

[Habanero Smoker]

Glad to hear of your success. Did you time how long it took to fully cook them? If so how long did it take? Did you use "fresh" or a frozen brand of wings?

[Tim S]

Glad to hear of your success. Did you time how long it took to fully cook them? If so how long did it take? Did you use "fresh" or a frozen brand of wings?

I cooked the wings for a total of about 2 hours and 15 minutes and the wings were fresh not frozen. I pulled one at about the 1:45 mark and it was already done but I gave them a few more minutes to be safe. 

Tim

[MallardWacker]

Needless to say the Wife was impressed ...

Shoot the battle is half over at that point...good job there young man...I wish I could some how equate my Duck Hunting Gear purchasing like you can to BS...

[Habanero Smoker]

Tim,

Thanks for getting back with the information. Maybe I'll start using the fresh ones, they tend to smoke/cook a lot faster. That is if I can get over the price of them in this area. Sam's had "fresh" perdue wings the last time I was there. I may pick up a couple of packages. I think they were sold in 4 lb. trays.

[Habanero Smoker]

I recently picked up some "fresh" wings at Sam's. I forgot how small they could be. If yours were around the same size, I can see how they cooked in around 95 minutes.  They do look good. I'm going to smoke them either tomorrow or Saturday. I usually buy the frozen "drummettes" that Tyson Foods sells.

[Tim S]

Habanero Smoker,

We usually buy our meat from the local Wal-Mart. Their chicken is always good.
I bought a Family pack of wings and seperated the wing from the drumette.
This is the way I butcher them for frying and grilling as well.
Have you ever cooked any Quail? My inlaws want me to smoke some this weekend
and I need some pointers on how to prep them.

Tim

[Habanero Smoker]

Sorry! The smallest bird I ever put in the smoker were cornish hens. I'm sure there is someone on this board that have smoked them. They will need to be brined, but you need to be careful about the brining times, because they are so small. In the mean time I'll keep my eye open for any recipes.

[Habanero Smoker]

I had no luck locating any recipes for smoked quail, other then on a stove top. I believe there is a recipe in Smoke & Spice, but my copy is still packed away somewheres. From what I've been able to find out is that quail should only be cooked to an internal temperature of 160°F-165°F. They are so small that it is difficult to take the temperature with a thermometer, so if you can't get a temperature the best judge of correct doneness is to check to see if the leg moves freely in the joint.

I would smoke the quail at 200°F-225°F; but I couldn't tell you for how long, or how much smoke. My guess for smoke would be 20-40 minutes, and I would lean to the lesser time. You don't want to have surprises when you are inviting guest, so I would do a test run, smoking about two quails, and see how it works out.

This is a brine that I started using for Cornish hens. This is enough to brine (2) 1 ½ - 2 pound Cornish hens; 3 hens if they are smaller. I brine them for 1 ½ hours for the large hens; 1 hour for the smaller ones. So for quail I would brine for 15 minutes – 20 minutes; for your the first attempt. In the following recipe, I'm thinking about replacing one cup of water with orange juice, and eliminating the lemon. But right now this brine is pretty good.

Brine:
1 Cup Water
¼ Cup Kosher salt
¼ Cup Dark Brown Sugar
¼ Cup Cognac or Dry White Wine (Cognac is the best choice)
3 Tbs. Fresh Lemon Juice
1 Tbs. Black peppercorns
1 Tbs. Coriander Seeds
1 tsp. Ground mustard
2 Garlic cloves crushed

3 Cups of Ice water.

In a medium sauce pan add 1 cup of water, salt, sugar, cognac, lemon juice, peppercorns, coriander, mustard and garlic. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and add ice water. Let brine cool until it reaches at least 40°F; if ice water does not bring the brine down to 40°F, you will need to refrigerate the brine.

Pour chilled brine into a plastic container or 1 gallon zip lock bag. Add birds; making sure all birds are submerged, and refrigerate for 1-1 ½ hours (for quail 15-20 minutes). Remove birds from brine and lightly rinse under cool running water; pat dry; inside and out, with paper towels. Place in preheated oven or smoker directly from the refrigerator.

I hope this gets you started on the right track.

[iceman]

Habs is right about the quail. Smoke and spice has a couple of recipes.
Mushroom Stuffed Quail on page 203.
Rosy Rosemary Quail on page 206.
They also have a recipe for Chicken From Hell that you can use quail instead of the chicken on page 336.
They call for a marinade of red wine, red wine vinegar olive oil, etc.
Marinade for about 4 hours then smoke cook at 200 / 220 for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
I don't have time to post the recipes.
I do highly suggest getting the book. ;)

[Tim S]

Sounds like Quail is something that would be very easy to overcook.
Habs brine recipe sounds like a good one and it for sure has more ingredients in it than the first one I made for the wings.
I will look for a copy of the book you guys mentioned. Thanks to you both for taking the time to reply
with such detailed information. Take care.

Tim