Smoked pigeon.

[manxman]

Anybody got any recipes for smoked (wood)pigeon? I have been given a few and someone recommended cold smoking them, but if anyone has any first hand experience I would appreciate it.  :)

Thanks.

[Wildcat]

Never had pigeon, but I have had quail and dove.  Never smoked them, but they are great fried.  Could possible cold smoke for a few minutes then finish off with some other method.

[Smokin Soon]

I would treat just like Quail and ABT!

[manxman]

Thanks for the advice Wildcat and Smokin Soon, think I will try lightly smoked and pan fried then finely sliced with some salad.

[Smoking Duck]

They must be much different than our pigeons on this side.  Ours are usually so infested with parasites and such that I would never consider them.  Are these more like mourning doves over here?  If so, I would do them by breasting them out, putting on a light smoke.  Then I would do them like an ABT.......put some cream cheese, a slice of jalapeno in there and wrap up with bacon and grill them.  They are delicious that way but usually, the breasts are very small, so it takes a few to feed bigger guys.

[manxman]

They must be much different than our pigeons on this side.  Ours are usually so infested with parasites and such that I would never consider them. Are these more like mourning doves over here?

Woodpigeons are the largest pigeon found in the UK and are part of the dove family, the ones I get live in the countryside and feed on crops and seeds and make excellent eating.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/w/woodpigeon/index.asp

I wouldn't eat any of the thousands of town pigeons we have that feed on cr*p and are full of parasites, no better than flying  r a ts.  ;) :D

That looks a great recipe SD, thanks. I have breasted the pigeons out and frozen them, I have also kept the carcass and legs to make some game stock as part of a game pie I plan on making.

[Smoking Duck]

It's the only way I do dove breasts now.  Very easy to do......can be used either as appetizer or main course.  Might also try to splash it with a little rub.  I like something that uses garlic as one of the ingredients.

[NePaSmoKer]

manx

I do quail and pheasant.

Clean em out good. Season inside with your favorite seasoning.  Take some butter in a bowl, add your seasoning to it and mix well. Gently lift the skin of your squab and rub the butter/seasoning between skin and flesh. Place them into a glass or foil pan breast side up, add about 1/4 cup of water or wine. Smoke at 225* until the breast reaches 175-180*

nepas

[westexasmoker]

MMMMmmmmm quail!  I can't imagine having a pigeons, rats with wings, some dove breast are fab also.  Wrap either with bacon, a bit of seasoning smoke till done....MMmmmmm!!  But I'd try some pigeon from the right part of the country/world, and cooked with mesquite!   ;D

C

[stillsmoking]

Manxman, I don't have any specific recipes but growing up I both raised pigeons and hunted doves.  I had a pretty strict breeding program and the birds that didn't make the grade excelled in another way, on the plate.  We fried, baked, barbecued, smoked etc. as raw material was plentiful.  I remember that a light breading and frying was great, marinade in something red wine based and a light smoke would be perfect.  It is all dark meat so rich in flavor and low in fat, easy to overcook.  We also used to use the breasts, lightly dust with seasoned flour, brown in a fry pan, then bake with a sage based stuffing tucked in around and under the breasts, GOOD STUFF!  Some smoke would have also improved this.  As others mentioned wrapping in bacon wouldn't hurt at all.

[Smoking Duck]

Manxman, I don't have any specific recipes but growing up I both raised pigeons and hunted doves.  I had a pretty strict breeding program and the birds that didn't make the grade excelled in another way, on the plate.  We fried, baked, barbecued, smoked etc. as raw material was plentiful.  I remember that a light breading and frying was great, marinade in something red wine based and a light smoke would be perfect.  It is all dark meat so rich in flavor and low in fat, easy to overcook.  We also used to use the breasts, lightly dust with seasoned flour, brown in a fry pan, then bake with a sage based stuffing tucked in around and under the breasts, GOOD STUFF!  Some smoke would have also improved this.  As others mentioned wrapping in bacon wouldn't hurt at all.

Stillsmoking,

Just curious if you raised the birds for training dogs?  I was thinking about doing the same myself here soon as I'll have a new pup to train in the spring.

Marc

[stillsmoking]

Duck, I raised the birds for show and performance but the culls got ate or occasionally sold to dog trainers.  We had lots of game birds around so training wasn't a problem.  A good friend of mine has used pigeons to train his dogs with some success. 

[Smoking Duck]

Yea, I've used pigeons quite a bit (with clipped wings) to teach dogs to use their noses.  I also do it when trying to train a dog using hand signals.  Our bird population in these parts isn't as plentiful as it used to be.

[NePaSmoKer]

When i had my german short hair pointer in calif. She would point on grasshoppers in the off season. I would show her my bb gun and she was ready to hunt. She was a good dog.


nepas

[Smoking Duck]

She musta had an incredibly soft mouth to retrieve grasshoppers  ;D