Doves

I used to hunt doves in fla but now there is no land in our area to hunt them, most of the land is a bird santuary now. Doves being such a dark and rich meat should prove excellent. I would probably try making a jerky out of it although the pieces would be extremely small it should make a flavor unparalled by any other game.

Sns Andi says she has a recipe.I shot about a dozen this week end. I might try and put some in the smokette, I'm afraid they my come out to dry. Let us know if you do. They have not been migrating in okla. yet.

Enjoy, Jimbo

Jimbo: Where in the heck would I get a recipe for Doves? Ain't no Doves here, except in cages, and that bugs me. Coo, Coo!

Got a few recipes for Duck, Canadas, Sandhills, Buffleheads, Teal, Coot, and yup...ole fishy shot-by-mistake Mergies...

I have cooked a lot of dove,but not in the CS.

I'd brine those little rascals in Smokin's brine ,overnight.

Rub inside and out with poultry rub and use Andi's tomato paste can technique for beer butt chicken.....I'd cook to no more than 160�internal and the juices should be running clear.

I'd go real easy on salt in the rub.

At the very least,I'd marinate in Italian dressing for 4 hrs.,if I did not brine.

Hope this helps.

I used to hunt doves here in Florida, but never ate them smoked.

The dove is a small bird with dark meat. Most of the good meat is in the breast. There is not much fat on doves.

I would suggest "barding" the breasts with a strip of bacon if you are determined to smoke some.

Thanks, Bobby Que. The bacon idea may work. I've heard of people removing the breast from the bone, putting 1/2 jalapeno and a strip of jack cheese in the breast, wraping it in bacon then either frying or baking them. Maybe this is not a job for the CS.

SNS,

Doves shure are fun to hunt, and not bad eating if cooked properly.

I used to like the breasts (which we removed minus other parts) cooked in a rich spagheti sauce with lots of wine (in the sauce and me) and cheese.

It might be interesting to do some breasts with skin on, and some with skin off in the CS with the bacon and see how they come out?

Last season I smoked dove breast, with a slice of fresh jalapeno, wrapped together with a slice of bacon, held together with a toothpick. I used hickory wood. I'm not sure I'd sit down and eat them as a meal, but they sure made great appetizers.

Hey BQ Matt,
went to south texas last weekend and scored a bunch of the lil' fella's. Was going to try the jalapeno and bacon recipie. A few questions: What temperature? How long or internal thermometer reading?

Whoooooo Andi, careful with the Canada's, we hunt duck the humane way down here, with string and a button. How many doves does a dove's breast take if one has a hunger for dove?

Bye the way, that sounds real good with the jalape�os and bacon, what other bird can I use for that recipe?

Mike you can cook quail the same way. Quail breast are white meat instead of the dark meat on a dove.It will take a whole buch if your hungry!
Jimbo

Scored a few Spruce Grouse and about 30 lbs. of Hedgehog Mushrooms yesterday. A Good Thing, Martha!

Has anyone done Grouse Breasts in the CS? I like that bacon idea a lot. How about a brine???

Mornin',Andi.

You can do them just like cornish hens/dwarf chickens with your beer butt method.

Unless you can judge the age, I'd brine them a few hours -if you don't beer butt them.

You can judge the size to see which makes sense.

I'm kinda lazy,so I throw a bunch in the brine pail....You also know they haven't already been pumped up with 12%-20% salt water.

I like to cook at 250� to about 160� or when the juices run clear.

Sometimes I spritz with some apple cider or juice if the bottle is handy.

We breast them...same with Ptarmigan. I save the rest of them up in the freezer for Grouse and White Bean Casserole.

Spruce Hens have meaty breasts, and I don't wanna dry out that beautiful meat. So after brining, the bacon, ya think? Or would brining assure juiciness? Hey! How about brining in apple juice? That sounds killer!

Hey,Andi.

I've marinated several hours in a zesty Italian style dressing and that took care of external dryness and they were good.

I've rubbed with cold bacon grease and Cajun seasoning and they were a little more dry.

The brining seemed almost foolproof,and as you suggested you can introduce your own flavors.

You have done plenty of brining so I don't need to warn you about combining a salty brine and a salty rub.

I also like the slightly higher cook temp. of 250� to get them out of there quickly.

Eastern KY is very hilly ,brushy terrain and used to have grouse as thick as doves.We overhunted them to near extinction and had to outlaw hunting them.

With their explosive movements and the thick brush,they make for an exciting hunt.They have somewhat returned now.

Our whitetail deer population is to the nuisance levels there...There is no limit to hunt on your own land and it is not unusual to have a family hanging 40-50 in the barn during season.

Needless to say there are a lot of jerky and sausage processors there.

They introduced a herd of 17 elk there about 5 years ago and they seem to be flourishing.

Whoops,better get out of here before Smokin' catches me off topic.

Spruce Hens are also known as Fool Hens. You can throw a rock at them and they just sit there. Way too easy, but who cares? Good eatin'! They have introduced Ruffed Grouse around here and we are asked to try and not shoot them. Personally, I haven't seen any.

I'm starting to wonder about doing bunny in the CS now, too. Snowshoe Hare up here.

Smokebonedaddy-

The details are a little fuzzy in my memory, and I haven't had time to hunt this year, so I have not cooked them again. With that said, I am pretty sure I cooked them at 225, probably for around two hours. I always cook fowl to at least 165 internal temperature, so I'm sure I did the same in this case. Your cooking time may well vary, as I probably had a full load of ribs and brisket on the smoker at the same time. Hope this helps. The posts about brining them presented some interesting possibilities also.

"Haven't had time to hunt"? I haven't had time to work! Food gathering is an honorable endeavour...And such great adventure!