BBQ26/17: Rotisserie Quail over Vortex:
Rotisserie Quail: I had 8 quail’s left from the 12 I ordered for BBQ13/17: Paprika rubbed, cold smoked quails so decided to cook another 4 on the BBQ. I was thinking about spatchcocking them again but I had used the vortex a few days earlier and decided to cook them on the rotisserie and use the vortex at the end to crisp up the skin.
We had been out for the day and got back late so I had a look in the BBQ cupboard to see if I had any rubs and sauce left. The only rub I had was the Grillstock pork rub I had made a while back and the Hangfire smokehouse sauce I made for BBQ12/17: Smoked Pork Belly. Although pork rub is a strange choice for quail it smelt nice and really reminded me of BBQ so I decided to give it a try.
Rather than put the quail on the rotisserie the normal way I threaded them on sideways. I read this in “Project Smoke” and it apparently gives a juicier bird and crisper skin but I also felt it would be easier to keep them secure on the spit.
I applied the rub using my shaker. It was quite hard to get it to stay on the quail so in future I would add a bit of oil to the quail beforehand to help the rub stick.
I have been wanting to use the grape vine smoking wood from Smokewood Shack and as it’s apparently good for game I used it on this cook. You can just see it in the photo below:
I was aiming for an internal temperature of 75c and decided to apply the bbq sauce at around 65c. I used a silicon brush to apply it as the rotisserie was spinning.
After a couple of minutes I used my big BBQ tongs to move lit fuel from the outside of the vortex into the centre to help crisp up the skin.
The feet were quite burnt, it didn’t really bother me as I wasn’t going to eat the feet but for presentation purposes it might be better to wrap the feet with foil in future.
At 75c I stopped the rotisserie and took the quail off. We really enjoyed this cook and the taste of the quail. For some reason it seemed a bit easier to eat whole and was easier to get to the meat.
Total cook time was about 40 minutes.
Changes for next time:
- I stupidly picked up the vortex at the start of the cook with my bare hand and got a pretty hefty burn on my hand! Lesson learnt and I have imposed a rule on myself now where both welders gloves must be worn at all times when the BBQ lid is off.
- When applying rub to quail (probably chicken too) I will rub a bit of oil in first to help the rub stick better.
- Think about foil wrapping the feet to stop them burning.