Processing question

[Susan Skylark]

I’ve gone straight from cleaning to the grill and haven’t had issues. I’ve also done a brine in the fridge for a couple days (not sure why, quail aren’t tough or gamey!). My first batch I plucked and gutted, took over an hour for four birds, very pretty but skinning and spatchcocking makes it way faster.

 

[pac]

I did buy a plucker. I think ideally that is how I would prefer them. But skinning is so much easier. And how I have always done pheasants.

I wouldn't know how to go about cleaning the inside of a quail being so small. I had a hard time getting all their lungs when they were spatchcocked.

 

[Nabiki]

I process mine in the kitchen. If I'm doing a bunch I'll bring a carrier in with the "subjects" and pull them out one at a time to process.

I pluck because, while skinning may be easier, the skin tastes good and it helps keep the meat moist while cooking.

 

[pac]

Well. After eating the better part of 1-1/2 of those roos that I seasoned, grilled, and applied BBQ sauce to... I'm not sure I will eat another.

Something was off. I could smell it during processing. I could smell it on my hands after final cleanup in the house (they were already pretty clean anyway). And I could certainly smell it after cooking them. And on my plate eating them and on my hands again afterwards.

The only thing I can compare it to is fish. Some people won't eat fish because they don't like the odor from start to finish. That is the feeling I got from the quail. Just some kind of weird odor I did not like. Like the odor from the brooder I cleaned out today.

Just plain unpleasant.
And just to say, I did smell the quail as I took them out of the fridge and they didn't have any odor.

I'm not sure how this smell cropped up.
But I am not a happy camper.

 

[Nabiki]

Well. After eating the better part of 1-1/2 of those roos that I seasoned, grilled, and applied BBQ sauce to... I'm not sure I will eat another.

Something was off. I could smell it during processing. I could smell it on my hands after final cleanup in the house (they were already pretty clean anyway). And I could certainly smell it after cooking them. And on my plate eating them and on my hands again afterwards.

The only thing I can compare it to is fish. Some people won't eat fish because they don't like the odor from start to finish. That is the feeling I got from the quail. Just some kind of weird odor I did not like. Like the odor from the brooder I cleaned out today.

Just plain unpleasant.
And just to say, I did smell the quail as I took them out of the fridge and they didn't have any odor.

I'm not sure how this smell cropped up.
But I am not a happy camper.

The very first one that I ever processed tasted off to me. It took me a while before I tried another, and then I liked it.