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.

 

[catesquire]

That is weird. And definitely not how they should smell/taste (they're very similar to the dark meat on chicken or to turkey legs, at least to me). Don't know what to tell you, except make sure you got all the offal out and that nothing nasty leaked out on the meat.

I will say I used some quail meat in a dish with ketchup, and on the second day the leftovers were SUPER gamey, which didn't happen when I roasted with a plain salt and pepper rub--so maybe the sauce you used didn't play nice with the natural flavors? But if they smelled like that from butchering onwards, I do not know.

Hopefully someone else has helpful experience! And maybe next time try them plainer, to get a sense for what they should taste like. Though I am a BBQ fan myself