Roasting the Unkillable Pheasant
Nov 13th, 2008 | By Hank | Category: Wild Game | Comments | 6 Comments |
Roasting whole game birds has always presented something of a Hobson’s Choice for me: Perfect breast meat or properly cooked legs and thighs? Is it possible to achieve both?
I suppose it is, but I have not yet achieved the perfect roast pheasant: Juicy breast, thoroughly cooked legs and thighs, crispy skin. This would be sublime. Don’t get me wrong, however, I can still whip up a good roast pheasant, and this is what I did with our Unkillable Pheasant. I brined the bird first for eight hours, then roasted it in a classic high-low method. The recipe’s details are here.
How did it come out? The breast meat was perfect: Juicy, tender with the barest whisper of pink. The leg meat was excellent, too — fully cooked and as tender as a leg that did plenty of running around can be (the leg tendons in a pheasant are like miniature versions of those in a turkey leg). The thigh, however, was a little underdone; cooked, yes, but still pretty pink. I would not have eaten it if the bird had been a factory-farmed chicken. Most disappointing was the skin, which was not crispy. Maybe the maple syrup-and-butter glaze prevented it from getting so?
I have read dozens of roast pheasant recipes. Most cook the bird at 350 degrees for something between 20 minutes and an hour. Twenty minutes is insane: Even the breast meat isn’t done in such a short time at that temperature. Others use a raging, 500-degree oven: I haven’t dare tried this, but I may when I come across another pheasant.
Two things are clear to me: First, brining game birds is to me a vital step. It is insurance against dryness and adds some flavor. Second, resting the bird for 5-15 minutes (depending on size) is also critical. This is additional insurance against dryness, and gives you some wiggle room with your roasting times.
I have seen a recipe from the 1800s where you saute the pheasant in lots of butter. You slowly turn the bird around and around to brown all sides; I do this with ducks before putting them in a 400-degree oven, and it goes a long way to getting that bird’s skin crispy. I’d never done this with a pheasant, because unlike a duck, a pheasant does not have much fat under its skin.
So many techniques. Any pheasant roasters out there? How do you roast your birds? I’d love to hear from you. Meanwhile, with a sunny weekend ahead, I think I’ll go chase some more ditch chickens…
I’ve had much better luck barbecuing/grilling a whole pheasant in a Weber, indirect heat for 45 minutes or so with the coals around the perimeter of the grill, than trying to roast it in the oven. That’s the only way I can get the skin nice and crispy (good thought still not quite as yummy as a duck’s skin). I should mention that I’ve only tried this with game farm pheasants, though a tender, first-of-the-year wild rooster should work too.
According to Thomas Keller, who wrote the roast chicken recipe I favor, basting inhibits the development of crispy skin. Perhaps it would help if you added the glaze towards the very end?
Hank, what about roasting it just as you describe, but 10 minutes before you call it done you kick on the broiler and try and cripy-up that skin? With the sugars in that glaze I wouldn’t think it would take much to get it going. Just a thought. Sounds great otherwise!
Sportingdays: Yeah, I know that works fine, but that’s barbecued pheasant, not roasted pheasant. I need to get me some ditch chickens and smoke a few of them…
Adele: You know, I bet you (and Thomas Keller) are right. That prolly had something to do with it.
Jon: That might work, but I’d be worried about burning the top of the bird, which would be very close to the burner, and not browning the thighs. I guess I could rotate the bird as it crisped…
Yeah, I think Adele is right. Any moisture at all retards the crispitude of roasting birds. Maybe put maple in the brine, and then glaze at the end like she suggests?
Hello Hank. First time to post. When ever I’ve been lucky enough to put together a hunt in Iowa, plucking all the birds was a must (while all the others laughed). Brining the bird and letting come to room temp before roasting is a must. Most game I cook always gets this treatment. Something a little different I’ve done is splitting the bird down the back and roasting it flat over lemons, herbs, onions, and whatever else ya got. To mix it up every now and then I’ll whip up some herb butter and tuck it inbetween the skin and meat. Yum.