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Home » Wild Game » Smoked Doves

Smoked Doves

By Hank Shaw on August 29, 2019, Updated November 6, 2020 - 9 Comments

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5 from 6 votes
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A bowl of smoked doves with guajillo sauce.
Photo by Holly A. Heyser

Smoked doves are easy to make, versatile and are good hot or cold. What’s not to love?

There are two origins to this dish. The first is that I’d been meaning to smoke doves for ages. After all, they are a Labor Day tradition in much of the country, and once you have your annual fix of dove poppers, you need some other recipes — preferably those that can be done outside.

Second, as many of you know I’ve been studying Mexican food a lot lately, and I came across a curious dish of stewed doves in a guajillo sauce in a Spanish-language cookbook that covers the Mexican state of Sonora. And, well, Sonora is just on the other side of Arizona, where I hunt doves a lot. Bingo!

I don’t generally like stewed doves. Overcooked dove tastes like liver to me, and not in a good way. But if you cure and smoke your doves first, then just bathe them in your sauce, whatever that sauce may be, you have a fantastic compromise.

Making smoked doves is easy: Put 1/4 cup of kosher salt (I use Diamond Crystal) into each quart of cool water, along with a teaspoon of Instacure No. 1. This is curing salt, and you use it when smoking meats for food safety and to give meats that characteristic rosy color. You can get it in butcher shops and online. And you can skip it, but I prefer the flavor with the curing salt.

Incidentally, I use plucked doves here. It is super easy to pluck doves, and we have a video here on how to do it.

Submerge your doves in the this brine, in the refrigerator, for 12 to 24 hours, then briefly rinse and drain them. In this state they can sit in the fridge for a day or more.

Arrange your doves breast side up and smoke them over the wood of your choice — mesquite or oak is mine — for about 2 hours over low heat. I use a Traeger, and set it at 170°F. This gives you enough smoke time and you won’t incinerate your doves.

If you want to sauce your smoked doves, all you need to do is either paint on the sauce in the last hour, or toss the finished doves in the sauce, wrap in foil and heat in a 350°F oven for 25 minutes or so.

A bowl of smoked doves.
Photo by Holly A. Heyser

OTHER GREAT DOVE RECIPES

I have 25 dove recipes here on Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, ranging from bacon-wrapped doves to dove enchiladas. Some great Labor Day grilling or barbecue options include:

  • Grilled doves Cajun style. Super easy with a Louisiana flair.
  • Grilled doves with an Arizona desert inspired barbecue sauce.
  • Slow and low barbecued doves.

No doves? This dove recipe works with pigeons or squab, teal, woodcock, rails, quail, or yes, even Cornish game hens.

If you liked this recipe, please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating and a comment below; I’d love to hear how everything went. If you’re on Instagram, share a picture and tag me at huntgathercook.

A bowl of smoked doves.
Print Recipe
5 from 6 votes

Smoked Doves with Guajillo Sauce

Consider this a master recipe for smoking small birds. Doves, pigeons, teal, snipe, rails or quail will all work with this recipe. The sauce is something I like a lot, but you can use whatever sauce you'd like.
Prep Time30 mins
Cook Time2 hrs
Brine Time12 hrs
Total Time14 hrs 30 mins
Course: Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine: American, Mexican
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 60kcal
Author: Hank Shaw

Ingredients

  • 16 to 20 doves, quail, snipe or sora rails, or 8 pigeons or teal
  • 1/2 cup kosher salt (I use Diamond Crystal)
  • 2 quarts water
  • 1 teaspoon Instacure No. 1 (optional)

GUAJILLO SAUCE

  • 8 dried guajillo peppers, stems and seeds removed
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 small white onion, quartered
  • 5 cloves garlic, unpeeled
  • 1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
  • 1/4 teaspoon allspice
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 2 to 6 hot chiles, such as arbol
  • Salt and lime juice to taste

Instructions

  • Dissolve the salt and curing salt into the water and submerge the doves in it. Set this in the fridge for no less than 4 hours, and no more than 24 hours; I prefer 12 hours. Remove, rinse briefly and pat dry.
  • Get your smoker going to about 170F to 200F. Use whatever wood you like, but I prefer mesquite or oak. Smoke your doves for 2 hours, with smoke going the whole time.
  • Meanwhile, make the sauce. Pour boiling water over the dried chiles to rehydrate them. While this is happening, char the onion and garlic in a hot, dry skillet until you get some nice blackening. Peel the garlic and put it in a blender. Roughly chop the onion and put that in there, too.
  • Put the guajillo chiles and all the remaining ingredients into the blender and puree. Thin the sauce with some of the chile soaking water, lager beer or water. Adjust the seasoning with salt and lime.
  • You can either paint the doves with this sauce in the last hour of cooking, or you can remove the birds from the smoked, cut then in half with kitchen shears or a knife, and then bathe them in the sauce. Serve with plenty of napkins and a bone bowl. Watch out for birdshot!

Nutrition

Calories: 60kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 0.4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 4mg | Sodium: 14244mg | Potassium: 287mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 1996IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 52mg | Iron: 1mg
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Filed Under: American Recipes, Featured, How-To (DIY stuff), Mexican, Recipe, Wild Game

Avatar for Hank Shaw

Hank Shaw

Hey there. Welcome to Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, the internet's largest source of recipes and know-how for wild foods. I am a chef, author, and yes, hunter, angler, gardener, forager and cook. Follow me on Instagram and on Facebook.

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Comments

  1. Avatar for SCSC says

    July 11, 2020 at 6:56 pm

    Tried this today. The birds were pretty salty for me (brined overnight), and while they were cooked perfectly (2 hours at 200F), they didn’t pick up much smoke. I smoked a brisket afterwards, and put the birds under a foil tent over the damper on my smoker as sort of a poor man’s cold smoke box. That helped a bit. Next time, I’ll try brining for 4-6 hours. I’m not sure how to get more smoke flavor. Lower than 200F and my electric smoker has a hard time burning chips. maybe I should set it higher and cook for a shorter period (keeping a close eye on it). I’d welcome suggestions!

    Reply
    • Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

      July 12, 2020 at 7:55 am

      SC: Huh. I got plenty of smoke flavor, so maybe you are just looking for more? I mean, they’re doves, so you will never ever be able to get them as smoky as something that spends 12 hours in a smoker. This method adds just one more added touch of smoke that makes them different from, say, barbecued doves.

      Reply
  2. Avatar for Katrina OlthofKatrina Olthof says

    November 24, 2019 at 9:19 am

    Have you had luck making the guajillo sauce a day ahead? Seems like the sauce should develop in flavor over a day but I’m curious about thinning it with lager too, if that would have any effect.

    Reply
    • Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

      November 24, 2019 at 9:38 am

      Katrina: You bet. It will keep for a week or more in the fridge.

      Reply
  3. Avatar for Chris HerrnbergerChris Herrnberger says

    September 3, 2019 at 8:57 pm

    Silly question where do you get your doves from. Nothing but pigeon in these parts.

    Reply
    • Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

      September 5, 2019 at 7:51 am

      Chris: We hunt them all over the place. They are a very common bird here in the West.

      Reply
  4. Avatar for Bob WaughBob Waugh says

    August 29, 2019 at 8:09 pm

    Hank,
    When finishing in the oven, wrap individually in foil or cover with foil in baking dish?

    Reply
    • Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

      August 30, 2019 at 9:17 am

      Bob: I cover a whole dish full of sauced doves to heat them up.

      Reply
  5. Avatar for Jon WrenJon Wren says

    August 29, 2019 at 3:59 pm

    Hi Hank,
    My brine includes curing salt, dark brown sugar, garlic and onion powder and some poultry seasoning. I brine whole, plucked birds for 8 to 12 hours, smoke over alder or maple for 2 hours, then finish cooking hot and fast on my gas grill.

    Reply

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Hi, my name is Hank Shaw; I’m a James Beard Award-winning author and chef. I started this site back in 2007 to help you get the most out of all things wild: fish, game, edible wild plants and mushrooms. I also write cookbooks, have a website dedicated to the intersection of food and nature, and do a podcast, too. If it’s wild, you’ll find it here. Hope you enjoy the site!

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