how long do you roast quail for please!

just culled/plucked/gutted etc my 6 spare boys and we plan on having them tonight.

they have got a nice bit of fat on them so I'm thinking stuff them, and roast. how long do I cook them for please? what gas?

thanks.

Complete guess as I haven't tried any roast quail yet but 180-190 C for 20 mins!?

Edit - I reckon I'd try 200 C and 20 min but it all depends on how pokey your oven is mine tends to run hot.

Chickens are normally something like an hour per pound aren't they? So 20 mins for a quail sounds like the right length of time. Maybe a little longer if they're stuffed.

chickens are 20 mins a lb + 20 mins.
quail being much smaller will only take 15 - 25 mins max i reckon

mid heat, gas 4 or 5

keef

thanks guys. looking forward to these. late night dinner before the boxing comes on

A wee bit late, but I'm pretty sure that theres a roast quail recipe with temp & cooking time, in the quail recipe section.

Quail were superb
did take a hell of a lot longer to cook then i thought. getting on for 40 minutes but delicious.

highly recommend!

ooommmggg they look so delish

they were!!!!! thing that impressed me was all the meat on the bird was as good as the breast meat. no horrible slimy bit on underside-no tough legs.
am watching my latest batch of youngsters with increased interest now!

oh other thing that happened was went in to sort birds this morning and my 8 week quail (sisters to the departed) had produced their very first egg. do you reckon my pep talk about hurry up or you go way of your brothers worked?

edit-it must have worked-just gone out again and egg number 2 was there:) what good girls.

yep you scared them to death nearly and they laid an egg instead of pooping themself how did you find the plucking and gutting though?

lol!
I killed them then immediatly hung by feet for a few minutes to make sure blood went to neck then plucked still warm.
plucking and gutting were both straightforward and easy enough-just rather fiddly. I cut the wings off as after plucking a couple (extremly differcult the wings) I realised there was virtually no meat on them.
you do need to be careful plucking as the skin is really thin and i tore it on some as tried for too many feathers at once. the birds did have an amazing number of feathers..
once plucked hung them up for half hour while went and got breath back.

gutting-again easy enough-just cut around the vent then yank everything out-making careful note that everything there so no nasty surprises at table. (-and take out crop at neck end-) just fiddly but only took few minutes per bird.

I'd certainly do them again. well worth the effort and so nice to have a meal where you know it has had good food,a nice life, no long journey, no suffering.

The do look very tasty!

Hi,

Dry plucking is a pain, try boiling some water to 120F, and put the culled birds in that for 20/30 seconds, remove and you'll find you can "pluck" the bird in seconds, wings included. The skin does not rip either. Derek.

they do look very nice
i don't think i could do it tho, i'm sure i could eat them if they was already dressed.
i don't have a problem with killing them, but i think i would if i had to pluck, clean and cook them lol
i used to have problems with my chickens, i couldn't do it, so all the cocks used to end up at the market.
i suppose i'll have to try it, just to see if i can do it, other wise i'll have to many males.

when th time comes, i'll let you know how i get on.

keef

Keef - I don't think I could kill them but think i'd be fine gutting them. We should get together to eat quail

lol emma.... is that a new chat up line?

only joking.... sorry i couldn't resist

keef

Ironsun wrote:Hi,

Dry plucking is a pain, try boiling some water to 120F, and put the culled birds in that for 20/30 seconds, remove and you'll find you can "pluck" the bird in seconds, wings included. The skin does not rip either. Derek.

thanks Derek, that sounds far easier!