Game hens done beer can style

For the mini fowl throwdown, I was wondering just how small I could go and then the wife mentioned that the newest batch of chicks just hatched. Perfect!
So I went over to the coop and checked them out.

It took me a bit but I finally managed to pick one out. Cute little vittle isn't it?

Now I figured all I would need is scissors to snip it's head off, a cup of boiling water to remove the feathers, a scalpel to gut/butcher it, and a small pile of wood matches to cook it over.

....

Yeah, I couldn't do it.
So I came up with the idea of doing some game hens beer can chicken style.

Of course, I wasn't able to find beer in cans small enough so I opted for some apricot juice for a bit of something different.

Then it was butts down and onto the cans it was actually a tighter fit than I thought it would be.

After arriving upon their thrones it was rub down time.

From there, it was onto the UDS at around 275 for an hour and 30 min.

Boy did they look good. And, I actually managed not to oversmoke them! :becky:

Here they are, all plated up and ready for the dance. (Use this one as my entry pic please.)

I was really proud of this, it ended up being nice crispy skin with great flavor from the rub and super juicy. The nice apricot gave it a nice sweetness that I wasn't expecting.

I ended up coming across a 5th game hen so I decided to go for broke on my mini fowl madness and spatchcock it!

It also went on the UDS and was ready in just a hair over an hour. Also tasted awesome.

In the end, they all were severely tasty but, gone far too fast.
Enjoy!

Thanks for all the comments. Forgot to mention that for a side (I was lazy) througha bog of frozen mixed veggies in a foil pouch along with, some of the apricot juice and seasoning salt. Had them on the smoker for about an hour beside the chicken. The mix was an Asian blend and the water crests were like a special treat with the sweet and salty flavors mixed together.

Thanks for all the great comments! :thumb:

You all rock! :rockon: