A whole barbecued pheasant is a surprising and beautiful alternative to turkey at your holiday table. You can enjoy this popular game bird at home in minutes by doing some simple prep work and just putting it on the grill. Here's barbecue a pheasant.
Instructions
1. Butcher the pheasant. Remove any pinfeathers and carefully clean away any traces of shot. Or take the easier way out and buy an already cleaned pheasant at the local meat market.
2. Salt and pepper the bird. To help keep pheasant moist during cooking, stuff the cavity with sausage, cornbread, apples or onion quarters, cranberries or celery chunks.
3. Place the pheasant skin side down on a grill of medium-high heat (about 500 to 600 degrees F). After about 5 or 6 minutes, the skin should be crispy. Flip it and finish it on an area of the grill that's not as hot (medium heat, about 400 degrees F).
4. Cook the pheasant another 8 to 10 minutes. Internal temperature should reach about 160 degrees F. Remove the pheasant from the grill.
5. Allow the pheasant to rest for 8 to 10 minutes before carving. The residual heat will cause the internal temperature to continue rising to at least 165 degrees F (also known as "carry-over cooking"), which is hot enough to kill salmonella and other harmful bacteria without over-cooking the meat.
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