Pheasant in Crockpot

[eightmd]

I still have a couple of pheasant left from last year and was going to do them in a crockpot. The last time I did, they came out a little on the tough side, and I was wondering if there was any trick to it.

Do you breast them and cut up the other parts like legs and thighs first? Do you then put them in the pot raw or do you sear them first? How long do you let them cook in the pot? My crockpot has 2 settings and the high setting is almost to the point of boiling. Should I use the high or low setting? Any help is appreciated. Thanks

[Bowhunter_619]

I put one in for 8 hours raw with taco seasoning and it came out great. I just shredded it up before serving. My boys loved it.

[NapalmCheese]

Meat with little to no intramuscular fat needs to be served rare or braised. The crock pot is one way to 'braise' it (not my favorite but will do in a pinch). Braising is the act of cooking (traditionally tough) meats in a moist environment at moderate heat levels which causes the collagen and connective tissue to break down as fully as possible.

Long story short; you didn't cook it long enough.

I prefer to brown pretty much anything I intend to slow cook, including vegetables and onions.

One of my absolute favorite dishes is braised venison shanks done in a dutch oven on the stove top and finished in an oven (or not). Wine or beer with whatever stock you have on hand will do wonderful things as a braising fluid. Onions, potatoes, and carrots are typical accouterment along with wild rice. Cut the ends off the bones before cooking if they aren't already cut.

[jluyben21]

We have done them with a can of cream of mushroom and 1 cup of water. They came out great and not dry at all. Recipe was courtesy of Mike Raahauges. Sure miss that guy.

[bchains]

Forget the taco seasoning or mushroom soup in a can -- they'll overwhelm the flavor of the meat and are cheap tasting. This isn't some junk meat from the supermarket so treat it right!

The best use of a dry pheasant or old yard chicken is coq au vin. Impress your lady with this classic french recipe. Like NapalmCheese said, it's low and slow and you must have some acid in the form of wine to help break down the meat. Don't forget to first brown the meat to perform the Maillard reaction to generate all the delicious carmelization flavors. I do it in peanut oil for a fantastic taste. See:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/coq-au-vin-51133420

or

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/coq-au-vin2.html

[not-fishing]

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/coq-au-vin-51133420

or
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/coq-au-vin2.html

Thanks for receipies.

I usually wood/charcoal smoke 3 at a time once it gets warm then pull the meat for pasta. A very light smoke.

Sometimes I brine them first.

Then the carcasses get the crockpot treatment to make pheasant stock.

[NapalmCheese]

The best use of a dry pheasant or old yard chicken is coq au vin. Impress your lady with this classic french recipe. Like NapalmCheese said, it's low and slow and you must have some acid in the form of wine to help break down the meat. Don't forget to first brown the meat to perform the Maillard reaction to generate all the delicious carmelization flavors. I do it in peanut oil for a fantastic taste. See:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/coq-au-vin-51133420

or
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/coq-au-vin2.html

I second the Coq au Vin.

As much as I hate using an entire bottle of burgundy or pinot in the pot (minus the 'taster' of course) it is a pretty fantastic preparation.

I've been using grape seed oil for a lot of my cooking lately, it's been nice. Really mild flavor and a high smoke point (for things that need it).

[MJB]

I just grill them on indirect heat eat at medium.
Like a turkey the legs cook and taste differently than the breast.

[Scottie15]

Foster farms pheasants or wild birds? Whole, bone-in breast or boned out? Just the boobies? If foster farms, cook them just like a chicken, but go easy on the seasonings so you taste the meat. For wild birds, you should braise them - low and slow. If your crockpot is anything like mine, the low setting is still too high heat.

If you have the birds with the breast bone in, split them in half with some game shears. Season the split breasts with flour, salt, pepper and Italian herbs, brown them in oil (safflower or other high heat oil) over medium high heat in a dutch oven. Remove from the dutch oven and add your mirepoix, cook until the onions get soft. Deglaze the pan with some white wine - ~1 cup, a little at a time. add the breasts back in, add some low sodium chicken or vegetable stock to ~cover the meat. Bring the liquid to a boil, then drop it into a 200-215* oven for 4-8 hours. Once done, the meat will fall off the bones.

Also, go here: http://honest-food.net/wild-game/phe...pes/#pheasants

Read up on some recipes. He's got some pretty great ideas and a good diversity of recipes to try. My buddy loves the pheasant cacciatore in his crockpot. I always like chicken, light sausage or pheasant as a dumpling soup, but it's a little warm for that now. The General Tso's pheasant on that website is freaking fantastic. Now I've made myself hungry...

[eightmd]

Thanks guys. I'll try something this weekend. These are some wild birds and I know I just didn't get the first ones right. Thanks for all the info.

[eightmd]

You know I forgot to mention and it probably makes a difference. These birds aren't plucked they are skinned. So they don't have the skin and whatever fat is on the skin. I imagine that makes a difference. Any comments?

[lewdogg21]

It shouldn't. I usually put skinned ones in the crock pot.

[Bull Elk]

I usually skin them and put strips of bacon all round them (holding the bacon in place with tooth pics). This keeps them moist in a crockpot or oven. The beauty of doing this in the crockpot is to cook them slow. The meat should just fall off the bones and is soft and tender. This is my favorite way of cooking pheasants and chickens. Also, any extra shot falls to the bottom of the crockpot.

[FLIGHT762]

I just finished off of the last of two Pheasants I cooked in the crock pot on Sunday. I did a Cacciatore with tomato paste, onions, garlic, bell peppers and fresh mushrooms. I cut the Pheasants up into wings,breasts, thighs and drumsticks and braised them before cooking in the pot

I cooked them for about 5 hours on high.

What I would do differently; I would cook the Pheasants separately in the crock pot until tender. Take the meat out and cool until you can peel the meat off of the bones.

I would then cook the Cacciatore ingredients separately in the crock pot until tender, I would guess an hour or two on high.

I would then add all of the Pheasant meat in the Cacciatore and stir. This will give you meat with no bones and you can then put the Cacciatore on top of rice or noodles.

I deboned all of the rest of the leftover meat yesterday and added it back to the Cacciatore. I had two meals left after the deboning. It was much better not having to deal with bones.