Second cook on my new WSM. This time I did Cornish Game Hens. I spatchcocked them and then marinated them for about 8 hours in my Tequila Lime marinade:

3 limes, zested and juiced
4 ounces frozen limeade concentrate, (recommended: Minutemaid)
1/2 cup Tequila
1/4 cup Triple Sec
8 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped (a good handful)
1 jalapeno pepper, seeds and membranes removed, chopped
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 red bell pepper, julienned
kosher salt
ground black pepper
1 cup vegetable oil

Start a bowl with the lime juice and zest, tequila, triple sec, limeade, cumin, cayenne, salt and pepper. While whisking, drizzle in the oil. Add the garlic, cilantro, jalapeno and red bell pepper. Mix well. Place the hens in a 1 gallon zip bag. Add the marinade, squeeze out the air you can, zip and marinade in the fridge.

(This marinade also works with shrimp, though when I do that I cook them on my Genesis with cast iron griddle plates.)

1 full chimney of Kingsford, fully engulfed. I'm looking for hot. A holed foil pouch with a handful of chips, a blend of apple, cherry, maple and hickory. No water, a foiled flower pot base as a heat sink.

With all the vents wide open, the WSM settled in at 275 degF. Heavy smoke as the wood chips were consumed. Put all four birds on the top rack:

Took about an hour and 20 minutes to get the breasts up to 165 degF.

Really nice.

Served with roasted asparagus and baked sweet potatoes. Plus a nice Argentinean Torrontes.

In hindsight, I didn't need the full chimney of charcoal. Next time I'd go with 1/2 chimney and just hope that it will still keep the temperatures up. An alternative would be a 1/2 chimney of lump if I needed the heat. I haven't used lump yet, but from what I hear it burns both hotter and faster. Which would be a good tradeoff on a quick poultry cook.

Dang those little chickens look good!

I think I would stick with the full chimney - always easier to start with more charcoal than you need and have some still burning at the end than to have it run out during your cook!

Good lookin' grub!

Pat

Looks great Steve. Kind of a "margaritaville" marinade. How spicy did that finish up between the jalapeno, pepper flakes, and cayenne ?

This is an excellent recipe. I am making it for the second time today.

This time I switched the vegetable oil for peanut oil, I think the peanut oil will add to the more flavor.

I was curious as to how long those of you who have made this recipe let the chicken marinate?

Is it a relatively short amount of time (i.e., a few hours) due to all of the citric acid?

Bill