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–+ servings
Quail placed on a pellet smoking grill

Smoked Quail Recipe: Pellet Grill Perfection

Master the secret to irresistibly juicy smoked quail with our pellet grill recipe – a gourmet adventure in your backyard!
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 4

Equipment

  • 1 Pellet grill

Ingredients
  

  • 8 whole quail plucked and trussed
  • Traeger Fin & Feather spice rub or your own favorite spice rub
  • Cooking-oil spray
  • Maple syrup

Instructions
 

  • Before you spice the quail, truss the birds with kitchen twine (tie the legs close to the body). After doing so, liberally spice all sides of each bird and place them in the fridge until you’re ready to smoke.
  • Set the pellet grill to 160 F and full smoke. Smoke the quail for 1 hour, breast-side up, at 160 F.
  • Turn the pellet grill up to 225 F and spray all sides of the quail with the cooking oil. Flip the quail, turning them breast-side down. Smoke the quail for an additional 30 minutes. This will help create crispy skin.
  • Lastly, turn the pellet grill back down to 160 F and turn the birds breast-side up. Keep the top of the grill up to allow the temperature to reduce quickly. For the next half hour, lightly glaze the birds with maple syrup every 10 minutes.
  • After that final half-hour at 160, your quail should be perfect. The birds will have crispy skin with a nice sweet and savory flavor. Eat them fresh off the grill; no need to allow them to cool. You’ll find that they’re tastier than Grandma’s freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.
Keyword Grilling
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