Buying and lighting calculator · Poultry

How much Cornish hen do I buy and when do I light?

A Cornish hen is a small young chicken sold by the unit at 400 to 500 g. It is the easiest cut to calculate: one per person. With so little weight the bone is proportionally a bit heavier, but using the USDA Food Buying Guide figures for whole chicken, a 56% loss between bone and cooking, a 450 g hen leaves about 200 g of meat on the plate. In the kamado it takes about 50 minutes at 190 °C with the deflector, whole or spatchcocked. Aim for 74 °C in the breast and 77-79 °C in the thigh, and rest it for ten minutes before serving.

How to ask for it

For 4 people: Ask for Cornish hens of about 450 g, one per person (1.8 kg in all); if you want them flat, have them cut open along the backbone.

A 450 g Cornish hen, with its bone and cooking loss, leaves about 200 g of meat: exactly one portion per person. 74 °C in the breast and 77-79 °C in the thigh.

How we calculate it

We start from a reasonable cooked portion (about 200 g of meat on the plate, 170 g of cleaned fish) and convert it to raw weight using each cut's bone and trim loss. "Hungry" adds 25 %. We round up to what is actually sold: quarter kilos, whole pieces, units.

To the cook time (per kilo or per piece, at each method's temperature) we add the kamado's lighting and stabilising (20-45 min depending on the method, as on the recipe pages), the rest, and a margin for long cooks, which vary from one piece to the next. Times are approximate: your kamado, the wind and the charcoal decide; on big cuts, trust the probe.

Frequently asked questions

How many Cornish hens per person?

One per person. A Cornish hen weighs about 450 g and, using the USDA Food Buying Guide figures for whole chicken (0.44 lb of cooked meat per pound bought), leaves close to 200 g of clean meat. If there are plenty of starters and sides, you can share one between two and add another cut.

How long does a Cornish hen take in a kamado?

Between 45 and 55 minutes at 190 °C with the deflector, according to the Big Green Egg recipe, until the skin is golden; confirm 74 °C in the breast with the probe. AmazingRibs gives a much slower cook, about 2 hours at 120 °C. For crisp skin, 190 °C or higher is better, with a ten-minute rest.

Whole or spatchcocked Cornish hen?

Whole looks better and you can stuff it with lemon and herbs; spatchcocked (opened along the backbone and flattened, as in a tabaka chicken) cooks more evenly and exposes more skin to the heat. The buying weight does not change: count one hen of about 450 g per person either way.

Other Poultry cuts

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Approximate figures. Sources and the portion rule are in "How we calculate it".