Rotisserie Roasted Guinea Fowl

We wanted to embrace the start of the game season and sourced a guinea fowl from our local supermarket.  We cooked it using the rotisserie.

The first thing to say is Guinea fowl is delicious.  It is a lean and more flavorful alternative to common poultry like chicken and is perfect for open-fire cooking, allowing the gentle heat and rotation to create perfectly crispy skin while keeping the meat juicy and tender.

The packet said ‘how chicken used to taste’!  It has a slightly gamey flavour but not overpowering.  It is high in protein and low in fat. Its smallser size and taste make it perfect for something a little bit different.  We served it with butternut squash and pearl barley risotto.

BBQ Temperature

Ingredients

  • 1 guinea fowl
  • rub of your choice, or simply salt and pepper
  • oil, to baste

Equipment

Method

  1. Brush your guinea fowl with a bit of oil, season with salt and pepper or your spice rub of choice.
  2. Place your bird onto your spit and try and position it so it is weighted as evenly as possible.
  3. Make sure the thumb screws are securely tightened on the spit forks, you don’t want your spit spinning and your guinea fowl hanging.
  4. Cook your guinea fowl at 180°C, don’t go too hot, you’ll dry it out.
  5. You’re aiming for an internal temperature of  75°C after resting, so pull it off the barbecue at around 70°C.

The key to a great poultry is to take the breasts off the bird when you carve and cut across the grain of the meat. If you do the slices as Jamie Oliver would do, you’ll end up with the meat fibres running along the slices, and this will taste much more firm and less moist.

Cooking a guinea fowl like this will take about 45 minutes.

Try to rest your bird for at least 15 minutes before carving. Just wrap it in good-quality foil.