# Deep Frying Cornish Game Hens? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 19, 2011, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-frying-cornish-game-hens/571870 "2011-02-19T00:27:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2011, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-frying-cornish-game-hens/571870/1 "2011-02-19T00:27:25Z")
I have a few 1-1/2 lb. Cornish game hens I’m thinking of putting in the deep fryer. I’ve looked online and eventually found instructions for doing this (though most concern putting them in a vat of boiling oil on the stove, which is not what I want). Has anyone done this? Would they be good with Shake n’ Bake on them? Should I fry them whole or maybe cut them in half? Just want to know if anyone’s cooked them this way. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2011, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-frying-cornish-game-hens/571870/2 "2011-02-19T04:24:22Z")
Those birds are so tiny that I would fry them whole, with whatever coating you usually use on chicken. However, I haven’t tried this. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2011, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-frying-cornish-game-hens/571870/3 "2011-02-20T08:01:12Z")
1 1/2 lb. Cornish Game Hens are quite large. Traditionally fried chicken was made from birds that size or smaller. Modern super-chickens are much larger, and difficult to fry properly without overcooking. Cut them into pieces, or just in half, use a traditional double coating. First soak in liquid, milk or water f’rinstance, then coat with flour. Let stand for a while to let the coating set, then dip in an egg/milk mixture and coat with seasoned bread crumbs. Fry until just done. Eat until only the bones are left, then find some more small chickens. Repeat. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2011, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-frying-cornish-game-hens/571870/4 "2011-02-20T16:30:18Z")
The chickies I bought were, indeed, bigger than I thought they would be. I ended up baking them in the oven about half an hour, cutting in half, dipping each half in a chicken wing sauce, and my husband insisted on coating them with Shake n’ Bake. We put them 2 halves at a time in the deep fryer till they, well, looked done. And then did up a batch of shoestring potatoes. They came out pretty tasty! If I do it again, I’m going to try another sauce. (My favorite way to eat cornish hens is baked with rosemary and garlic, so I saved the biggest one in the bunch for another time).