A cornish game hen looks just like a small chicken and taste close to the same. Cornish game hens are really just chickens with a fancy name. Cornish hens have to weigh over a pound, but less than 2 pounds. The small bone to meat ratio makes a single game hen the perfect serving size for many people. Served with multiple courses or several side dishes, you may only need about a half of a hen for each person.
You can easily split one down the middle because of the soft bones. Cooking a cornish hen does not have to be difficult. In fact, it can be cooked in the same way as many other chicken dishes. These tasty birds make a great dish for a family meal or a fancy dinner party. Here are some tips and recipes for cooking cornish hens.
1. Main Differences Between Cornish Hens and Chickens
There are several differences between the cornish hens and chickens. Age processing is one of the main differences. Cornish hens are about five to six weeks old when processed. The weight is no more than 2 pounds and these hens are typically sold in frozen packages. On the other hand, chicken classification is based on the age. There are roaster, broiler-fryer, and stewing chickens. A broiler fryer chicken is 7 to 13 weeks old and weighs 1 and a half to four pounds. Roasters are three to five months and weigh 3.5 to 7 pounds.
Any chicken that is older than ten months old are stewing chickens and weigh from four to seven pounds. Chickens can be packaged several ways such as boneless, drumsticks, or whole. Cornish hens are always packaged whole. This is because they cannot be deboned because of their super small size.