Texas Hunting Forum

Fried quail

Posted By: bill oxner

Fried quail - 11/19/09 02:15 PM

I tried to pan fry quail for several years. The breast never came out right because they have three sices, and the bones prohibited the flour from properly coating. A friend and I had an 840 quail year, so I had more than I knew what to do with them. I taught myself to butterfly the quail. I've show this to lots of people since, and it's the only way they cook their quail anymore.

The first and most important step is to cut off the ball and socket joints like this;




Next you run your sissors under the rib cage on each side.



Then you clip off the sternum.




Pull the bones over the front of the quail breast, and it's a done deal.




You have a butterflied quail breast which will pan fry in less than 3 minutes on each side. Use your pan drippings for cream gravy. You don't have to use an egg wash if you bread them 30 minutes or so before you fry them. The breading will get gummy, and they'll come out crisp.

I've deep fried them for a field trial crowd, but I serve those with french fries and store bought breaded okra.







Posted By: luvdabirds

Re: Fried quail - 11/20/09 11:44 PM

bill how do you get 840 quail in a year? That's alot of hunting and hunting opportunities. I like the butterfly procedure. I think I'll try it for turkey Day . I have a few to get rid of no where near 840 more like 8.4... smile I'm guessing you guide or have a hell of a lease. good post

Posted By: bill oxner

Re: Fried quail - 11/21/09 12:04 AM

Originally Posted By: luvdabirds
bill how do you get 840 quail in a year? That's alot of hunting and hunting opportunities. I like the butterfly procedure. I think I'll try it for turkey Day . I have a few to get rid of no where near 840 more like 8.4... smile I'm guessing you guide or have a hell of a lease. good post


My friend Ron Paschall kept the log. I think I remember that we only lost 3 dead birds. He had a born broke Paladin bred dog named Frank. I had my first half broke female pointer named Cocoa. We started in Ranger on opening day with a guy named Jamanson on his uncle's place. I think his uncle was called Red Langford. The limit back then was 12 birds per day with 36 in possession. We found a day lease, near Ranger, after deer season. It was $15 per day. We had several 100 bird weekends. One of the last weekends I invited two friends down from Arkansas. We cheated. We hunted Saturday, and Sunday morning, and boxed 144 quail. I know 144 quail will almost fill a 48 quart Igloo.

We had nimble feet back then. We duck hunted up on the Red River, when the dogs were too tired. I still don't remember how I kept my job. Oh yes, now I remember. We took my boss with several times. He was with us when I called in over 300 ducks on the Red River. I reported that on someone's Red River thread.

Posted By: luvdabirds

Re: Fried quail - 11/21/09 04:44 AM

great stories Bill and even fonder memories I'm sure. i dont have the nimbers but the memories I've made with my son ... priceless

Posted By: Bobby B

Re: Fried quail - 11/21/09 03:45 PM

Y'all have to remember, Bill was here just after God invented quail and quail dogs, so he has a lot of really good quail years to look back on and tell stories about!!

Posted By: coolie

Re: Fried quail - 11/21/09 04:05 PM

Two words, Fry Daddy

Posted By: cody

Re: Fried quail - 11/25/09 03:13 AM

I've been doing that with dove the last couple years as well. It's the only way to go. We've also been battering them with a milk/egg dip then roll them in bisquick. Makes a thicker and crispier crust. I dig it tons.

Posted By: Fyrfyter

Re: Fried quail - 06/14/11 04:03 AM

Awesome post that needed to be bumped to the top!

Posted By: swmays

Re: Fried quail - 04/09/12 12:58 AM

this is what I was looking for... Thanks

Posted By: bill oxner

Re: Fried quail - 04/09/12 07:58 PM

I keep a pair of poultry scissors in my gator, one in my tote, and a pair in my pickup. They all cut through bone just fine, but would bypass the meat and gristle. I picked up a pair of kitchen scissors in Wal-Mart for $0.99. They work better than any poultry shears I've ever owned.

Posted By: Pointer

Re: Fried quail - 04/09/12 08:30 PM

In the course of a season, I may clean literally thousands of quail and chukar. No, I am not a game hog...these are my clients' birds.

I have gone thru the gamut of poultry and kitchen shears, and the very best I have found are some inexpensive, orange handled kitchen shears marked Fiskars U.S.A. They are VERY similiar to the Gerber Game Shears, except they are, even less expensive, ambidextrous, and easily cleaned up due to being a take apart design. I have never had a pair break out of the handles. I can't say that about the Gerber shears. The Fiskars seem to last and last.

I would encourage you to try a pair when you are using Bill's technique described above.

BTW, I clean the birds by clipping the wings, head, and legs (at the feather line) off. I skin the remaining carcass, then inserting the scissors at the neck, cut down the entire length of the bird on both sides of the spine...from neck to vent. Now, when you pull the spine the guts are exposed most fall out as you pull the spine and the rest are easily pulled from the body. Trim out around the bung and you are done and ready to wash the bird.

Posted By: bill oxner

Re: Fried quail - 04/09/12 08:44 PM

I only clip off the wings and legs, leaving the neck and head. I then skin the bird. Then I hold the bird breast down in the palm of my left hand. I bend the thigh over the back and pop off each leg. Still holding the breast, I grab the neck, and pull from front to back. The breast comes out clean leaving the insides attached to the back.

Posted By: LABIRDDOG

Re: Fried quail - 05/03/12 02:10 AM

Both are good a good way to clean quail. Pointers way is good for wrapping and stuffing them. Bills pan frying and gravy. Deep frying is also excellent.

Posted By: Bigjoe8504

Re: Fried quail - 03/19/13 01:30 AM

I tried bill's way and it was sure delicious... I'm definitely going to try again.
Posted By: blackbearcreek

Re: Fried quail - 03/25/13 11:15 PM

Great information. Thanks for sharing the technique.
Posted By: hallfns

Re: Fried quail - 03/28/13 04:22 PM

Dang! wish I had a place to hunt Quail! They have them frosen at Brookshires, I wonder how they taste....
Posted By: CCBIRDDOGMAN

Re: Fried quail - 03/28/13 04:35 PM

I love butterflied & fried quail breast, but I like the legs just as much, Y'all don't keep the legs?

We clean the the same way pretty much. Cut off head, wings & feet at the feather line, peel off skin, now lay the bird in palm of hand, breast down, with it's rear end facing you, now cut the legs off where they attach to the back bone with shears, flip bird over & cut the breast out with shears all guts stay attached to the carcass.
Posted By: bill oxner

Re: Fried quail - 03/28/13 06:00 PM

Originally Posted By: CCBIRDDOGMAN
I love butterflied & fried quail breast, but I like the legs just as much, Y'all don't keep the legs?

We clean the the same way pretty much. Cut off head, wings & feet at the feather line, peel off skin, now lay the bird in palm of hand, breast down, with it's rear end facing you, now cut the legs off where they attach to the back bone with shears, flip bird over & cut the breast out with shears all guts stay attached to the carcass.


I always save the legs. Ask Big Joe about the quail I dressed for him. I hunted quail for around 30 years before I found the method I now use to field dress them. I'll show you rather than tell you my method the next time I have a camera available. Here's the best I can tell it with my limited writing skills:

I clip off the wings and the legs at the feather line just as you do, but I leave the head attached. I skin the bird, and hold it in my left hand as you do. I then grab the left leg firmly and pull it over the body, and back with one fluid move. It pulls right off. Then do the same to the right leg. That leaves me holding the breast with the head and the backbone. I grab it by the head and neck, then pull it off, which leaves me a breast in my left hand, and the backbone with guts attached in my right hand. I can do this almost as fast as a helper can cut off the wings and legs.

I generally bring them home this way, then butterfly the breast. I'll take the femure or thigh bone off the leg.
Posted By: CCBIRDDOGMAN

Re: Fried quail - 03/28/13 07:19 PM

Sounds like we are doing the same thing except you're pulling them off & I cut them off, my thought is, I save the later step of cutting the socket joint, because I do it when I cut the breast out. I like to cut the head off because it seems easier to me to peel the skin off from that point. The reason I started cutting the breast out with shears is because I like to inject them & fry em in the fry daddy sometimes, when you pull the breast off instead of cutting, the injector seasoning just wants to run right out (I guess because its stretched some?) if they are cut, it stays much better.
Posted By: bill oxner

Re: Fried quail - 05/13/14 11:52 AM

Adding Jon P's pictures to this thread;

The quail cut and ready, cleaned per Bills tutorial



quail breast breaded and resting



Cooking the breast



Finished product with pan drippin gravy on top



And boy was it some good eatin!! Thank you Bill for the idea.
Posted By: talkturkey

Re: Fried quail - 05/13/14 12:50 PM

Now THAT'S AWESOME! Thanks for sharing, nothing better than fried quail. Can you give us your recipe for that gravy?
Posted By: bill oxner

Re: Fried quail - 05/13/14 01:56 PM

Jon P's gravy looked great. I'm sure he used his pan drippings. Notice the small amount of oil used in his pan. I use the pan drippings also. It's 2 tablespoons of flour to a cup of milk. Make a blond roux with your drippings and the flour. Pour in the mild while stirring, simmer until thick. I warm my mild in the microwave. Whole milk or can milk does best for me, but you know how that goes.
Posted By: TooLow

Re: Fried quail - 05/13/14 01:59 PM

Man that does look really good.
Posted By: bill oxner

Re: Fried quail - 01/18/16 08:16 PM

Originally Posted By: bill oxner
Originally Posted By: CCBIRDDOGMAN
I love butterflied & fried quail breast, but I like the legs just as much, Y'all don't keep the legs?

We clean the the same way pretty much. Cut off head, wings & feet at the feather line, peel off skin, now lay the bird in palm of hand, breast down, with it's rear end facing you, now cut the legs off where they attach to the back bone with shears, flip bird over & cut the breast out with shears all guts stay attached to the carcass.


I always save the legs. Ask Big Joe about the quail I dressed for him. I hunted quail for around 30 years before I found the method I now use to field dress them. I'll show you rather than tell you my method the next time I have a camera available. Here's the best I can tell it with my limited writing skills:

I clip off the wings and the legs at the feather line just as you do, but I leave the head attached. I skin the bird, and hold it in my left hand as you do. I then grab the left leg firmly and pull it over the body, and back with one fluid move. It pulls right off. Then do the same to the right leg. That leaves me holding the breast with the head and the backbone. I grab it by the head and neck, then pull it off, which leaves me a breast in my left hand, and the backbone with guts attached in my right hand. I can do this almost as fast as a helper can cut off the wings and legs.

I generally bring them home this way, then butterfly the breast. I'll take the femure or thigh bone off the leg.


We had a little discussion about this. Here you go;

Originally Posted By: bill oxner
I start by cutting off the wings and lower legs. It's important to leave the head attached.


There you have a whole skinned quail.

Next, you pull the leg over the back, and pull the legs off one at a time. It's best to pull from the front to the back.



Here you have a whole quail with the legs and thighs removed and in the pan.




You could see that I had the quail by the head with my right hand. Just pull the head and neck off and the intestines come with it.. You can see that I have the breast in one hand and the head with the backbone and guts in the other hand. Notice that my hands are still clean




I've done them every other way that's known, but this has always worked best for me. I can do them as fast as a helper can clip the wings and feet.
Posted By: bill oxner

Re: Fried quail - 11/25/16 06:02 PM

I'm just adding boneless turkey breast to this saved thread.

This is a 14 pound turkey that I bought Friday and put in a cooler.



I like to save all the skin I can so I'm careful about cutting the skin high on the back and thighs before removing the wings and legs.



It's pretty simple to pull the thigh all the way over the back util it pulls out.




Next I cut under the scapula or shoulder blades and pull them up, leaving the neck and backbone mostly unattached. I then simply grab the neck and pull.




This gives me a whole bone in turkey breast.




I don't stop there. I take breastbone out giving me a boneless turkey breast. This is the most difficult part because the skin adheres to the middle bone.




There you have it. I'll boil the bones to make my stock, bone out the legs for gumbo, and freeze the wings for soup or chicken salad. This was a six dollar turkey. I'll make at least 20 meals from it.

This turkey breast will be done in under an hour and a half. They come out better than a whole turkey because you don't have to wait on all the dark meat to get done and you can slice it across the grain.
Posted By: poisonivie

Re: Fried quail - 11/25/16 11:33 PM

never mind.
Posted By: NewGulf

Re: Fried quail - 11/27/16 12:59 AM

Good thread Bill! up
Posted By: 68rustbucket

Re: Fried quail - 11/27/16 03:50 AM

I tried your cleaning process again today Bill. First bird worked out great, second bird the neck broke off. Dang it!
Here's a pic of some fried quail from last season. Boneless breast and legs.

My wife made the gravy.
Posted By: bill oxner

Re: Fried quail - 05/19/18 09:40 PM

Testing photobucket. It's back.
Posted By: pigplinker

Re: Fried quail - 05/22/18 10:56 AM

Originally Posted By: 68rustbucket
I tried your cleaning process again today Bill. First bird worked out great, second bird the neck broke off. Dang it!
Here's a pic of some fried quail from last season. Boneless breast and legs.

My wife made the gravy.


My tongue is slapping 3 sides of my face looking at this. It would slap the fourth, but it cann't reach the second chin. food
Posted By: 68rustbucket

Re: Fried quail - 05/22/18 11:19 AM

That reminds me, I need to cook some birds from last season!
Posted By: mattyg06

Re: Fried quail - 05/22/18 02:50 PM

Looks good.
Posted By: bill oxner

Re: Fried quail - 06/16/18 08:37 PM

Originally Posted By: bill oxner
I tried to pan fry quail for several years. The breast never came out right because they have three sices, and the bones prohibited the flour from properly coating. A friend and I had an 840 quail year, so I had more than I knew what to do with them. I taught myself to butterfly the quail. I've show this to lots of people since, and it's the only way they cook their quail anymore.

The first and most important step is to cut off the ball and socket joints like this;





Next you run your sissors under the rib cage on each side.




Then you clip off the sternum.





Pull the bones over the front of the quail breast, and it's a done deal.





You have a butterflied quail breast which will pan fry in less than 3 minutes on each side. Use your pan drippings for cream gravy. You don't have to use an egg wash if you bread them 30 minutes or so before you fry them. The breading will get gummy, and they'll come out crisp.

I've deep fried them for a field trial crowd, but I serve those with french fries and store bought breaded okra.







Editing in pictures from my Ipad since photobucket has started charging again.
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