Step 1

At least 12 hours or more before you intend to cook your Cornish hens, start the brine.

Step 2

Get out a large food-grade container. You can use a large pot if you have one large enough. Try to avoid metal if at all possible, because from what I've read it can do strange things to your birds!

Step 3

Add the salt, sugar, garlic, peppercorns, ground mustard, and onion powder to your pot. (Do not worry if you don't have garlic, peppercorns, ground mustard, or onion powder because these can be omitted. I would discourage this, but sometimes you just don't have an ingredient.) Pour the warm water over it all and stir it so the salt and sugar dissolves. Put the pot into your fridge until the water has cooled down.

Step 4

Take the pot out of the fridge and get your Cornish hens ready. Remove the giblets and submerge the hens into the brine. Put the pot back in the fridge for about 6 hours. Remove the pot from the fridge, flip the birds over, and put the pot back into the fridge for another 6 hours.

Step 5

Remove the pot from the fridge, take the Cornish hens out of the brine, and pat them down with paper towels. Place them on a roasting rack in a roasting pan. You do not have to add anything else, because they taste wonderful as they are, but I tried them with some olive oil, more salt, and a little pepper, and it does make a difference. Either way is sooo good!

Step 6

Tuck the wings under the birds, and if you have some cooking twine, use it to tie the legs together. It will help the birds roast more evenly and makes for better presentation. I rarely do this since I don't have cooking twine lying around my house. :)

Step 7

Preheat your oven to 425 F. Once the oven comes to temperature, put the birds into the oven for 25 minutes. Turn down the temperature to 400 F and roast for another 20 minutes. Finally, bring the temperature down to 375 F and roast for another 25-30 minutes. If you have a meat thermometer, make sure that the internal temperature of the birds is at least 165 F before removing from the oven. If you don't have one, make sure that the hens are completely cooked (no longer pink) before eating.

Step 8

Take hens out and let them rest.