I spatchcocked a 7lb Roaster Chicken! Seasoned with citrus rub and let sit in the fridge for a couple hours and then grilled idirect at 350º until the breast hit 160º. PDG

That's a beauty Lary!

Man, that's a big ass chicken!!!
Looks delicious!

Gorgeous looking bird. Did the citrus rub flavor hang in there after the long cook?

That looks really great Larry! Wish I could eat it for lunch right now One question, what exactly is spatched? Is it the same as butterflied?

Brandon

quote:

Originally posted by Brandon A:
One question, what exactly is spatched? Is it the same as butterflied?

Brandon

I'm not Larry, but yes spatchcock is the same as butterflied, i.e., the backbone is removed.

Jeff

I did a beer can chicken and took it to 160 in the breast. The breast was good, but the thigh leg was not cooked enough. In fact, the breast was so moist I felt I could have taken it to 170 and still had moisture.

I was cooking at 225, top grill of the WSM.

1) would cooking at a higher heat better disperse the heat so that the chicken cooked more evenly?

2) would cutting the chicken open as you've done here cause it to cook more evenly?

Aside from the novelty of shoving a heiney up my chicken's heiny...I was thinking that splits might cook more even, after watching Chris A's chicken-splittin' video. Spatched seems better if space is available, to keep it all together if that even matters.

I want the meat pulling right off the bones, I am not crazy about the meat sticking to the bones on chicken. Do I just need to cook it longer and keep it down at 225? Or should I take the temp higher? Both?

Hi Alan. I prefer a split chicken to the beer can method if I have room on the grill. If you like the meat to easily pull away from the bones try cooking it split with indirect high heat. Yes a split one will cook faster and more evenly. If you like crisp skin then air dry in the fridge before cooking and rub it with oil before it goes on the grill. Rather than cooking to a temperature, just cook it until it reaches the point you like. As long as you don't really overcook it, you should have no problem with a moist, falling off the bone finished product. Makes for great pulled chicken leftovers too.

Jeff

I'm kinda with Jeff on this one.
I've tried the beercan chicken style which was quite good although on the kettle with the chickens sitting ontop of beer cans, I had to push them down at an angle towards each other because they were touching the top of the inside of lid.

After cooking spatchcocked (butterflied)chicken, I'm convinced it's the better way to go.Having the fire on one side and chicken opposite until about 75c at the breast and thighs, then with a pair of tongs, pick it up and throw it over the direct heat for about 10 minutes and completely seal up the inside. It's unbeleivable what this does to the taste.

A good indication when the chicken is ready to throw over the fire is when the legs wiggle very freely, just check it again to confirm with a temp guage then over the fire it goes.

It's also easier to slice up and serve when butterflied I reckon.

cheers

Davo

Ok, I need to try my next chicken like this.

Interesting as I thought about this, there's a style of flame broiled chicken from Mexico, and El Pollo Loco is one such chain in the U.S. They do in fact butterfly theirs, AFAICT.

quote:

Originally posted by Tom Chips:
Gorgeous looking bird. Did the citrus rub flavor hang in there after the long cook?

Thanks everyone.

Yes Tom the flavor was great. I rubbed a good amount underneath and ontop of the skin and let it sit in the fridge and marinade for awhile. The chicken tasted even better cold!

Whoa! That looks great !!!

Bill

I've made this twice since your post...this is EXCELLENT (and thanks again for the citrus rub - you threw it in when my order for the Bold was misplaced). I use one chimney of lump in the WSM, dump it in when about 1/2 lit so basically a modified MM, prop open the door, all vents open, some apple wood, walk away, come back in an hour to check, usually done (4 lb natural chicken). Really some of the best chicken I've ever had.

Fantastic looking!

Do you flip it during the cook?

Larry, that is one fantastic looking bird

quote:

Originally posted by Marlene Steinberg:
Fantastic looking!

Do you flip it during the cook?

No Marlene, it was skin up the whole cook. You can flip mid way through the cook. I have done them both ways and prefer not to flip cause I'm lazy!

Larry, I wanted to ask how the skin on this chicken comes out? Is it crispy? Thank you.

Hey Davo
buy a no-name italian salad dressing and marinate a butterflied chook in for 2 hours and then do it as you explaind above. Just a little bit of Melaluca (Ti Tree) wood, or you can do it without. Awesome flavour.

Regards

quote:

Originally posted by rod culver:
Larry, I wanted to ask how the skin on this chicken comes out? Is it crispy? Thank you.

Yes, pretty crispy.

Thanks, Larry!

I bet I'm lazier than you are!

Last night I did wings and flipped every 10 minutes. Four flips....

Next time it will be the whole birdm unflipped!

Thanks again.