What is your preferred cooking style for whole poultry?

What is your preferred cooking style for whole poultry?

  • Horizontal

    Votes: 7 6.7%

  • Vertical ("Beercan"-Style)

    Votes: 17 16.2%

  • Rotisserie

    Votes: 21 20.0%

  • Spatchcocked

    Votes: 56 53.3%

  • Cut in Halves

    Votes: 4 3.8%

  • Cut in Pieces

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    105
This is not your pork!

This is not your pork!

is one Smokin' Farker
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Reading up on poultry led to the following article: Debunking Beer Can Chicken: A Waste Of Good Beer (And It Is Dangerous)

I was just trying to decide between the following two accessories:

turkey_cannon.jpg
vertical_chicken_stand.jpg

​

But now I am not so sure any more, and may prefer spatchcocking. On the other hand isn't Thanksgiving about a whole turkey? Or can you rearrange a spatchcocked bird to represent a whole bird?

So what is your preferred cooking style for whole poultry?
 
I like spatchcocking and rotisserie cooking poultry. I've only ever done turkey just whole as a roast, but not for any particular reason other than that's just the way I've always done it. I'd like to try other methods for turkey, but frankly I haven't given it much thought.
 
I like beer can chicken, a lot. I also cook a lot of chicken parts.
How I cook a bird depends a lot on the context.
A spatchcocked chicken or turkey should be cut up in the kitchen. It would make a pretty weird table presentation...but maybe that's the reaction you need for a party!!
It's all good.
YMMV!
 
I don't have a rotisserie for my WSM, according to the mentioned article I don't trust a real beer can, and I have not ordered any of the two shown accessories, so my first bird this weekend will be spatchcocked.

I see no need to present a chicken in one piece, IMHO that's something for goose, duck or turkey (especially when having guests).

As it looks we'll have no guests for Thanksgiving, only family, so I am not sure what to do about the planned Thanksgiving Turkey (which will be our first one, Thanksgiving is not common here).
 
I'm a spatchcock person all the way.
My family raves about beer can chicken and ask me to make it often, but honestly I don't really taste much of a difference. I'd rather use it in a brine if I want beer flavor. Plus the little gizmo I use for beer can style is a pain to clean.
 
For simplicity purposes i generally go horizontal, i do however crack a beer, drink half, and jam the can in there.

If you put it in drinking hole faced up, and crease the can, it works really well.

I do like spatching, but i get lazy about it.
 
If you just butterfly it open by removing the backbone to keep it all looking good for presentation, if you have any cheapie bacon around to wrap the wings and thighs in for the first 30 of 45 to keep them from cooking before the rest of it
 
Cocked and locked baby, and I'm never going back to a whole bird if it's chicken or turkey.
 
I like to use my 22" Weber Kettle for the birds, since it's really about cooking hot & fast.

For chicken, I get a pile of coals going, then dived into two and push to the sides, place a pan down for the drippings and toss some wood chips down for smoke. Then I set two birds in the middle and cover for an hour. Perfect every time!

For a turkey, I get eight pounds of charcoal white hot and spread evenly across the bottom. Right before cooking I toss another two pounds down with a couple of handfuls of wood chips. Then place a 12-14 pound bird (that's about as big as you can go and still get the lid on the Weber) in a foil pan lined w/onions, carrots & celery. Cook for an hour uncovered to get brown and smoked. The cover w/foil and continue cooking until done. Allow to rest before carving, etc., etc.... The drippings in the pan make excellent gravy!

Lastly, I've never brined my birds before, but the Brethren here have convinced me to give it a try. :razz:
 
I voted for spatchcock since the ultimate way is not listed... which is... suspended, horizontally, but with breast down about 4 inches from the grate, indirectly.
 
I either spatch, or I grill. I've never used one of the turkey cannons, but someone here(I'm thinking Wampus for some reason)used one with great results.

Matt
 
Spatchcock here too. It has been the family's favorite since the first time I tried it. I am going to try a turkey the same way soon.
 
Spatchcock is the way to go. End of discussion. ;-)

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
 
chriscw81 said:
Spatchcock is the way to go. End of discussion. ;-)
Click to expand...
Threadkill? Hope not! :biggrin1:

So it will be either a small turkey or two chicken this weekend for my first try, spatchcocked.

I still wonder if any of the (vertical) poultry holders are worth the buck, I like accessories, but they have to make sense. The shown vertical chicken stand is indeed a "chicken" stand, so I don't even know if it can hold larger birds like turkeys as well. In the Amazon reviews everybody only tried it with chicken. As for the Turkey Cannon, someone on Amazon wrote that it's not suited for larger birds (according to the product description) as it falls over then. Vertical stands would save grate space, on the contrary to spatchcocking.

As I have seen a normal grill is often preferred for poultry, but I only have my WSM, so it has to go onto the smoker (yeah, I don't count my two retired African Cow Dung Charcoal Grills any more ).
 
The vertical holders allow more birds to be placed on a grate when compared to spatchcocked birds.

If I am cooking a single bird it gets spatchcocked, multiple birds go on the grate vertically. :cool:

I wouldn't bother with a manufactured holder- they are a pain to clean. Just use an empty beverage can instead.
 
Grabnabber said:
I wouldn't bother with a manufactured holder- they are a pain to clean. Just use an empty beverage can instead.
Click to expand...
And you have no concerns about using a beverage can, as stated in the mentioned article?

I am definitely not going to try that, I don't trust the cans they use here in the least, which is why I am considering such a stainless steel holder.
 
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