Spatchcock virgin no more!

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jsimonson0

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I've been wanting to try cooking chicken like this for a long time. Finally pulled the trigger tonight. Cooked for about 2.5 hours at 250* or so. The bone on the left pulled very cleanly out of the bird, but the skin is tough. Should I have cooked at a higher temp to get the skin crispier, or is there something I've missed? I sprinkled both birds with Vulcan Fire Salt, and sauced the left about 1.5 into the cook.

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No pro here, but I did my best chicken on a weber indirect at about 300*, amazing! Crispy and very juicy inside...a lot of people here say higher temps better...
Yours looked great, I wouldn't have know your skiin was tough, if you didn't say so! LOL!
 
Yep, 300 degrees will usually get you crispy skin, and still allow enough time in the smoke for the birds to soak up some flavor.
 
Looks good. I shoot for 300 myself. Chicken is cheap. Give it another try :mrgreen:.
 
Chickens were dirt-cheap! Each bird was ~$5. I'll have to try again tomorrow night. I'll have to burn some sticks to get the SKD up to 300 initially, and keeping it there will require some chunks added close to the cooking chamber.

Gotta say, good kitchen shears made splitting those birds amazingly simple.

Thanks for the feedback gents, I appreciate it...
 
Looks good - Steve Raichlen has a recipe for spatchcooked chicken in one of his books - basically he smothers it with a pesto type rub. I made it once - it was really good for a change of pace from the standard "barbecue chicken".
 
Sir Smoke A Lot said:
Looks good - Steve Raichlen has a recipe for spatchcooked chicken in one of his books - basically he smothers it with a pesto type rub. I made it once - it was really good for a change of pace from the standard "barbecue chicken".
Click to expand...

I have pesto sauce in my fridge! 300*, one smothered in pesto, the other in jerk seasoning. I'm going to have to find more ways to eat chicken! At least it's better for me than finding ways to eat more beef or pork...
 
I usually cook at 350 degrees for about an hour. Chicken is tender and skin is crisp.
 
Yeah - yardbird needs higher heat. At home I do 325, for comps I do 275 or even 300 and then crisp them over direct heat for a couple of minutes just before turn-in. Works for me.
 
jsimonson0 said:
I have pesto sauce in my fridge! 300*, one smothered in pesto, the other in jerk seasoning. I'm going to have to find more ways to eat chicken! At least it's better for me than finding ways to eat more beef or pork...
Click to expand...

You might try putting the pesto between the skin and the breast meat.

I've done it with compound butters and it works really well.

Use a spoon with the back of it against the skin to work it loose from the meat so you don't poke holes in the skin.

I think it gets more flavor into the meat that way.
 
Voila!

IMGP0072.jpg

On the left is jerk, on the right is pesto. Once again, the leg pulled clean off, but this time, the skin is perfect! Kept it in until 175, had it spike to 325-340 for the last hour of the cook. Using an offset it's a little tougher to get the cook chamber temp to hold at 300. But it turned out great, evenhad one half bird for dinner tonight. THanks for the advice gents...
 
ZBQ said:
Looks good, how'd it taste?
Click to expand...

The jerk was incredibly tasty. Haven't tried the pesto yet, as there's only one of me. Pulled apart like butter. I've got a number of ways lined up to work my way through the chicken...
 
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