First Spatchcock Chicken


 
M

Matthew Y

TVWBB Fan
CaseT spatchcock chicken last week inspired me to try it myself. It was the juiciest chicken I ever eaten, but the skin was slightly chewy. Not sure what went wrong. The heat was 325-350 the entire cook. Took about 65-70 min for the breast to be 165, thighs to be 175.

1 full chimney to cook hot and fast.


Butterflied and seasoned with Meathead's Memphis dust. Is there a way to remove the ribs also?


First flip after 30min @ 350


Sauced the last 10 min with the lid open. Temp was 470+ with below result


While I was carving the chicken, put some corn on.



Sorry no plating pictures. The wife was getting angry waiting.
 
Tasty looking bird even though the skin didn't crisp up. Making sure that the skin is super dry before putting it on the grill/smoker helps. I have even hit the bird with a hair dryer on low prior to putting the bird on. Another trick I have used when the skin wasn't the way I like it is to put it over direct heat at the end for a couple minutes. If you were going to sauce you'd want to hold off until you did the direct grilling.
 
Thanks all. Now that I think about it, I don't remember pat drying the chicken after rinsing it. Got so excited I tossed olive oil and the rub right away.
 
The skin looks fantastic, too bad it wasn't crispy!

You can also use corn starch to pull out the moisture from the skin, then just wipe the excess off before you season it. I saw it on an episode of Americas Test Kitchen where they were making the perfect steak.
 
Why that sad face? Would eat that anyday! Most of my chicken cooks end up with soggy skin. Often great when i pull it...But 15 min later soggy. No worries. You can go thru a **** ton of advice/steps to really make it crispy..But hwo have time for that. Awesome looking bird
 
Stuart S said:
The skin looks fantastic, too bad it wasn't crispy!

You can also use corn starch to pull out the moisture from the skin, then just wipe the excess off before you season it. I saw it on an episode of Americas Test Kitchen where they were making the perfect steak.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip. I think I'll put try putting some corn starch with my dry rub. Need to test this with wings this weekend.
 
Wolgast said:
Why that sad face? Would eat that anyday! Most of my chicken cooks end up with soggy skin. Often great when i pull it...But 15 min later soggy. No worries. You can go thru a **** ton of advice/steps to really make it crispy..But hwo have time for that. Awesome looking bird
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'm not sure how I added the sad face on the subject to be honest. (Fat fingers) I'm not too concerned with the skin. My wife's comment was enough to make me happy. "Taste way better than store bought".

Just trying to perfect the crispy skin on the mini-wsm. Hosting a bbq for the in-laws next month.
 
Matthew the chicken looks great. We toss the skin anyway because it's healthier. But my kids love the skin. I try to hit the bird with direct heat after indirect to crisp up. Sometimes it's pretty good, sometimes not so much!
 
If I have time I like to spatchcock and salt the chicken and then throw in in the fridge uncovered for at least 4 hours, 8 if I have time. That seems to help really dry out the skin so it crisps up nicely. Plus it gives the chicken a nice salty taste.
 
Matthew, thats a great looking bird.

I'm 100% with wolgast. Ive done it 10 ways. Skin loses crisp after 15 minutes unless I use corn starch or baking powder trick. An unhappy wife = miserable dinner no matter what is on the plate.
 
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