Spatchcock on the Genesis


 
Len Dennis

Len Dennis

TVWBB Diamond Member
Doing a turkey next week and a question:

I'm going to spatchcock it and grill it on a Genesis gasser. Difficult to do it indrect (the burners run right to left and there's not a lot of indirect space) as that only leaves a narrow 6" gap in the middle left to right for the indirect part.

Should I consider putting two 14" long by 3" wide strips of aluminium foil (left to right) at the front/back for "protection" from the direct heat?
 
Len, I did chicken halves on my Genesis last weekend. Start skin side up, and use medium heat. Then flip when it's a little more than half done to cook/crisp the skin. Should be fine.
 
Phil Perrin said:
Len, I did chicken halves on my Genesis last weekend. Start skin side up, and use medium heat. Then flip when it's a little more than half done to cook/crisp the skin. Should be fine.
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So you didn't do "indirect" leaving the middle burner off, rather just turned the heat down? Any idea what temps you were cooking at--I was going to go 350 middle burner off but I've seen one guy do it at 450 (in the oven so not as direct a heat) for an hour for a 15 lb bird (mine is 10lb).
 
On "whole bird" configuration, Weber book uses ten minutes per lb indirect on a kettle. Spatchcocked, I'd cut that down a bit, if you slash the thighs and drumstick you can trim just a little more off time wise.
I think Phil is on the right page, go al little slower and flip about 2/3 through.
 
For Indirect heat on my Genesis with 3 burners, I use a little higher heat on one of the burners on either side and turn off the other two. That works really well. Don't forget to rotate the meat or poultry occasionally.

Rita
 
Len I have an E320 with E/W burners and I can do just about anything as I call it "semi indirect". Put the back burner on high and the middle burner on low if I need a little more heat, food up front. Never had a problem.
 
Rich Dahl said:
Len I have an E320 with E/W burners and I can do just about anything as I call it "semi indirect". Put the back burner on high and the middle burner on low if I need a little more heat, food up front. Never had a problem.
Click to expand...


Thanks for that info Rich. My new Redhead has E/W orientation and I was wondering how to do indirect. It gets so freaking hot it shouldn't be a problem.
 
Rich Dahl said:
Len I have an E320 with E/W burners and I can do just about anything as I call it "semi indirect". Put the back burner on high and the middle burner on low if I need a little more heat, food up front. Never had a problem.
Click to expand...
Thanks Rich for this. Definitely dont want this to burn.
 
Well, did the bird yesterday. The cutting was pretty easy (butcher knife, not shears). I had it on broiler pan/rack in the fridge with a S&P dry brine. Figured it was easier to keep it on the rack when I put it on the grill.

Keeping the temps at 350 without burning proved a bit of a hassle. Kept dropping to 300 when I turned off the middle burner (had back on high and front on low--mid). Bird was done in 80 min (10 lb) but the browning wasn't quite what I hoped for.

It did stick a bit to the rack so I'm glad I used it (very easy to get off the grill grate that way, no trying to hold it together when it was time to remove it). It was tender and juicy (used a butter/dijon/essence spice mix under the skin and that was fantastic) and was a hit.

Spatchcock is the way to go, just have to decide on a better "indirect" method. In any case, thanks for the ideas.
 
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