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Spatchcock Chicken---Black and Tan

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Sameydog
Sameydog Posts: 154
edited February 2015 in EggHead Forum
Yep...chicken again. I'm going to get this down before the Eggfest even if I have to eat chicken every week.

My neighbor wanted to try a marinated chicken so he soaked his in Dale's seasoning over night. I did my usual of McCormicks spices, sea salt and no injection etc. Both were placed over fresh lemons and rosemary from my small garden out back.

Chickens were indirect at 375 to 400 degrees dome for 1.5 hours with a thigh temperature of 180 when I pulled them off to rest.

I still can't get a nice looking skin even though it taste good. Obviously the marinated one had no issues getting dark but I didn't like the taste of it compared to mine.

Next step is to raise the grill even higher. I don't want to do direct as I like the indirect method for simplicity. And the chicken is always juicy but I want to make it look "pretty" before someone takes a big chunk out of it. The blue container is our recycle container and I use it for a table when cooking as it's the right height.  :)

Bill


image
From the deep south...land of saltwater fish...west central Florida
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  • jcaspary
    jcaspary Posts: 1,479
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    Looks good to me.  Once the chicken is about half way done, I have brushed with melted and seasoned butter.  Came out a little darker than I like but will adjust and see what happens.  I think others have tried dusting with baking powder?  Not sure if that's what it was or not.  I'm sure others will chime in.
    XL BGE, LG BGE, and a hunger to grill everything in sight!!!
    Joe- Strongsville, OH
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  • Mickey
    Mickey Posts: 19,674
    edited February 2015
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    Mix half cherry to whatever wood chips you use. Mine is 50/50 cherry/pecan. Remember lots of smoke is not your friend. I use a total of one handfull of chips. Also direct 400 and raised helps me.
    Salado TX & 30A  FL: Egg Family: 3 Large and a very well used Mini, added a Mini Max when they came out (I'm good for now). Plus a couple Pit Boss Pellet Smokers.   

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  • theyolksonyou
    theyolksonyou Posts: 18,458
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    +1 on the cherry. Gives a nice color.
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  • Sameydog
    Sameydog Posts: 154
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    I haven't used any wood chips yet but since I have a bag of cherry in the Garagebar I'll be trying that too.

    And I'm going to raise the grill a bit in the dome.

    Bill


    From the deep south...land of saltwater fish...west central Florida
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  • bweekes
    bweekes Posts: 725
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    I know you don't want to do direct, but that really is your best bet to improve the skin texture. If direct is not an option, may want to add some corn starch in your dry rub. 
    Ajax, ON Canada
    (XL BGE, MED BGE, La Caja China #2, and the wife's Napoleon gasser)
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  • SeahawksEGGHead
    SeahawksEGGHead Posts: 289
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    I've had a really good skin once.  On that, I decided to season and salt the outside, stick it back in the fridge for a few hours.  Then I went raised direct at about 450 for an hour, until breast IT was 160.  Still tender and juicy, had some really good skin on it.  I think the salting helped dry out the skin, make it crispy.  Oh, and some very light EVOO just before the seasoning.
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  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
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    Every WEEK?! I eat chicken almost every DAY!

    Thighs marinated in Goya mojo criollo, raised direct 400*, cherry smoke. image

    Spatchcock, coated with a seasoning blend mixed with evoo to form a paste. Same cooking method, but no smoke wood. image

    Both were excellent with relatively crispy skin. Tried indirect chicken once. Skin was rubbery and pretty much sucked.

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

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  • jlsm
    jlsm Posts: 1,011
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    You might want to try dusting it with sugar. In the end, you don't taste it but it allows the bird to brown.
    *******
    Owner of a large and a beloved mini in Philadelphia
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  • Sameydog
    Sameydog Posts: 154
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    Actually the skin is crisp and tasty. It just doesn't look like what people expect a grilled chicken to look like. The chicken is nice and juicy so I'm reluctant to try another method. I'm not much on marinades either but I might try some.

    The sea salt coating isn't doing much for browning so I'll try the sugar or corn starch method. Thanks for the tips.

    Bill


    From the deep south...land of saltwater fish...west central Florida
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