Spatchcocked a chicken

Flashback Bob · October 2006

<p />Did a 6.1/2lb bird yesterday with acorn squash and baked potatoes. It was so done that one of the legs fell off when I took it off the grill![p]Looked good but it tasted like I lit a pile of leaves on fire and threw the food in to cook. I wound up throwing out the squash, potato wasn't good but edible, dark meat on the chicken was best, white not so good.[p]Cooked indirect at 375. I think I left the vegetables in too long (over an hour)and that's why they got over smokey. Last time I put them on too late and the potatoes didn't get to cook.[p]The kids aren't digging the egg anymore. But the good thing is that they put on a good act trying to convince me that they actually enjoyed it. I ate their leftovers for supper. Meanwhile, they're asking me if we can get the marinated steak tips (you buy in a grocery store)and cook em on the old grill (gasser). [p] I find it's difficult to cook meals on the egg and get everything else done that I need to do. I get up Sunday morning and I'm going non-stop until 9:00 at night. And that's my day of rest.

stike · October 2006

Flashback Bob,
what did you do for smoke? chicken is so mild, the smoke taste can be very strong if you do much more than a few chips.[p]looked like the potats were getting a little too much direct.[p]last thing is that usually spatchcocked chicken is done direct. looks like you had a drip pan in there. [p]skin looked crispy. was it?[p]what took so long sunday to do the cook? you including clean-up and everything? when you cook, they should clean up.
sorry to hear the honeymoon is over. chin up! you are in your personal plateau. once your connective tissue breaks down, you'll start climbing again!

Unknown · October 2006

Flashback Bob,[p]Was the chicken not good because it was over smoked or because it tasted bitter or metalic? These are two very different problems with easily corrected but different solutions.[p]Spatchcocked a chicken is usually cooked direct. The purpose of butterflying the chicken is to distribute the heat more evenly over the bird so it can be cooked hotter and faster.[p]Mike

Flashback Bob · October 2006

stike,
A mere bump in the road! Actually I think your Plateau analogy is probably dead on.[p]Last time I cooked chicken, it got too smokey, so I thought I'd try indirect at a slightly higher temp. I added no wood chips and I put the chicken on after I cooked a couple 2" ribeyes (that had been out of the freezer too long). So the fire was burning clean and all the VOCs should've been gone. It was an experiment, I guess.[p]The cook didn't take particularly long, it's just trying to get the cook in amongst the other things that have to get done. I was also carving a pumpkin with Meggie, attempting to bake the seeds, taking the screens off the doors/replacing with glass, Making beds (wife has a bad shoulder)plus pick up/drop off my other daughter from a field trip.[p]Skin wasn't so much crispy as dry-ish. Used a combo of flour, cornmeal, cornstarch and Cavenders.
I talked to Rami last week and he's going to e-mail me the way he does chicken.

Flashback Bob · October 2006

Michael B,
I think it was oversmoked, but I didn't add anything for smoke. So any smoke was created from juices dripping on the platesetter, or stuff that may have got around the platesetter.[p]The White meat did taste kind of metallic, something I had always associated with meat that wasn't cooked enough. But the thigh temp was over 180 and the legs were literally falling off it when I lifted it to remove from the grill.

stike · October 2006

Flashback Bob,
well i don't think you can blame all the 'time' you lost saturday on just the egg![p]did my pumpkin last weekend. i have been working like a one-armed paper-hanger lately. so i wrote it off. no punkin this year. wife says saturday night(last week), "hey the pumpkin contest is tomorrow, you gonna do a pumpkin".[p]9pm i sat down and f*rted out a punkin by 2am. i'll post a picture. frikkin headless horseman chasing ichabod crane over a bridge. full moon behind the headless horseman as he rears to throw his head. holy cr^p. sounded like a good idea when i started. hahaha freehanded it. i hurried things at the end, didn't take as long on the balusters of the bridge handrail as i wanted. hahaha (seriously).[p]frustrated architects can kick martha stewart's a** carving punkins any day.[p]driving home last night i told my wife i was disappointed because i didn't take the time to carve the few sentences from the passage from "the Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (which inspired it) on the other/flat side of the punkin, with an open book frame around them[p]she looked at me like i was a mental patient[p]i should be in yer office tomorrow, maybe wednesday too. gotta bang out some illustrations for hill-man. talk to you.

stike · October 2006

Flashback Bob,
that's the problem. that platesetter gets hot, and yer fat burns all to heck. like being in an oven during the self-clean. stinks.[p]try the chicken direct (spatchcock), vent OFF per fishlessman's belief that it helps maybe vent bad stuff easier.[p]and control temps from the bottom

Flashback Bob · October 2006

stike,
Hey- I was going to cook those two ribeyes Saturday in the rain but I got sucked away to a neighbors house for a "renovation-warming" party.[p]For the record I blame the Egg for nothing![p]I brought in some of the chicken to solicit unbiased opinions (from Madson). I'll save you a piece.

EddieMac · October 2006

I also agree....spatchcock chicken should be cooked direct....and at 350....375 is a bit on the hot side....I also don't use much lump....because you only need 1 hour's worth of heat....and I don't want intense heat near the bird....[p]Cook direct...350....direct....with just enough lump to give you an hour to an hour and a half cooking time....and I think you'll see improvement.....[p]Ed McLean
Ft. Pierce, FL

billyg · October 2006

Hey Bob
Was a little surprised to hear how much time you're spending on the egg. Here is my timeline for spatchcocked chicken. 5 min to take the backbone out and put it in a plastic bag with marinade. About 5 min to set up the egg and lite the lump in the chimney. Dumping the lite lump into the egg putting the grill on and making an adjustment for temp. might be another 3 or 4 minutes. Putting the chicken on and getting it situated, another 2 or 3 minutes. The chicken is done direct on a 375 dome temp for 45 min. I then turn it over for an additional 3-5 min to brown the skin. The drippings provide plenty of smoke. I do potatoes, etc in the oven or the microwave. The minimal time that I could spend preping the chicken, setting up the egg, getting it going, etc. is about 20 minutes. The total time is probably a little less than 2 hours. I do chicken during the week for dinner. I start about 6 and we're eating before eight. Try taking sliced peaches and sliding them under the skin of the bird. Then instead of turning it over for 5 minutes, just melt some peach preserve in a sauce pan and apply as a glaze towards the end of the cook. You will be back in the good graces of your kids.
billyg

Spatchcocked a chicken

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