My Preferred Method over Spatching

Mattman3969

Saturday supper is splayed chicken and veggies all cooked at 500° in a Cast Iron Skillet.
Chicken is splayed and stuffed with herbs and 2 orange quarters. (Not plugging this time @jeepster47 )


Veggies cut but won't go in till the 20 min mark
Goin on the egg now with a little cherry smoke. Report back later

dldawes1

Oooohhh Yeaaahhh !!!!  Gonna be gooooooddd !!

Dobie

Standing by with CI pan in hand

Mattman3969

This is after 15mins in the skillet. I'll be adding veggies shortly. Sorry for the funky pics but that is under my new Weber Light on the small.

Mattman3969

Veggies just went in. Look at that skin at the 25min mark!!

Dobie

=P~

XC242

Looks like you're,,, Nailing It!!

henapple

Loving the foreplay :!!

Mattman3969

just hopin to get you worked up @henapple.

grege345

Yep I'm drooling. Dam that looks tasty

Mattman3969

Done

I've been munchin on homemade gingerbread cookies so I had a skimpy plate.

theyolksonyou

I hate you. I just ate cheese and crackers.

Sammi

Nicely done.   =D>

Skiddymarker

Nice looking yard bird. Do you get any pan juice? Gravy and chicken are a good combo. 

Dobie

Nice, onions didnt render as much as I thought they would.

Mattman3969

@skiddymarker - there is a little pan juice, I would say maybe 1/2cup.
@dobie - the veggies were very tender. But I hear ya. I'm thinkin a size bigger skillet would work better. That way not so much stackin the veggies and get them all in the chicken fat. The 10" is the biggest skillet I have.

Dobie

Mattman3969 said:

@skiddymarker - there is a little pan juice, I would say maybe 1/2cup.
@dobie - the veggies were very tender. But I hear ya. I'm thinkin a size bigger skillet would work better. That way not so much stackin the veggies and get them all in the chicken fat. The 10" is the biggest skillet I have.

I got a 12 inch skillet and have been thinking about this for a while. Will put on my to do list for sure. Nice cook

Mikee

I'm getting hungry for chicken.

blind99

Love it! Looks good!

Jeepster47

@Mattman3969 ... okay, it's been at least a couple of hours since the chicken was taken out of the egg.  Did you notice any difference from previous cooks with a constipated chicken?

Took me awhile to understand why it was a "splayed" chicken ... that makes a lot of sense to get the thighs up to temp.  Is cutting the inner thigh skin the only adjustment?  Hmmm ... I've got a metric skillet ... 270 mm ... okay, that's only 10-5/8", but worth trying.  Thanks for the pics.

Mine was spatchcocked last night ... hour and a half at 375 ... let the fire burn for an extra half hour before starting the cook ... lighter smoke seemed to be the result. Finished the left overs tonight.

Mattman3969

Actually I didn't notice any difference in cook time. Both ways run right at 1hr. I didn't think I got as much herb and citrus concentration in meat by leaving the cavity open but that may be due to my herbs being pretty spent and the selection being low. Either way produces a great yard bird.

SGH

Looks like a grand slam home run to me ^:)^ =D> ^:)^

minniemoh

I still haven't tried one of these. Looks fantastic and still on my "must-do" list.

Jeepster47

Wow, the BGE forum search function actually worked this time ... amazing.

Found a post by @nolaegghead referencing this write-up on the splayed chicken:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/dining/a-new-breed-of-roast-chicken-cast-iron-seared.html?_r=5&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1417963960-mWdd5HCM7tUJ2Rn3AxhXyQ

And now I understand why a 10" skillet and a big bird might be a tight squeeze.  Hmmm ... wonder what my butcher will think when he sees me with my CI skillet in hand checking to see which bird fits.

Wolfpack

Looks great- nice job.

Mattman3969

@jeepster47 - mine was about 4 1/4lbs. I went heavy on the veggies cause we had an extra mouth to feed last night so that didn't help matters any. Generally with a smaller bird and veggies for 2 room is tight but doable in my 10" skillet. I'm still gonna get a 12" just because.

Gator_Fan

This recipe is on my "must do" list !!