3rd cook on BGE...spatchcocked chicken. Pretty good but

Unknown

my wife said that the ribs last night and the steaks were measureably better than she had ever had before while the chicken was good but similar to other chickens she has had before.[p]I'm sure I've done something wrong. First of all, I had the butcher spatchcock the chicken and it was a sorry looking critter after he had finished, with the legs barely attached to the body by a piece of fat. I'll be doing it myself from here on out. It was about a five pound chicken(couldn't find any smaller ones) and it took about 2 and a half hours cooked indirect with firebricks and a drip pan. I'll do it direct next time with an elevated 2nd grid.[p]I also am still learning how to control the temperature and it varied from 410 degrees for a short period of time down to 350 degrees, but mainly the temp. was around 375.[p]I also turned it once and I don't think I'll do that again. I'm feeling pretty comfortable but I've still got a lot to learn. Now that that is all said, I still enjoyed it but I know it could be much better.

The Naked Whiz

Paul B.,
Sounds like you have a plan. If you kept it around 375 for most of the cook, you did good. You'll find it gets easier with practice. I don't do mine indirect, but rather direct on the raised grill. Seems to work ok. And you can find poultry shears at Target for around 3-4 bucks. I just cut out the backbone, flip it over, and the press down to flatten. The bird doesn't feel like it it going to fall apart. So, give it a try![p]TNW

Big-R

The Naked Whiz, how do you cut up the chix to serve it after it's done?[p]Randy

The Naked Whiz

Big-R,
I pull the leg out from the bird and use a knife to cut between the leg and the bird. When I originally flattened the bird, it disjointed the leg from the body, so there is not trouble cutting the leg off. You can then either cut the thigh and drumstick apart, or leave them attached, as you see fit. Once I cut both legs off, I take a BFK (the first word is "BIG" and the last work is "KNIFE" and the middle word is "FIRETRUCKIN'") and cut the breasts apart by just cutting down the middle. I leave the wings attached because I'm lazy and that way I guarantee that I'll get a wing when I take a breast. All in all it takes about 30 seconds to cut the bird up. [p]TNW