Spatchcocked Chicken Success

Steve-O

Wow- what a chicken! I cooked a 5lb chicken, spatchcocked, tonight for dinner - best chicken I have ever had. Did it just like the Nake Whiz suggests on his web site. Added four good sized chunks of pecan for smoke. Half way through I added three ears of corn (decided not to turn the chicken - it looked so lovely with the darkened skin up). Ummmmm good!! (BTW, smoked corn isn't so bad!) Also, this was my first use of my new Polder thermometer. It worked like a charm and took all the guess work out of when the chicken was done. It was neat to watch the internal temp gradually rise to the 175 degree target temp. I feel pretty good, now, about pizza, steak, pork chops and chicken. Next I need to tackle a brisket . . . maybe this winter! Thanks, guys, for all the great help and suggestions. This has been quite a summer!

The Naked Whiz

Steve-O,
Great to hear of another successful bird! By the way, if you think that I turn the bird, then you are looking at my old website which geocities has never deleted. Always go to www.nakedwhiz.com. Accept no substitutes![p]TNW
[ul][li]Genuine NakedWhiz.com[/ul]

Unknown

Steve-O, if there is such a thing as the Nobel Prize for poultry, The Nekkid One is sure to get it. I've been eating clucksters for 40+ years, and I've never had anything come close to the spatchcock method.[p]To the Naked Whiz, salute!

Unknown

Steve-O,
I did butterflied cornish hens yesterday and they are every bit as good the chicken and in fact I like the size of them better.. By the way I was out of lump and used Kingsford and it worked out fine..[p]
Dylan

WooDoggies

Q.N.E. tyme,[p]I love cornish hens on the grill and they always impress da guests. I'll have to try them flattened but I imagine they would cook much faster this way?[p]Is there anything out of the ordinary you did for building you fire with briquettes.... would be good to know in a pinch.[p]Beers,[p]WD

Steve-O

The Naked Whiz,
Actually, I had just read your method for spatchocked chicken before I did mine and was confindent that I would be safe in not turning it since that was your recommendation. Thanks!

Unknown

WooDoggies,
I cooked them 40 minutes at 350° and then opened the vent and turned them skin side down for about 5 minutes.. I like the skin crispy and a little charred.. [p]I didnt do anything different to start the charcoal.. A cube on top in the center.. Left the dome open till the cube burned out and then closed the dome but had the cap off and vent wide open.. I went in and did a few things came out in twenty minutes and it was at 700°.. I just closed the vent and waited for it to come down. [p]Since I had to use kingsford I decided I may as well check out how it burned so I filed the firebox.[p]After about 5 hours its ash started choking the fire and the temp was coming down.. I stoked it and spread it around so the ash went through the grate holes and the temp went right back up.. It was about half spent at this point.. I checked on about three hours later and it was holdng temp but after that I was watching the Miner rescue and never checked it again..[p]This Morning, I lifted the grate and the ash completly fills the ash area, completly to the top..
[p]Dylan

WooDoggies

Q.N.E. tyme,[p]Very interesting. I have never used briquettes in the egg but have wondered how they would perform. Looks like you got 10 hours or more cook time out of a full firebox. [p]I know that you are a big fan of fowl cooked on the egg.... did you notice any difference in the taste or quality of the cook using kingsford?
I find lump imparts a smokier flavor on cooks with the egg than when I was using kingsford with my weber kettle.[p]Yeah man, that miner rescue was really uplifting... I stayed up until 3am to watch them pull the last man out. Nice to see a real live happy ending on the news.[p]WD