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The Yin & Yang of Spatchcock Chicken
TRex
Posts: 2,714
I've done Spatchcock chicken for two nights in a row now. I just love the stuff. My wife is starting to thing I'm a bit weird bringing home whole chickens, cutting out their backbones, and cooking (and eating) the whole thing. [p]Monday night I did just one on the Medium. Last night I did two, one on the Medium and one on the Small. I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that the same times and temps seem to work for both the Small and Medium--the results were nearly identical.[p]What I changed, though, from Monday to Tuesday night was the temp at which I cooked the chicken. Monday's chicken was not as juicy as I wanted (I had cooked it for 1 hour in the 350 - 400 range), but had a really nice crispy skin. So, last night I cooked both chickens in the 325 - 350 range for an hour. The meat was a lot more juicy (and was done completely), but the skin was more chewy - not very crispy at all. I should note that all cooks were done direct on raised grids, and the chickens were coated with olive oil and Dizzy Dust (yum, my wife said, "Those guys really know how to make great rubs!"). [p]My obvious question is: are crispy skin and juicy meat inversely proportional? Is there a way to get a nice crisp skin and keep juicy meat inside? Should I just cook in the higher temp range for a shorter amount of time? Perhaps I should cook at the normal grid level??[p]Thanks for your help!![p]TRex
Comments
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TRex,
Perhaps 3/4 of the time at the lower temp and then crank it up and finish it off at a higher temp?
Just a thought....
Smokey Bob
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TRex,
In general, having S'cocked about 30 chickens, I haven't observed that cooking the chicken at 375-400 has made them drier. I had only 1 chicken that seemed to be drier than all the rest, and I don't know what temp it cooked at (I can do them anywhere between 350 and 375), but I attributed it to being just a bad bird. You obviously need to experiment more! [p]By the way, you think your wife thinks you are wierd? Shoot, my wife thinks I'm wierd because I dump bags of charcoal out on the driveway and take pictures![p]TNW
The Naked Whiz -
The Naked Whiz,[p]You're absolutely right about needing more experimentation. The sample size is not yet large enough to make a substantiated conclusion. : ) All the more reason to bring more chickens home and really weird out my wife.[p]When cooking in the 375 - 400 range, do you usually get crispy skin? [p]Thanks for your help and experience,[p]TRex[p]
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TRex,
Take what I am about to write with a grain of salt...I have not yet tried Spatchock Chicken. I have cooked a lot of whole turkey's on my grill (although not yet on the BGE).
I know this is not part of the original recipe...but I usually brine my turkey. A cup and a half of kosher salt in a bucket of water. Toss the bird in and let it sit over night. Rinse the bird thoroughly the next day and grill her. I've never had a dry bird. While you are experimenting, this may be worth a shot.
Poncho
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TRex,
I've never had what I would call really CRISPY skin, but I am a slack*ss lazy sob most of the time, so a) I forget to let the bird dry the skin in the fridge and b) I don't flip the bird over during the cook. The skin isn't rubbery, but it isn't crispy like it usually is on a turkey. I'm not usually worried about the skin anyway, so I just don't bother. [p]As for brining, I've never found that it enhanced the juiciness of the meat on a spatchcocked chicken, but YMMV. I have read that if you do brine a bird, you need to let the skin dry to avoid rubbery skin. I tried brining 2 birds once and the it seemed that the skin shrunk and ripped during the cook. I haven't tried brining spatchcocked chicken since, but I seem to notice the same thing when I brine turkey breasts. So, my personal opinion is that you can brine for flavor, but I don't see the need to brine spatchcocked chicken for moisture. But who knows, if you are getting different chickens that come out dry, then brine away![p]TNW
The Naked Whiz -
The Naked Whiz,[p] "Shoot, my wife thinks I'm wierd because I dump bags of charcoal out on the driveway and take pictures"![p]TNW [p]Is there something wrong with an educated man who dumps inanimate objects on the driveway...sorts, measures, and seperates them in little piles, and then takes their pictures ......??............??? Still thinking.......????[p]Hmmmmmmmmmmm.........?????[p]
NNNNNAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!![p]Chubby
I spent most of my money on good bourbon, and bad women...the rest, I just wasted!! -
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TRex,[p]Try a faster cook (grilling) at about 500 or so. This will achieve crispy skin and moist inside. The longer you cook bird... the drier they get. Crisp skin needs higher heat. [p]Keep us posted on your results.[p]Bob[p]
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The Naked Whiz,
We appreciate you taking the beating over that dumping the lump all over the driveway.[p]If you weren't doing it for us, we'd have to do it ourselves, and then explain what we are doing....and I hate to look any worse than I already do![p]So, THANKS!! We appreciate your efforts, as your site IS the authority on lump charcoal. [p]BTW, My vote goes to Maple Leaf, if I could just get it locally. I've never seen it anywhere, (Minneapolis) so I have to pay for shipping which doubles the price.[p]Mike in MN
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TRex,[p]I've done quite a few spatchcock chickens recently and found that if you let it dry in the fridge for a 3 or 4 hours after you apply the rub, the skin turns out crispy. Make sure you leave the chicken uncovered while it drys.[p]RayS
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