Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

What's your preference on Chicken cooking?

JMSetzler
JMSetzler Posts: 75
edited March 2012 in Poultry
I like to cook whole chickens and I put one on just a little while ago.  I like to cook mine at around 375° until I hit an internal temp of about 165° in the thigh.  I then like to foil it and let it rest for 20 minutes or so.  Today's chicken is going to be pulled to make pulled chicken sammiches later.

Comments

  • Nature Boy
    Nature Boy Posts: 8,687
    Hard to pick a favorite method. Yours sounds great,

    But if'n I had to pick one, it would be spatchcocked and cooked direct...around 300 (lower if a big bird, higher if a small bird)....skin up 2/3 of the time then flip to finish. I like the thighs to be 180 if possible without the breast getting over 160. (thighs usually go toward the hot side of the fire.).

    Love me some chicken.
    Chris
    DizzyPigBBQ.com
    Twitter: @dizzypigbbq
    Facebook: Dizzy Pig Seasonings
    Instagram: @DizzyPigBBQ
  • Spatchcock is the only way.
    LET'S EAT
  • Village Idiot
    Village Idiot Posts: 6,959
    I agree with spatchcock.  I normally don't like to heavily rub the chicken.  Very lightly.  Then, if a spicy taste is wanted, add a sauce or gravy at the dinner table.
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • Mighty_Quinn
    Mighty_Quinn Posts: 1,878
    Yep...spatchcock. Raised grid, direct for me at 375-400 for an hour +/-.
  • Mickey
    Mickey Posts: 19,669
    Spatchcock direct on raised grill at 400 up in the dome and never turn over. Just an easy cook. No oil on bird.
    Salado TX & 30A  FL: Egg Family: 3 Large and a very well used Mini, added a Mini Max when they came out (I'm good for now). Plus a couple Pit Boss Pellet Smokers.   

  • Shiff
    Shiff Posts: 1,835
    My choice is the same as Mickey.  I sometimes add a lemon pepper rub.  Very easy and tastes great.
    Large BGE
    Barry, Lancaster, PA
  • stevesails
    stevesails Posts: 990

    i have cooked them all the ways.  splatch **** is easiest.   i like pieces, and whole too.

     

    XL   Walled Lake, MI

  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817

    Upside down on a bge chicken stand.

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • chogg
    chogg Posts: 30

    I like your weber chicken stand there... use mine all the time..I cook my chicken on the high side( 400 or so )...Like that skin real chrunchy and not too dry if you cook it fast and let it stand/rest for 10-15...Bought my large egg in 2003 and some summers go threw 4-5 bags of lump a month.. 

    IF YOUR LOOKING YOUR NOT COOKING ..My Dog Likes it !!! C.Hogg....Shack Rag...GA.
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    It's actually a bge stand in a weber stand. It's great for catching the drippings. The fat overflows and it ends up full of de-fatted jus

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • gte1
    gte1 Posts: 379

    I like doing chicked halves vs. spatchcock.  They seem easier to handle, and the skin doesnt get all bunched up.  Am I missing something doing it this way over spatchcock, other than the cool name?

    George

    George
  • smak
    smak Posts: 199
    I am a fan of the 500* indirect method. About an for whole chickens. About 45min for parts.

    -smak
    smak
    Leesburg, VA
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    I started doing them this way a few years ago. It hit me that since the dome is hotter than the grid that the legs and thighs need to be cooked to a hotter temp would be in a hotter area. Since the back end of the bird has more fat the rendered fat would run down and baste the breast also. I have cosistently gotten a 20 to 25* temp difference between the two and the juiciest breast meat than any other way. Asfar as difficulty, I season the bird and let it sit for a while in the fridge. With a small bird I sometimes have to cut a couple of inches of the backbone out of the neck area to get it started on the stand (BGE stand is the best) and put it on with a drip pan to catch the drippings. Less work than a spatchcock.

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • Steve753
    Steve753 Posts: 140
    Ok, think of the BGE as a convection oven. The heated air rises from the fire, bounces off the dome, and cooks both the top and bottom for your food at the same time. I have cooked a beer can chicken on the Egg with no problems.
    Large Big Green Egg
    Weber Gold
    Old Smokey

    San Diego, Ca
  • John Ross
    John Ross Posts: 49
    Tonight I did a spatchcock chicken, indirect with a plate setter, a couple chuncks of hickory. Used my maverick, keeping the gril temp at about 375 and let the deepest part of the thigh get to about 175. It was cooked, really to perfection, but I have to say I prefer the more barbequed flavor and texture that you get from cooking directly over the coals. As far as which is better, a whole chicken or a spatchcock chicken, for me, it's about a toss up. Presentation wise, the the ease of serving it and cutting it up, my preference is spatchcock.
  • dlk7
    dlk7 Posts: 1,053
    I did a spatchcock (Simon and Garfunkle) from the owners manual except direct cook on a raised grate.  Used the DigiQ DX2 at 350 and didn't flip.  Pulled off at 165.imageimage

    Two XL BGEs - So Happy!!!!

    Waunakee, WI