Spatchcock chicken

It's easier. Just remove the backbone, flatten the chicken, apply a rub and cook direct. No need to drink half a beer (haha). No need to jam the can into the chicken and then balance it on the grill. No need to remove a steaming hot can from the chicken when done. It's also faster as you have more surface area exposed to more intense heat. Neither is super difficult and if you want to do several chickens at once, the beer can method is great. But I prefer spatchcock when I'm doing a single bird.

Do the spatchcock direct / high in dome / 350to400 /do not have to turn over and good skin.
Also very easy for putting sauce on the last 15 min's...
Most I do w/o sauce using coffee rub.
You can do 4 on the large by stacking but you have to rotate the two racks.
Doing 2 is very easy and I think someone did 3 on one rack.

Stephen,
I like both equally well. Both give good results. IMHO, i like spatchcock sometimes because i'll cut it in half and have 1 with a certain rub and the other will be another rub or marinade.... I like beer cans at parties because of the presentation, and also for simplicity. Nothing easier than shoving a can of beer up a chicken's ass... I do each method about 50/50...

I agree with all that was written above. Just chiming in that Spatchcock can be separated into thighs and breasts while it is still on the grid, I've had both be done first one time or another. Gives you some flexibility that a beer butt chicken does not have.

Doug

I go thru phases where I prefer one method for awhile, then I change. I am currently into the idea of spatchcock because
A- I think I have a better chance of success in my quest for crispy skin
and
B - I don't really like carving up a whole bird. the parts you get with spatchcock are pretty much the way I like to separate a bird.

the draw back to spatchcocking is that it sacrifices my wife's favorite part of the chicken - the two meaty "medallions" on the underside (non-breast side) of the bird. I made one sunday and while I did retain them, I had dried them out pretty good.


Big drawback to beercan chicken is when you're removing the bird from the grill and it's all falling apart and the beercan is still stuck in the butt. Then it falls out onto the grill and dumps all over the place before you get the chicken all the way off. And that beer is boiling hot in the event it doesn't spill all over your coals.

I used to do vertical chicken exclusively, then I switched to regular old roasted chicken (with several forays into spatchcock land that left me unimpressed). now I'm back into the Spatchcock idea.

I'm currently doing it on a raised grid direct (any direct cooks with chicken I do on a raised grid). you can also go indirect- LC posted a link in an earlier thread to an indirect spatchcock cook they did, step by step.

whatever floats your boat! just have fun!

Try this. Cut the bird per Naked Whiz's half-cocked chicken. Season with John Henry's Apple Jerk Rub, or some other assertive, but not overly salty, rub (lemon-pepper, for example). Set up your Egg for raised, indirect, at 325*, with a foil-lined pan under the chick to catch the grease. Put rub in under the skin before you put it on the Egg. You are going to do an hour plus 20, flip every 20, so 20+20+20+20. Sprinkle a little more rub the last two flips. The bird will be just starting to bubble under the skin. Let rest for 10 before serving. Perfect.