Help with Spatchcock

[DesertRat]

After several years of smoking, and still consider myself an amateur, I'm going to smoke my first whole chicken. I've done wings to moderate satisfaction several times but I've decided to do a whole chicken tomorrow. I have one that Was
Air cooled and I don't anticipate difficulty taking out the backbone.However comma I'd like your opinion on how to actually smoke it.

 

[Greg Jones]

I think it is a pretty straightforward process. First, I do the spatchcock part remembering to break the breastbone to flatten the bird on the grill. What I do differently from most is to leave the backbone attached on one side, so that it gets smoked along with the chicken. I then later remove the backbone and save it for use in making a nicely smoked chicken stove. If you don’t make stock, then go ahead and remove the entire backbone before smoking.

I then season the bird using your favorite chicken rub, tuck the wings to keep the flappers from burning up, and put it on your grill set to 350°. Use a lighter pellet flavor instead of a strong flavor like mesquite. Sone go even hotter, up to 400°, but I’d avoid the hotter grill temps on a Bullseye. I’d highly recommend putting a temp probe in the thickest part of the breast and remove when it gets to 160°. Cook time should be ~45-60 minutes, depending on the size of your bird (I like a young chicken in the 4.5# range myself). Let it rest, lightly tented with foil for 10-15 minutes where carryover temp should take it to 165°. Then take pics to share here and enjoy!

 

[SmokeZilla]

Greg Jones nailed it. The only mods I make is to brine the bird for at least 10 hours. I also inject the breast with a compound butter and use Duck oil on the skin after drying it thoroughly since wet chicken skin equals rubber chicken skin. I also probe the thickest part of the thigh and the breast. When the breast hits 150-155F I use a sear station, or you can remove the bird and crank up your B-Eye and place it skin down to crisp the skin. Make sure to let the bird rest loosely tented for 20 minutes to let the juices redistribute. Good luck and let us know how it tastes.

 

[Roaniecowpony]

I think I was whipping up some butter, with minced rosemary, sage, thyme, garlic, and stuffing it under the skin and over the outside of the skin too.

 

[DesertRat]

I realized I was not going to be doing this cook yesterday if I plan to brine it. Left the brining water in the fridge overnight to get it cold. Chicken has been in two and a half hours now at 3 p.m. Sunday. I'll pat it dry and refrigerate uncovered around 7 in the morning. We eat around 7 p.m., so I'll put it on the counter to warm around 4:30. It should be out of Stanley Stampede and resting at 6:30. Let me know if you find flaws!