Spatchcock Chicken

[M635_Guy]

Once again - for my fellow noobs, the remote thermometer is the deal...


Lid on - fiddled with vents to keep temp through the whole cook - Lid off to take the chicken off:


I'm not getting a lot of temp consistency - I'm wondering if I should let the coals go longer for consistency, but it hasn't really hurt the outcome yet.  I used a little applewood, and it was delicious!

[Kneab]

Nice looking bird.

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[HoosierKettle]

Nice. Meat temp is most important. Grill temp can fluctuate all it wants as long as your cooking and not smoldering.


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[michaelmilitello]

Temp precision is for ovens.  Don't sweat it, grab a beer, and have fun. The bird looks grate!


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[JEBIV]

Before the days of thermometers to monitor grate temps we cooked based on time a good cleaning burning fire  and feel then stuck the protein with a slow ass reading meat thermo and then ate! and it was fun !!

[M635_Guy]

It seems like things are more finicky when you have lit and unlit coals - temps go down as the top-coals burn down, but go back up as the bottom coals come on-line.  It hasn't hurt anything yet, so I'll get used to it, but if there's a better way to narrow the range I'd appreciate the tips.  I need to mark the positions of the bottom vent, and my intention was to manage mainly using the top vent but that wasn't possible as at one point things dipped well under 200F and I needed to get some air in there.  Toward the end of the cook, things got a lot more stable.  Not sure if that was a sweet spot on the vents or the coals got themselves to an even state (or both).

[HoosierKettle]

Top wide open all the time for normal baking roasting temps.

Now try a no lid cook. Set up a two zone (no baskets) fire and cook burgers or thin chops. Cook right over the coals and slide over when needed to control flare ups.


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[M635_Guy]

Top wide open all the time for normal baking roasting temps.

So you use the bottom vent only to control temps?

[HoosierKettle]

Top wide open all the time for normal baking roasting temps.

So you use the bottom vent only to control temps?

Yes. I'll use the top vent once in a great while on low and slow. Like @kettlebb says, it's the chimney. You risk putting your fire out which sounds like almost happened since you dipped down to 200. In extreme cases you can cause soot on the food.


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[KevinInStL]

Hah I made my first Spatcocked chicken yesterday as well, though I was unfortunately in such a rush that I had to do mine in the oven rather than the Weber 

Here are a couple long threads I started recently on using top vs bottom vents:
http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/index.php?topic=43438.0

https://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?78754-Temp-control-adjust-top-or-bottom-vents

[SmokeVide]

Looks delish. Hate to admit it, but I've never done a spatchcock — the rotisserie is just so much fun. I'm gonna have to give it a shot.


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[M635_Guy]

Looks delish. Hate to admit it, but I've never done a spatchcock — the rotisserie is just so much fun. I'm gonna have to give it a shot.


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I don't have a rotisserie, and the spatchcock was easy enough.  A bit more prep of the food obviously, but essentially zero extra prep of the equipment, which is nice.