Spatchcocking my chicken
- This topic has 39 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 12/01/2017 at 8:08 am by
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So this is kind of a random post. But I think this is a cool way I’ve changed my cooking, thanks to Wicked Edge.
I now buy whole chickens at the grocery store, and then butcher them myself. My knives are so sharp its almost no work, and it’s a satisfying way to utilize a really sharp knife. Plus, you get a whole chicken for the price of a couple of small pre-fileted breasts, and I love getting the thighs for “free.”
It all started with spatchcocking a turkey last year, based on Mark Bittman’s recipe, and now I’m really enjoying it with chicken.
This butcher knife. I don’t remember when/how we got it, but it was years ago, and it was dull, dull, dull before the WE treatment.
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Wonderful thread! I’ve roasted chickens this way (spatchcocking/butterflying) for years since I learned of the technique from a cooking show. Love the way all the meat is done perfectly at once. But I never thought to use a knife to cut out the backbone; instead I’ve always used my Shun kitchen shears for two reasons: first, they are sturdy enough to exert a lot of leverage cutting through bone without any deflection and secondly, they come apart and can go into the dishwasher after cutting the raw chicken. That said, I have to try a knife next time given the success of cjb80202. Thanks for the tip!
I agree with you Salisbury Sam. IMO, shears are the way to go to remove the back bone. I think it’s more efficient and safer too. I do have and use a Tojiro DP Honesuki specifically made for cutting poultry and boning birds. It’s an uneven grind almost like a chisel grind and it’s very heavy and thick for it’s size. I use this to break down chickens/turkeys, etc. into pieces.
Marc
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I do prefer using a long, sharp knife over shears. When I’ve used shears, the cut rib bones are really sharp and it’s easy to scrape or cut your knuckles.
The thing that amazed me is that I get such amazing use now out of that big, cheap butcher knife. It’s the kind of knife you can buy for a buck at goodwill, but wow does it work great now!
On a related note, I have a pair of shears, but I don’t have the scissors adapter. So I thought I’d just free-hand the edge of the shears a bit, with my 600 grit stones. I think I hurt instead of helped, I created a burr and had a tough time getting it smoothed back down, and the shears wouldn’t close correctly.
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I tried to sharpen a couple scissors the other day on a Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpener and it wasn’t easy to free hand maintain the angle to keep the bevel flat against the triangle stone. It was at that point I decided I’d be ordering the “new” WE Scissors Adapter, too.
Marc
(MarcH's Rack-Its)Chris your Farberware knife is very much like this Chicago Cutlery 8″ Walnut Handle Slicer
Marc
(MarcH's Rack-Its)The Spyderco does have it’s place. It will improve some serrated knife edges, very well. I also use it for very small knives, inexpensive piece-of junk knives, and multi-blade folders where the blades are well off center. Like all sharpening there is a technique. If you maintain the blade vertical and keep constant contact with the stone it’ll do OK.
Marc
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That does look like a newer version of my knife! And it bolsters my thought that my current knife would probably sell second hand for about $1, but that makes me enjoy it that much more. I think I do have to sharpen it more often that my more expensive kitchen knives, but that’s part of the fun.
The only problem I’ve run into by spatchcocking with a knife instead of shears is potentially puncturing the underside of the breast by poking the knife at too much of an angle. With this long knife blade, that’s not a problem, it cuts right through while pretty much horizontal.
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One option for big birds or narrow ovens is to spatchcock, then divide into two halves at the breastbone. Put each half onto its own baking pan and onto two different racks in the oven. Even with a convection oven you’ll want to rotate the pans occasionally, but should cook up beautifully.
I tried to sharpen a couple scissors the other day on a Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpener and it wasn’t easy to free hand maintain the angle to keep the bevel flat against the triangle stone. It was at that point I decided I’d be ordering the “new” WE Scissors Adapter, too.
When you have a chance, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the new WE Scissors Adapter. I’m still on the fence on whether to pick one up or not.
Alan
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Last weekend I grilled for the first time a complete chicken in my oven without spatchcocking (learned a new word 🙂 ) it first. It was quite a success and we loved the chicken taste and its crispy skin. We only had some problems pulling the chicken apart at the table, mostly because I’m not very good at the anatomy of chickens 🙂 . But we’ll learn that. My question is whether spatchcocking a chicken before putting it in the oven has any advantages, or doesn’t it really matter whether you do it then or at the table?
Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge
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