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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Just to answer part of my own question, I found this on the web. It’s a turkey, not a chicken, but it seems quite helpful.
Still, my question remains: is it better to spatchcock or cut up the chicken before putting it in the oven or doesn’t it really matter?
On to stay on topic: I have quite a few kitchen knives, but no honesuki. I think this is a good opportunity…
Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge
Mark, spatchcocking is to make cooking easier, quicker and more efficient. It’s not to make cutting up the cooked bird easier, although it probably does. Google “Spatchcocking Turkey or Chicken”. It will explain it easier and better then we can.
Marc
(MarcH's Rack-Its)1 user thanked author for this post.
Just like sharpening a knife (I’m stretching this analog…) it’s the geometry of cooking a bird, particularly a turkey, that makes it more challenging. When roasting, the breasts tend to cook quicker than the dark meat around the legs and thighs. That tends to create a dried out breast as you try to eliminate the bloody, raw effect on the dark meat. Spatchcocking helps eliminate this by making the bird 2-dimensional, which helps the sections cook closer to the same rate. Even with that, I like to a) set out the bird at room temperature before cooking (30-45 minutes) and b) put bags of frozen corn on the breasts while it’s sitting out, to help keep them relatively cold (and I pre-brine the turkey as an insurance policy).
When it comes to carving, spatchcocking definitely makes life easier, IMO. Mainly because the backbone is gone, and you’re not struggling to cut away the legs at those big joints, particularly with a very hot turkey releasing steam onto your hands!
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I’d bet that turkey would make a good candidate for sous vide cooking. You’d just need a water bath large enough to accommodate the bird.
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and a vacuum bag, would you broil it at the end or grill it to crisp up the skin? But the dark meat and white meat has two different finish temps?
Marc
(MarcH's Rack-Its)1 user thanked author for this post.
The bird is cut and laying open it the refrigerator to air-dry the skin to enhance the browning.
I’ve got the backbone, neck, giblets and aromatics on the stove top simmering to make my fresh turkey stock for the gravy.I’ve cooked turkeys a bunch of times. None every turned out bad. Just some were better than others. I’m psyched for this one. I’m ready and anxious to get this party started!
Marc
(MarcH's Rack-Its)Typically you do sear the meat at the end of the cook. I wasn’t aware of the different cool temps. That would complicate things a bit. Could you separate them prior to the cook?
I don’t think you actually need a vacuum bag. People regularly use standard zip style plastic bags for the technique.
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Could you separate them prior to the cook?
No rules with cooking. The only reason we attempt to roast them whole is for the presentation. You could separate the dark meat pieces from the white meat and bag them separately. Just need to cook one first then the other after resetting the bath temp. Or use two sous vide cookers. I would like to get one but I don’t really have the space to store something that large, that I would only use very infrequently.
Marc
(MarcH's Rack-Its)I wanted to follow up with the results:
It was the most moist turkey I’ve made ever. It took less than 1 hour (11.6lbs). The family loved it. I have another turkey in the freezer I plan to do on the Traeger Pellet Grill soon!
Marc
(MarcH's Rack-Its)I love to BBQ. I also use a Big Green Egg. I have a Rotisserie Attachment for it.
I sharpen knives to cut the meats I cook, grill, smoke and BBQ.Marc
(MarcH's Rack-Its)
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