# Wow that was easy



## Chief Longwind Of The North (Jan 15, 2011)

Wow that was easy.  Spatchcocked my first chicken tonight.  Followed the instructions on a youtube video and then grilled it in preparation for a pot luck tomorrow.  A little bit of my secret (ok, nothing I have is secret) smouldering chicken marinade, and it's cooked, refrigerated, and ready to be served over a bed of noodles that have been cooked just right and tossed while hot with butter, EVOO, and a 1/4 tsp. liquid smoke.  I can't hardy wait.  I was a good boy and kept my fingers out of it.  But it wasn't easy.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North


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## joesfolk (Jan 15, 2011)

Congratulations!   A new skill is always a great ego boost.  Hope you enjoy the fruits of your labor.


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## Robo410 (Jan 15, 2011)

it's a great way to do chix!


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## Chef Munky (Jan 16, 2011)

Glad it worked out.

Spatchcocked is the only way I cook a whole chicken now.
It takes less time to cook. Easier to manage a whole chicken.
GW, did you notice how juicy the breasts were after cooking and resting time?

Munky.


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## msmofet (Jan 16, 2011)

I have never tried doing that yet.


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## FrankZ (Jan 16, 2011)

Goodweed of the North said:


> A little bit of my secret (ok, nothing I have is secret) smouldering chicken marinade



Ok.. this peaks my interest.


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## Zhizara (Jan 16, 2011)

Goodweed of the North said:


> Wow that was easy.  Spatchcocked my first chicken tonight.  Followed the instructions on a youtube video and then grilled it in preparation for a pot luck tomorrow.  A little bit of my secret (ok, nothing I have is secret) smouldering chicken marinade, and it's cooked, refrigerated, and ready to be served over a bed of noodles that have been cooked just right and tossed while hot with butter, EVOO, and a 1/4 tsp. liquid smoke.  I can't hardy wait.  I was a good boy and kept my fingers out of it.  But it wasn't easy.
> 
> Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North



Okay, GW, I'll bite.  How do you spatchcock?  Is it something like neutering a rooster?


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## mrs.mom (Jan 16, 2011)

Goodweed of the North said:


> Wow that was easy. Spatchcocked my first chicken tonight. Followed the instructions on a youtube video and then grilled it in preparation for a pot luck tomorrow. A little bit of my secret (ok, nothing I have is secret) smouldering chicken marinade, and it's cooked, refrigerated, and ready to be served over a bed of noodles that have been cooked just right and tossed while hot with butter, EVOO, and a 1/4 tsp. liquid smoke. I can't hardy wait. I was a good boy and kept my fingers out of it. But it wasn't easy.
> 
> Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North


 CONGRATULATIONS


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## pacanis (Jan 16, 2011)

I still do my chickens sitting on a can of something, but I love spatchcocking Cornish game hens. (I like game hens for single servings.) A good pair of kitchen shears and a sharp knife for getting out that pointed bone and you're good to go.
Here's the vid I learned from. It should open up in your media player.
http://home.comcast.net/~ask-the-butcher/sp.wmv


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## mollyanne (Jan 16, 2011)

Zhizara said:


> Okay, GW, I'll bite. How do you spatchcock? Is it something like neutering a rooster?


...I don't know what that means either


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## Rocklobster (Jan 16, 2011)

I have a recipe where I fry it up in a cast iron frying pan with a heavy weight on it. then flip it and finish it on the other side. 

Another thing I do is snap the joint in each thigh. There is a sack around that joint that contains blood and other fluids that will sometime discolor the meat and it will look insightly. A quick disjointing will allow that fluid to drain out and cook through with the rest of the meat. It also helps prevent the dark meat in the thigh from being slimy, like it can be sometimes. That is a little trick I learned from being a KFC cook in the 70's.


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## pacanis (Jan 16, 2011)

I never heard that Rocklobster. Which joint is it, the leg/thigh joint or the thigh/body joint? I've never noticed that sack when piecing a chicken before either. Maybe I cut right through it.


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## pacanis (Jan 16, 2011)

mollyanne said:


> ...I don't know what that means either


 
Isn't my link working?


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## Rocklobster (Jan 16, 2011)

pacanis said:


> I never heard that Rocklobster. Which joint is it, the leg/thigh joint or the thigh/body joint? I've never noticed that sack when piecing a chicken before either. Maybe I cut right through it.


The joint is in the thigh body joint. It isn't really a sac. I shouldn't have used that term. It is basically the hip joint which is a synovial joint which contains synovial fluid. It is a slimy lubricating fluid that helps the joints move with less friction in all mammals. I was taught to hold the thigh skin side down in both hands with the body side bone in my left hand and the other bone should run directly into your right hand. Turn your wrists up and snap the joint where the two bones meet. You can feel it pop. You can do it fairly easily even if the bird is spatchcocked. I would grab the leg and turn it up until the bone that runs through the thigh pops from the rest of the body.  I've always done it that way.


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## pacanis (Jan 16, 2011)

Thanks for the info.
The next chicken I cook, which might be today, I'm going to try to pop the bone on one side and nother the other, just to see if I can tell a difference.


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## taxlady (Jan 16, 2011)

pacanis said:


> Isn't my link working?



I don't know - I didn't click it. That's because we just got bandwidth caps on our internet usage here in Canada* grrr, so I am getting in the habit and cutting down on video watching.

I just learned about spatchcocking. I think it is basically cutting out the backbone of the bird with a pair of kitchen shears and cooking it flattened out.


*Bell won a court case. They will charge all the ISPs that use their lines (almost all) for bandwidth. My ISP has informed me that usage starts getting metered 1 Feb.


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## Chef Munky (Jan 16, 2011)

pacanis said:


> Thanks for the info.
> The next chicken I cook, which might be today, I'm going to try to pop the bone on one side and nother the other, just to see if I can tell a difference.



Not sure what this part is called specifically. It certainly helps to remove it completely from the thigh before you cook it. 

After the back bone has been removed ( Spatchcoked )
Right next to the thigh is a fairly thick piece of something, next to the bone. That's probably what Rock is referring to. It's kind of looks like a piece of fat. But it's tougher. Cut that piece out.
I've noticed if I forget to do that it's harder to bite into the meat.

Here's one of my recipes for it.

1 whole fairly large chicken.Rinsed well,dried using paper towels. 
 1/4 Cup of olive oil 
 1 teaspoon of crushed chili flakes 
 2 lemons squeezed of it's juice,if you don' have one, bottled lemon juice will do.Use 1-2 teaspoons. 
 Dash of black pepper 

In a medium sized bowl-add olive oil,lemon juice,chili flakes,pepper. Mix it well set the marinade aside. 

To spatchcock the chicken,remove the backbone. Lay the chicken flat and press to flatten the breastbone,cartilage.You don't want to cut the chicken into 2 halves. Loosen the skin all around. It crisps up the skin when broiled.

In a large enough dish to hold the chicken. 
 Pour the marinade over the chicken. Cover and marinate overnight refrigerated, or marinate a few hours. 

Preheat your broiler,and pan on high..30 minutes. 

When ready place the chicken breast side down. Bone side up. Cook for 20  minutes,turn the chicken over. Finish cooking it breast side up. Check it  every few minutes baste often. Cook an additional 15-20 minutes until  the thigh juices when poked with a fork run clear. 

Remove the chicken. Let it rest 10 minutes before carving. 
Squeeze the lemon juice over the chicken and eat up!

The chicken has a nice peppery zesty taste to it

Munky.


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## Kayelle (Jan 16, 2011)

"spachcoked chicken"??  My question is where did that term come from, and how long has it been around?  I've been doing chickens this way all my life, and my butcher daddy before me.....what's up with the name?  Daddy always called them butterflied chickens. Spachcoked doesn't sound as nice.
Very interesting info about the hip joint....I will definitely do that next time!


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## mollyanne (Jan 16, 2011)

pacanis...thank you for reminding me to click on your link as it was excellent. In fact I own that very pair of scissors...exactly. I never knew that's what I was suppose to do with them. And all this time I've been using them for cutting fresh herbs from my garden. Iguess you can tell I don't grill much...but I'm going to do it!


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## Mimizkitchen (Jan 16, 2011)

Kayelle said:


> "spachcoked chicken"??  My question is where did that term come from, and how long has it been around?  I've been doing chickens this way all my life, and my butcher daddy before me.....what's up with the name?  Daddy always called them butterflied chickens. Spachcoked doesn't sound as nice.
> Very interesting info about the hip joint....I will definitely do that next time!



HAHA K thats an interesting point, i've always called it butterflied chicken, even tho i've used the spatchcocked term in the past... I do believe spatchcock is a british term, but a very good way to make a chicken... I put foil covered bricks on top of my chicken to get the beautiful crust, since it's cooking time is less than a "not spatchcocked chicken"  it comes out just beautiful... SMOOTCHES to you...


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## pacanis (Jan 16, 2011)

You're welcome, mollyanne. It's a pretty clear presentation. I always enjoyed his information.


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## msmofet (Jan 16, 2011)

Chef Munky said:


> *Not sure what this part is called specifically. It certainly helps to remove it completely from the thigh before you cook it. *
> 
> After the back bone has been removed ( Spatchcoked )
> Right next to the thigh is a fairly thick piece of something, next to the bone. That's probably what Rock is referring to. It's kind of looks like a piece of fat. But it's tougher. Cut that piece out.
> ...


 I'm pretty sure thats the keel bone


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## pacanis (Jan 16, 2011)

msmofet said:


> I'm pretty sure thats the keel bone


 
No, the keel bone is that pointed bone I was talking about that runs down the bird's front. You can see it in the vid. It's not by the thigh/hip joint.


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## msmofet (Jan 16, 2011)

pacanis said:


> No, the keel bone is that pointed bone I was talking about that runs down the bird's front. You can see it in the vid. It's not by the thigh/hip joint.


LOL I was replying to chunky's comment. The keel kind of looks like hard fat. I thought thats what he was referring to. I knew you were talking about "popping" the bone between the thigh and body.


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## pacanis (Jan 16, 2011)

msmofet said:


> LOL I was replying to chunky's comment. The keel kind of looks like hard fat. I thought thats what he was referring to. I knew you were talking about "popping" the bone between the thigh and body.


 
You highlited a part of munky's post in red and said you thought that was called the keel bone, where in fact he was referring to the hip joint we had been discussing. At least the part you highlited.
And that's what I was replying to


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## msmofet (Jan 16, 2011)

pacanis said:


> You highlited a part of munky's post in red and said you thought that was called the keel bone, where in fact he was referring to the hip joint we had been discussing. At least the part you highlited.
> And that's what I was replying to


Ok brain freeze LOL I looked at that video and when he started the removal at the hip is what I thought munky meant. So sorry get the whip!! LOL


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## pacanis (Jan 16, 2011)

And that reminds me (not the whip, lol) that I forgot to try to snap a hip joint on the chicken I just put on the grill. Shoot.


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## Chef Munky (Jan 16, 2011)

msmofet said:


> LOL I was replying to chunky's comment. The keel kind of looks like hard fat. I thought thats what he was referring to. I knew you were talking about "popping" the bone between the thigh and body.



LOL!!!!  Who's Chunky?  Me Munky?.. 

I didn't watch the video. Can't watch things like that when I just wake up. Food pics are hard enough to look at until my second cup....

" Chunky Munky "


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## PrincessFiona60 (Jan 16, 2011)

Chef Munky said:


> LOL!!!! Who's Chunky? Me Munky?..
> 
> I didn't watch the video. Can't watch things like that when I just wake up. Food pics are hard enough to look at until my second cup....
> 
> " Chunky Munky "


 
Espresso?


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## CWS4322 (Jan 17, 2011)

A good pair of poultry shears are invaluable. I got mine in a "$1 box" at an auction. My mom has a pair, my grandmother had a pair...

Don't forget to save the bone for soup <g>.

K.


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