Don’t let the term spatchcock scare you away. It’s just a fancy way of saying to butterfly a whole chicken, or to split it open, and it’s pretty simple to do with a pair of kitchen shears.
When grilling spatchcock chicken a weight is added, like a brick wrapped with foil, and that helps cook it faster and keep it moist and tender.
I like to put my chicken on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper. That way I can cut out the backbone and season it all on the same pan.
You can see that I don’t have the best kitchen shears, but they work.
Start with the chicken breasts down on the pan. Cut down one side of the backbone, all the way through to the other end.
When you get through one side, cut down the other side of the backbone and pull it out. You can freeze it to make chicken stock in the future.
Once the backbone is out, open it up and flip it over.
Using the heal of your hand, press down on the breast bone to flatten the chicken out. Yes, you will hear and feel bones cracking, but that goes with the territory.
Once you get if flattened out, season it by rubbing oil and salt and pepper on both sides.
Careful on the bone side so you don’t poke yourself.
While my charcoal is heating up, and my chicken is sitting at room temperature, I like to make a barbecue sauce. This Asian BBQ sauce has a little zip and tastes great on chicken.
Just put all the ingredients together is a small sauce pan and simmer it for about 5 minutes. The sugar just needs to get dissolved and it will heat up more on the grill.
Time to get grilling. I happened to have a larger patio brick laying around, but 2 smaller bricks will do. The main thing is to try to have an even weight across the whole chicken.
Start with the breast side down, right over the top of the coals and close the lid.
After about 20 minutes, remove the brick (careful, it’s hot!), and flip the chicken. The skin is getting crispy and the chicken is cooking nicely!
Put the brick back on the chicken, close the lid and cook for another 20 minutes or so. Be sure to check for an internal temperature of 160 degrees before removing the brick.
Everybody’s grill is different, so you may need a little more or a little less cooking time.
Now it’s time to baste the chicken with barbecue sauce and cook a little longer. Use 1/3 of the Asian Barbecue sauce on the first side, close the lid and cook for about 3 minutes.
Flip the chicken over and use another 1/3 of the barbecue sauce. Close the lid and let cook for another 3 minutes.
Remove the chicken from the grill to a cutting board and let it rest for about 10 minutes before cutting it apart.
Cut the legs and thighs off, then the wings and drummies. Cut the chicken breasts down the breast bone. I top the pieces with the remaining barbecue sauce and some sliced green onions.
Serve this with Asian Slaw.
Enjoy!
Grilled Spatchcock Chicken with Asian BBQ Sauce
Equipment
- 2-quart sauce pan
- Kitchen shears
- Barbeque Grill, Tongs, and Brick Wrapped with Foil
- Knife and cutting board
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 each whole chicken
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
Asian BBQ Sauce
- ½ cup ketchup
- 1 tbsp molasses
- 1 tbsp soy sauce or wheat-free tamari
- 2 tbsp mirin or brown rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp Sambal Oelek
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 11 tbsp ginger
- 1 tbsp garlic fresh minced
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
Instructions
For the BBQ Sauce
- Combine all ingredients in a 2-quart sauce pan and simmer for 5 minutes.
For the Chicken
- Place chicken breast side down. Using a pair of kitchen shears, cut down each side of the back bone. Remove and save for making chicken stock.
- Flip chicken over, using the heals of your hands, press down on the breast bone, breasts, and thighs to flatten as much as possible.
- Using half the oil, salt, and pepper, rub oil all over 1 side and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Flip chicken over and repeat with the remaining oil, salt, and pepper.
- Set chicken aside at room temperature and start the charcoal, you will need a full chimney.
- Wrap a large patio brick, or 2 smaller bricks with foil.
- Once grill is ready, place chicken, meat side down on the grill, directly over the charcoal, and put the foil wrapped brick(s) on top of the chicken. Close the lid and cook for 20 minutes.
- Remove the brick(s), flip the chicken over, and replace brick(s). Close the lid and cook for another 20 minutes. Check the internal temperature of the chicken is 2 or 3 places on each side to ensure the chicken has reached 160 degrees.
- Remove the brick and baste one side of the chicken with 1/3 of the BBQ sauce. Close the lid and cook for 3 minutes.
- Flip the chicken over and baste the other side with 1/3 of the BBQ sauce. Close the lid and cook for 3 minutes.
- Remove the chicken and let rest for 10 minutes. Cut the chicken off at the joints, removing the wings and drummies together. Remove the thighs and legs together then cut at the joint between the thigh and leg. Cut the breasts in half down the breast bone.
- Drizzle the remaining BBQ sauce all over the chicken pieces.
- Enjoy!