How To Spatchcock a Chicken

So, I have to confess – before now, I’ve never really tried my hand at butchery.  I have once butchered a whole duck for my Slow Cooker Duck Confit and I’ve filleted a fish but that’s as far as it goes.  Not any more!  Last weekend we decided we wanted to cook an entire Chicken, Piri Piri Style on the BBQ.  Whenever we eat chicken Piri Piri in Portugal, it is always spatchcocked before cooking so we decided to give it a go.

Spatchcocking a chicken means cutting it down the middle and opening it out butterfly style.  It is a great way to cook large pieces of meat on something like the BBQ as they cook faster than they would do otherwise as there is more surface area and the meat is all one thickness.  In fact, it can cook in up to half the time of a whole chicken.

So how to spatchcock a chicken?  I actually thought it would be a much more difficult process than it actually was.  To start with you will need a whole raw chicken.  Make sure you remove any gizzards that might be lurking in the chicken cavity!  Next, you need to place the chicken breast-side down with the legs facing towards you (upside down if you like – the opposite way up to how you would roast it!)

Then, using a sharp knife, slice through the parson’s nose and down one side of the backbone. You could also use strong scissors or poultry shears for this step.  (Optional: You can slice down the other side of the backbone and remove it completely if you want or skip this step).

Once you have cut all the way through, open out the chicken out and turn it over.  Press down hard in the middle of the chicken to flatten the breastbone. 

And that’s it – it takes a couple of minutes and you have a perfectly butchered bird.  Spatchcocked this way, the meat should all cook through at a similar time and faster than if the whole bird was roasted.  You can season it and cook it as it is or marinate it as we did with my Portuguese Piri Piri Sauce.

And just take a look at the amazing result.  Moist, juicy, slightly charred and absolutely delicious!  Have a try – it’s much easier than you think!

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