How Long To Smoke A Spatchcock Chicken At 300

Smoked Spatchcock Chicken is incredible juicy and moist with a faster cooking time and lots of cracking smoke flavor thanks to more surface area of the craven that is exposed to the smoke! The low, tiresome heat and wood smoke make the about mouthwatering, gorgeous chicken you have ever seen!

Looking for more ways to use a whole chicken? Try my Whole Roasted Mexican Chicken or see my tutorial for how to cut upward a whole chicken.

An overheat image of a butterflied smoked whole chicken on parchment paper on a cutting board.

We dear buying whole chickens for a couple of reasons. It'south commonly quite a flake cheaper to buy a whole craven than to purchase cut upwards pieces. As well, in our family, some people like the leg and thigh meat while others prefer the breast. Cooking a whole chicken means everybody gets some of what they like best!

Some other dainty thing is that when I cook a whole chicken, we usually have enough meat leftover for something like craven spaghetti casserole, a one-half batch of chicken salad, or cheesy chicken quesadillas the adjacent night. I'thousand all near repurposing leftovers into something new!

What is spatchcock chicken

A whole butterflied chicken with a slice cut out of the breast meat.

A spatchcock chicken is just a funny name for a chicken that has its backbone removed and so the chicken can be opened up and lay flat on a grill, smoker, or baking canvass while it cooks. It's too known as butterflying a chickn. This technique results in the most evenly cooked, melt-in-your-mouth craven that is super tender and juicy! And information technology likewise helps cut downward on the cooking fourth dimension when smoking or roasting a whole chicken.

One of the common problems with smoking a whole craven is that the breasts sometimes dry out before the rest of the meat is washed, but that hasn't been my feel with a spatchcock chicken.

Spatchcock chicken is our new favorite way to smoke craven on our Traeger, thanks to Nicole from the blog Or Any You lot Do. We are participating in a fun weblog swap where a group of blogging friends are secretly assigned one another'due south blogs and asked to remake one of their recipes. The Summer Freaky Friday edition is hosted by Michaela from An Thing from the Heart.

I chose to make Nicole's Traeger Smoked Spatchcock Chicken and went ahead and used her DIY BBQ seasoning mix equally well since nosotros didn't have any Traeger chicken rub on hand.

Nicole has a TON of Traeger recipes on her site. Her logo even has a smoker in it! And since we just upgraded to a brand new Traeger, I knew that's the route I was going to become. If you lot are new to using your pellet grill, they have created an excellent resource with their ultimate guide to Traeger wood-pellet grills.

I was besides very tempted by their smoked Italian meatballs and smoked spicy Asian pork ribs. Just if you lot don't accept a smoker, they take lots of other smashing recipe ideas as well!

Things you need for smoked spatchcock chicken

a whole chicken
large cutting lath
kitchen shears
smoker or grill gear up for indirect rut
hardwood or wood pellets (apple, hickory, maple, cherry, and pecan are our favorite wood flavors for smoked chicken)

A spatchcock smoked chicken resting on parchment paper.

How to spatchcock a chicken

Spatchcocking a chicken is actually super like shooting fish in a barrel! I used to be intimidated by this technique, only it takes less than a minute to do. All y'all need is a pair of kitchen shears or other precipitous scissors.

Start with a whole chicken and remove anything from within the crenel of the bird. Place it on a large cutting board and flip it breast side downward. The whole chicken in the image beneath is breast side up. If this is what yours looks like, simply flip it over.

Make certain your surrounding area is clear for easier cleanup and disinfecting after.

Starting on one side of the courage, use abrupt kitchen shears to cut right down the length of the chicken from cervix to tail. Yous should exist able to easily cut right through the skin and bones.

Repeat the process by cutting downward the other side of the backbone, and then elevator the whole piece out. I usually turn the cutting board effectually and cutting back up the other side since I'one thousand right-handed and that's easiest for me, but it doesn't really thing which direction yous become, tail-to-neck or neck-to-tail.

You can stick the backbone in a freezer-safe zip tight bag and freeze for making craven broth later.

hands cutting a raw chicken with red scissors

Cutting the spine off of a raw chicken with red scissors

Cutting and removing the spine off of a raw chicken

The spine removed from a raw chicken on a cutting board

Open up the chicken and use a precipitous knife to brand a cutting right in the middle of the breastbone where in that location is a slice of cartilage. Just a minor slit in that tough flake of cartilage helps flatten out the chicken really hands.

Flip the chicken over and use the heel of your palm to printing correct betwixt the breasts to flatten out the chicken all the way. Information technology should lay nice and apartment with the legs spread out to the sides.

using a large knife to help cut the raw chicken

Tucking the wing tips and pressing down on the breast bone to break it

Constrict the wingtips nether the breasts for the all-time presentation and most even cooking, then you tin can rub the whole craven front and back with a footling olive oil and your favorite rub or the one I'm including in the recipe below. The olive oil just helps the rub stick really well.

You could actually alkali your bird for 12 to 24 hours if you desire. I don't e'er practise it because it requires extra planning, but brining poultry really does give it wonderful texture and flavor.

How long does it take to smoke a spatchcock chicken?

The reply to this question really depends on you and whether you lot are choosing to spatchcock the craven fore a quicker melt (totally valid reason) or more smoke penetration (also a totally valid reason). To some extent, y'all can call up of your smoker similar a boring cooker where yous cull to either cook things on depression or on high. For nigh things, you usually aren't incorrect either way, and that's the example with smoking spatchcock chicken.

Faster approach: high heat (about one hour)

I keen thing nearly this spatchcock chicken recipe is how speedily information technology cooks compared to a whole chicken that hasn't been spatchcocked and flattened out. You tin cook the chicken at a college temperature and it takes a relatively short amount of fourth dimension.

Start a Traeger grill on loftier heat and cook for xxx minutes, and so drib the temperature to 325 degrees F and your chicken should be washed inside another fifteen-30 minutes. Nigh an hour of cook time isn't bad at all for smoked chicken!

Slow approach: depression estrus (about three-4 hours)

But for ultimate smoke penetration, I recommend smoking the chicken at a lower temperature between 225 and 275 degrees F. A three- to 4-pound craven smoked at this temperature will likely accept effectually 3-4 hours to achieve an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.

If you don't accept a good digital meat thermometer (chapter link) , I highly recommend investing in one if you enjoying smoking or grilling meat. Information technology'southward more of import to fume the meat according to the correct internal temperature than for a specific amount of time. Factors similar the size of your chicken and the temperature of the chicken when you lot started the fume can all play a part in how long it ultimately takes to smoke the meat.

I get asked this a lot, but as long every bit you accept plenty space in your smoker for the meat, you tin fume more than ane spatchcock chicken at a time without increasing the overall cooking time.

Be sure to let the chicken residue for 10 minutes after removing information technology from the smoker or grill and then that the juices tin redistribute before slicing the chicken and serving.

How to make BBQ dry rub

Two plates with brown sugar, salt, pepper, and spices for making a BBQ dry rub.

When making barbecue, I really love a brown sugar based rub. Not only does it add sweetness that balances the other spices, simply it also caramelizes beautifully on the smoker or grill. You tin can use this aforementioned rub on pork or veggies (like the sweet potatoes I served with this spatchcock craven) and it would be delicious.

Merely combine brownish sugar with garlic powder, cumin, cinnamon, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, onion powder, cayenne pepper, paprika, and onion salt in a medium bowl. Stir until everything is evenly distributed, then sprinkle information technology generously over the meat you want to cook and rub it in.

You tin actually employ this same arroyo with a spatchcock turkey using turkey seasoning for a delicious and different approach to your Thanksgiving meal!

To sauce or not to sauce: that is the question

I dearest a practiced BBQ sauce, but sometimes I just want to enjoy the flavor of the chicken and rub without any sauce that sometimes tries to upstage the experience of a good smoked chicken all on its own.

If yous want to sauce the chicken, watch for the internal temperature to achieve around 150 degrees F on a digital meat thermometer (affiliate link) in both the breast and thigh meat. Brush the chicken liberally with your favorite bbq sauce (I HIGHLY recommend my Alabama white BBQ sauce), then keep to melt until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F, commonly another 15-xx minutes later adding the bbq sauce.

A spatchcock chicken on a Traeger pellet grill with zucchini and sweet potatoes.

Grilled spatchcock chicken with a gas or charcoal grill

We are one of those families that has a smoker, a gas grill, AND a charcoal grill. Not only considering I'm a food blogger and I exam recipes on all three, but because nosotros love each of them for dissimilar reasons. Although I used our Traeger smoker to make this chicken, yous can use a gas grill or charcoal grill and still become great results!

Preheat your grill and set information technology upwards for an indirect heat zone, which is where the craven won't exist directly over the flames. You tin soak hardwood fries to apply your grill every bit a smoker, or just go with the natural charcoal season for the meat. Then grill the chicken over indirect heat until information technology reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.

What to serve with smoked chicken

Smoked or grilled craven goes well with any archetype BBQ side dishes like macaroni salad, potato salad, or baked beans. This time around I tossed some sliced sweet murphy discs in olive oil, so rubbed them with a BBQ seasoning and smoked them with the craven, then served it all with grilled zucchini.

A butterflied, smoked chicken on a cutting board next to a bowl of BBQ sweet potatoes and grilled zucchini.

More peachy chicken recipes

Creamy Craven Marsala
Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole
Chicken Tinga Tacos
Cambodian Chicken Red Curry
Grilled Cilantro Lime Chicken Thighs
Georgian Chicken Stew
Skillet Lemon Chicken & Rice
Crispy Cast Iron Skillet Chicken Thighs
Spicy Honey Craven
Japanese Chicken Curry

Did you brand this recipe?

Let me know what you thought with a annotate and rating below. You can also accept a picture and tag me on Instagram @houseofnasheats or share information technology on the Pinterest pivot so I tin come across.

▢ 3-4 pound whole chicken
▢ ¼ cup olive oil

Dry Rub

▢ ⅓ loving cup brown saccharide
▢ ane teaspoon Kosher common salt
▢ 1 teaspoon onion powder
▢ 1 teaspoon paprika
▢ 1 teaspoon onion salt
▢ ½ teaspoon garlic powder
▢ ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
▢ ¼ teaspoon cumin
▢ ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
▢ ¼ teaspoon cayenne

To spatchcock the chicken

Place the bird breast-side down with the legs pointing toward y'all. Utilise kitchen shears to cut downwards both sides of the courage through the ribs to remove the spine.
Open up up the chicken and use a precipitous pocketknife to cutting a slit through the cartilage in the center of the chicken near the breastbone. Flip the chicken over and press in the middle to lay it out flat.
Rub the chicken all over with the oil. Combine the dry rub ingredients and rub a liberal amount all over both sides of the craven.

Fast Method: High Heat (around 1 hour)

Preheat Traeger grill to high heat of around 400 degrees F. Identify the craven breast side up on the grill, spreading out the legs then it lays apartment. Grill on high for 30 minutes, then plow temperature down to 325 degrees F for the remaining fourth dimension it takes for the craven to attain an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
Remove from grill and let rest for 15-twenty minutes before slicing and serving.

Slow Method: Low Rut (effectually 3-4 hours)

Preheat Traeger grill to between 225 and 275 degrees F. Place the chicken breast side up on the grill, spreading out the legs so it lays flat. Smoke for three-four hours until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
Remove from grill and let rest for 15-xx minutes before slicing and serving.

Take a wait at all of our 2020 Freaky Fri Summer Edition Recipes:

An Affair from the Heart - Huckleberry Banana Bundt Cake
Aunt Bee'due south Recipes - All-time Always Craven Gyros
Bowl Me Over - Alabama White BBQ Sauce
Hostess at Heart - Sometime Fashioned Lemon Icebox Pie
Lemoine Family Kitchen - Lemon Cream Cheese Huckleberry Kolaches
Lemon Blossoms - Lemon Poke Cake
Life, Dear & Good Nutrient - Healthy Greek Coleslaw
Or Whatever Yous Do - French Onion Risotto
Sugar Dish Me - Kokosnoot Macadamia Nut Ice Foam
Take Two Tapas - Cherry Cupcakes with Mint
The Speckled Palate - Pepperoni Pizza Dip
W Via Midwest - Buffalo Cheese Dip

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Hullo, I'g Amy

I bask exploring the world through food, civilization, and travel and sharing the adventure with generally from-scratch, family friendly recipes that I remember of as modern comfort cooking.

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