Smoked Roasted Spatchcocked Chicken On A Kettle Grill

I demonstrate my favorite method for cooking a whole roasted chicken on a BBQ Grill. While I use my trusty Weber Kettle, any BBQ grill will work. Notes on modifying this technique to fit other grills can be found below.

**BASIC APPROACH**

Start by lighting a full chimney of charcoal, and letting it get to the point where most of the coals are red and ashed over.

Split the hot coals on either side of the grill, using bricks to contain them.

Add more coals on top to bring your grill temp up to at least 350 - 400 F. Add chunks of whatever wood flavor you desire. In this video I'm using pecan which is one of my personal favorites. I also find fruit woods like cherry & apple work great with poultry as well.

I tend to steer clear of harsher wood smokes like hickory or mesquite when cooking poultry. Oak can have great results, but it's easier to over-do-it since it's a much stronger flavor than most other nut and fruit woods.

While your BBQ grill is heating, remove the backbone of the chicken as shown in the video.

You can also dry salt the bird 24-36 hours in advance (aka, dry brine), with 1-1.5% salt based on the weight of the bird.

Once the backbone is removed, lay chicken flat, breast side up, and press down on the breast, breaking the breast bone and flattening out the bird.

Tuck the wingtips back behind the first wing of the bird, and pour boiling water over the skin. The boiling water is optional, but it will tighten the skin, breaking down the collagen, leading to crisper skin at the end. A tea kettle is perfect for this application.

Season with your favorite BBQ rub; a good one is simply salt, pepper, tiny bit of brown sugar, and some dry herbs. In this video, I'm using Kinder's Brown Sugar Rub, which is a solid, ready to go seasoning at the price point.

Place chicken, still on sheet tray, sitting on top of a wire rack, in the center of the grill, with the two fires on both sides. Add about 16 ounces of water to the cooking tray to keep the drippings from burning and scorching during the cooking process. The steam from the underside of the bird will also help to thoroughly cook the chicken while keeping it moist. Steam also creates a humid environment, which leads to better smoke adhesion.

Make sure both top and bottom dampeners on your Weber Kettle are open for maximum air flow.

If your grill is in the 350-400F range, you'll need to cook the chicken for about 1.5 hours.

If your grill temp is in the 450-500F range, the chicken will take around one hour to cook.

The chicken is done cooking when the skin is a dark brown and crispy, and the internal temperature reads at a minimum of 160F.

Pull chicken from BBQ grill, and allow to rest for about 10-15 minutes before carving, as shown in the video.

**Alternate Approach**

With offset smokers and ceramic kamodo grills, the process is pretty much the same. Just make sure your fire is at the proper temp as listed above.

If using a gas grill, set your temp to around 450F. Use a smoke box insert to get the wood smoke flavor. Because gas grills are designed to be well ventilated due to safety concerns, it is difficult to achieve a good smoke flavor like you would on the other grills listed above.

**WANT MORE CHICKEN VIDEOS?**

[BrownBrothersNY]

Amazing demonstration and execution. Stellar.

[TheFailingGamers]

Glad to see you back Jacob! A couple of years ago you taught me so much about cooking and helped turn me into the best non-professional cook I know in person and am grateful. Bought your book to show my appreciation :)

[GiC]

Jacob, today I prepared the BBQ chicken. We did enjoy it. It was juicy full of taste. Thank you

[willbmw]

Thanks, I'm a big fan of spatchcock chicken but never did it BBQ style. Now I know how and will try it out.

[uberquellen]

I really like the spatchcock chicken way. Saw it on the Fox cartoon Bob’s Burgers 🍔. I first brine my chicken with a lemon salt and rosemary mixture. I like to brine it for about 24 hours. After that I put my homemade rub on it and then put it on my Traeger. I smoke it with mesquite pellets until it’s between 190° and 200°. At that temp it’s falling off the bone. I debone the whole chicken and serve it shredded. The best tasting chicken.

[juicebox]

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEEN?!?! Missing the podcasts, too, man. Great to have you back!!

[Mateo]

Love and appreciate your videos! Keep em' coming.

[EngineerNick]

Omg please dont use bricks the metal baskets only cost about 15$ and have the added benefit of keeping the most extreme heat away from the side of the kettle, extending its life.
I learned a lot from this video thankyou :)

[GiC]

Nice, I am going to prepare it for my wife thanks.

[nicholg]

Hi Jacob, is it okay if I place the chicken directly on the grill grates?

[jopax]

Woah! I never seen the boiling water thing, but I'm only a home cook...

[areyoureally]

Good to see your video!! What have you been up to?

[tbac]

Question sir, I have done tons of whole chicken on the grill just like you did here but my question is, I usually poke the skin 3 to 5 times with the tip of ta knife in the heavy fat areas to render the fat. This gives me a crisp skin. Is there a difference between the water method and the poke method?

[jaysheldon]

I've watched two of your videos one was the turkey in this is the chicken I noticed your temperatures internal temperatures are different for the chicken than for the turkey is that normal you suggested pulling the turkey at 150 chicken could be 160 to 165 internal temperature

[macster]

adding oil to the skin actually helps it crisp and not get soggy.

[jaytorr]

Try putting the wood chunks under the coal. Harry Cho showed that and it so much better. You get sweet wood flavours rather than burned wood. Otherwise good video

[slaisebam]

I can't believe I've never heard of the boiling water for crispy skin trick. I'm upset.

[EddyGurge]

It's just a grill. BBQ is not a device, nor a verb. You should know this. (also, I'm not the one dislike on the video!)