How to Spatchcock Your Next Whole Chicken

Looking to cut down on some cooking time? Consider butterflying your chicken by following these easy steps.

I don't know too many people who enjoy waiting for food to cook when they're hungry. If you have a pulse, all of us encountered a day or two where we've babysat an oven waiting for the meal to magically float into our mouths. If it's a chicken, quail, Cornish hen, turkey or anything of that nature, I got you covered.

To spatchcock a chicken - or most birds - is much simpler than you think And if you are wondering what the hell spatchcock even means, it is the act of butterflying a whole bird and removing the backbone. If you watched enough of my Instagram or Facebook stories, I've done it dozens of times right before sectioning off an entire chicken.

Benefits of Spatchcocking a Chicken

• Ability to evenly season your bird
• Gain a crispy skin
• Reduce your cooking time when roasting
• Removing the spine from the chicken allows your bird to lay flat during the cooking process
  • Bonus Fry: use that removed spine for a bomb ass stock that you can build with water, mirepoix, herbs de provence and bouquet de garni. Okay, maybe I threw out too much at once but I'll dissect that on another post.
• Great to cook on a grill evenly and flip over when it's time

Why You May NOT Want to Spatchcock your Chicken

• Some people have a hard time coping with dedicating one pair of kitchen shears only to poultry -- I am not one of those people, especially since I am very comfortable doing this technique with a chef's blade.
• Finding a large enough surface to place your butterflied bird -- again, not a personal problem of mine.
• Some people think spatchcock birds are ugly -- dare I state how much that's NOT my problem and would argue that it's technique
• "Go buy chicken parts if you want to cook your chicken evenly," they said. This chef will ask you to compare the costs when you buy pre cut chicken parts versus a whole bird. Most times you'll notice it but I am okay being a parrot: Not. My. Problem.

Personally, I prefer to spatchcock a chicken with my chef blade but most people prefer kitchen shears. For educational purposes, I'll break down both ways to go about it.

Spatchcock (or Butterfly) Your Chicken with Kitchen Shears

1. Place your chicken on a poultry safe board - typically yellow or red - with the bird's breast side down and legs facing you.
2. Grab a pair of kitchen shears, cut away from you, up on each side of the backbone. You will hear a little bit of crunch noises; it's the sound of cutting through the ribs. Hopefully I'm not torturing you with this description.
3. Flip the bird - not your middle finger - and flatten your bird by opening it up, then using the heel of your hand to press down firmly.
4. Season and cook the way your heart desires. Cooking times vary according to size and technique. For instance, it'll take around 30 - 40 minutes to roast at 400 degrees and around 15 - 20 minutes on each side if placed on an indoor or outdoor grill with skin still on your poultry.

Spatchcock (or Butterfly) Your Chicken with a Chef's Blade

1. Place your chicken on a poultry safe board with the bird's breast side down and legs facing you.
2. Cut from the top with knife straight and firm. Make a mark as a starting point on each side and slice down.  
   1. NOTE:​ You should be fairly comfortable with a knife and have knowledge on the proper way to grip when butchering (i.e. pinch grip versus hammer grip). If your technique makes you nervous, I highly suggest following the shears technique.
3. Use a smaller knife, like a pairing knife or utility blade, to remove loose bones that might be sticking out when you crack through the bird's ribs. Additionally it's helpful for removal of debris; remember to do this on the opposite side.
4. Reserve spine to create a bone broth/stock or discard.
5. Season and cook the way your heart desires. Cooking time vary according to size and technique.

Frequently Asked Questions and What's Next?

1. Why is it called spatchcock chicken?
   1. Spatchcock is a funny little word that's shorthand for "dispatching the cock."
2. Well, why not call the technique "butterfly" versus spatchcock?
   1. Well. because butterflying a chicken can easily be interpreted as cutting straight through the middle, which means keeping the back -- and you probably didn't come here to keep the back in your finished product. And if my memory serves me correctly, I think the term butterfly, for poultry I mean, came after spatchcock.
3. What culinary suggestions do you have for my spatchcocked bird?
   1. Create a really good compound butter and grease under and on top of the skin. Here's a simple compound butter to create: Use one stick of butter plus onion powder, minced garlic, roughly 5 or 6 pieces, a teaspoon of salt if unsalted butter, chopped sage, thyme and parsley. Once greased, roast that baby for 40 or so minutes if it's a decent sized chicken and just wait for the bird to twerk on your plate. This is a great thing to consider for your dry ass holiday turkeys -- and I'm serious too. The breast piece will never be the same (and you probably wanna do a brine but that's another blog post.)
   2. Grill your bird and watch the magic happen. It'll be much quicker grilling that whole chicken or Cornish hen doing this technique.
   3. Do you have two cast iron pans? Dope! One pan holds the chicken and the other pan's bottom should be wrapped in aluminum foil. Place that aluminum foil covered pan on top and roast that baby until it registers at 160 degrees, allowing your chicken to carry over to 165 - a safe temperature for poultry for doneness - when it rests.

Spatchcock isn't just a funny word anymore. Apply this technique to your next poultry dish and watch the magic happen.