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Tales of Spatchcocking


docsconz

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I have seen the word "spatchcock" used in anumber of instances here on eGullet to describe a technique of cooking fowl, yet I could not find the term in The Professional Chef from the CIA and the definition in the 2nd edition of Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary calls it a noun and reads, "a fowl killed and immediately dress and broiled". So what do people actually mean when they are using the term here?

John Sconzo, M.D. aka "docsconz"

"Remember that a very good sardine is always preferable to a not that good lobster."

- Ferran Adria on eGullet 12/16/2004.

Docsconz - Musings on Food and Life

Slow Food Saratoga Region - Co-Founder

Twitter - @docsconz

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To spatchcock a chicken means that you split it open for roasting or cooking on a spit. Normally this means cutting out the backbone and spreading it out flat. After cutting out the backbone one may also remove the breastbone. As an alternative, it is possible to spatchcock by splitting the breastbone in half and spread the chicken open the other way.

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Thanks. That is what I thought from the contexts of the posts I saw the word in, but wasn't sure.

John Sconzo, M.D. aka "docsconz"

"Remember that a very good sardine is always preferable to a not that good lobster."

- Ferran Adria on eGullet 12/16/2004.

Docsconz - Musings on Food and Life

Slow Food Saratoga Region - Co-Founder

Twitter - @docsconz

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Spatchcock is a great way to grill small and medium-sized birds. It's also a way to freeze fresh, whole chicken without taking up much freezer space. By removing the backbone and breastbone, a whole chicken is as flat as a book (especially, if you cut slits into the tail into which you insert the drumsticks.

Another benefit of this butchering/prep technique, vs. whole bird, is that you're less likely to have an overcooked breast and undercooked thigh -- the bird is more nearly (though certainly not perfectly) uniformly dense and no part of the bird is closer to the eat source than any other part (a frequent problem when you leave the breast bone in).

Bob Libkind aka "rlibkind"

Robert's Market Report

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Well. I spatchcocked my squab and deboned them as well. I roasted them at 450 convection for about 7 minutes. The meat was nicely medium rare, but the skin could have been crisper. I should have taken your advice and pan-browned them first, sam, but I was lazy. I served them over risotto milanese with spinach sauteed in the squab pan-drippings around the edge of the plate. I grated parmigiano over them and poured a little Aceitai del cristo juniper balsamico tradizionale di Modena on top. They weren't bad, but would have been better had the skin been crisper. In addition the leg and wing meat was chewy. All in all, it was ok, but I have had better.

John Sconzo, M.D. aka "docsconz"

"Remember that a very good sardine is always preferable to a not that good lobster."

- Ferran Adria on eGullet 12/16/2004.

Docsconz - Musings on Food and Life

Slow Food Saratoga Region - Co-Founder

Twitter - @docsconz

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:smile:

I had the same question myself when reading the perfect roast chicken thread. I was then determined that Google could find a picture for me. Sure enough about 30 minutes later on page 35 of the search, there she was!

I have yet to actually do it, but I sure plan to based on the flexibility it gives you.

Msk

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Spatchcock means you know how to cook poultry.

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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Spatchcock means you know how to cook poultry.

Alas, I think there's more to cooking good bird than that, Jinmyo. If spatchcocking were all it took, I'd be a past-master. :sad::wink:

A jumped-up pantry boy who never knew his place.

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I spatchcocked allot of chickens this summer over the BBQ.

The definition of "spatchcock" some how was burnt into my mind as the smoke from grilling spatchcock chickens were flowing up, over, and around Nigella Lawson’s breasts as she was explaining how good the succulent juicy spatchcock chickens tasted as she was licking her lips. TV is a very good educational resource.

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...the smoke from grilling spatchcock chickens were flowing up, over, and around Nigella Lawson’s breasts as she was explaining how good the succulent juicy spatchcock chickens tasted...

So, no dark meat then in that recipe? :biggrin:

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  • 1 month later...

When something is butterflied, a piece of meat is cut in half almost all the way through and then spread out flat. It refers to taking a piece of meat, cutting into the meat and thereby spreading out that piece of meat over a larger area. Spatchcocking specifically refers to cutting through the backbone (or breastbone) of poultry and spreading the whole bird out flat. Since the meat itself is not opened up and spread out when a bird is spatchcocked, is is not butterflied.

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M. Kamman calls it "to frog a bird".

I remove the backbone, cut the wing off at the second joint, apply a dry rub for 48 hrs, insert 3 skewewrs (for ease of turning) and grill on MOM in my Webber - this makes wonderful chicken (even the supermarket variety)!

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