Tales of Spatchcocking

[rlibkind]

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

Actually, "to frog" isn't far off.

According to an ancient (1980s) NY Times food section article in my clip file, what the British call spatchcock the French call a la crapaudine, or toad style. The way the bird's legs are tucked in under it after spatchcocking do suggest a toad or frog.

[SobaAddict70]

I am a great believer in butterflying chicken (what we in Britain call spatchcocking). The two immediate advantages are these: this chicken takes less time to cook than a whole bird, and it is also easier to serve.

At My Table (Nigella Lawson) (from the NYTimes DIGEST update for 21 July 2004. Scroll down for the appropriate link.)

It's been a while since we had a discussion of spatchcocking....so let's get to it.

Soba

[Dave the Cook]

The two immediate advantages are these: this chicken takes less time to cook than a whole bird, and it is also easier to serve.

It also cooks more evenly, which I think is more important than either timing or service.

Edited to say: spatchcock.

[Jinmyo]

If you didn't spatchcock it, you did it wrong.

[MsMelkor]

Melkor and I almost always spatchcock our birds (somehow that sounds R-rated!). Anyway, I simply cut out the backbone (and save it for stock, of course), while Melkor also removes the keelbone. Thoughts on this...?

[Dave the Cook]

Melkor and I almost always spatchcock our birds (somehow that sounds R-rated!). Anyway, I simply cut out the backbone (and save it for stock, of course), while Melkor also removes the keelbone. Thoughts on this...?

That's how it's supposed to be done, though I often leave the keelbone in and just crush it, because I'm lazy. Removing it does make for easier service, though.

If you're taking it out, save it with the back bone -- lots of collagen in that thing, and that's what gives stock great mouthfeel (speaking of R-rated!)

[bigbear]

..... Nigella..... spatchcocking.....

I search the eG forums for these two words everyday. What a treat to find them both in one thread.

[rlibkind]

I also take out the keebone. (is that what it's called? How obvious!)

Also, you can cut slits in the skin near where the ends of the drumsticks reside, then stick the drumstick ends through the slits. Makes for an even neater package.

You can also take the spatchcocked bird, which at this point is about the size of an average book, and freeze it. Saves on freezer space. Freeze those backs and bones. I used to chop up the backs and fry them in a Chinese cornstarch batter, then top them with a spicy bean sauce. Yummm. Or simply wait 'til you have a goodly amount and make stock.

[vogelap]

Interestingly, I was looking through the 10th Edition of PRACTICAL COOKERY last night and discovered that they instruct something quite ...different... for spatchcocking. It involved making 'eyes' out of hard-boiled egg whites and gherkins. I am not kidding.

There was a small (too small for these old eyes) picture of the result and it ...doesn't ... look ... right.

VERY interesting. Anyone with thoughts on this?

[ChefCrash]

What ever it's called it makes for delicious chicken. I think cooking chicken this way offers a couple of advantages over roasting whole, rotisserie or cut pieces of chicken.

1. You get browning on the inside of the bird as well as the outside.

2. You get more of the crispy skin. While this can be done on a rotisserie bird, it's hard to do with a whole roasted bird, and on cut pieces the skin either falls off or shrinks too much.

I spatchcocked this chicken

This one was frogged.

I think spatchcoking is more attractive than frogging. The later looks like conjoined chickens. The back bone is not removed (that's a crime oround here).

I placed the bird skin side down in an inch of white vinegar. I seasoned the exposed side with liberal amounts of salt, garlic powder and cumin. A little rosemary and I started to add oregano and quickly stopped, so there was a dash of that. Turned the chicken skin side up and seasoned as before. The chicken marinated for about 2 hours.

It went into a preheated 450* convection oven for 1.5 hours. Half way through I flipped the chicken skin side down.

This chicken was so good I'm making it again tomorrow.

[Peter the eater]

I think spatchcocking is more attractive than frogging. The later looks like conjoined chickens.

That's it!

I could never quite put my finger on it, now I realize the frogged birds look like something from a veterinarian's manual showing how to separate Siamese twin chickens.

I bought six fresh two-pounders last week and have been preparing each one differently. I still have two to go - I should have been taking pictures. I like to snip the back out with shears, pare out the hips and then separate by removing the breastbone and cutting through the skin. The two haves can be curled up into a poultry pyramid - very attractive.

Another way I tried was to remove all the skin intact and then remove the entire skeleton. I laid out the meat on the skin, seasoned it and then rolled it up into a log. Pretty labor-intensive for an under one kilogram bird, so I think I'll reserve that technique for turkeys.

So now I have a spin-off question: What does one call these techniques? So far we have spatchcock, frog and poultry pyramid (although I just made that last one up).

[JohnnyH]

What ever it's called it makes for delicious chicken. I think cooking chicken this way offers a couple of advantages over roasting whole, rotisserie or cut pieces of chicken.

1. You get browning on the inside of the bird as well as the outside.

2. You get more of the crispy skin. While this can be done on a rotisserie bird, it's hard to do with a whole roasted bird, and on cut pieces the skin either falls off or shrinks too much.

I spatchcocked this chicken

This one was frogged.

I think spatchcoking is more attractive than frogging. The later looks like conjoined chickens. The back bone is not removed (that's a crime oround here).

I placed the bird skin side down in an inch of white vinegar. I seasoned the exposed side with liberal amounts of salt, garlic powder and cumin. A little rosemary and I started to add oregano and quickly stopped, so there was a dash of that. Turned the chicken skin side up and seasoned as before. The chicken marinated for about 2 hours.

It went into a preheated 450* convection oven for 1.5 hours. Half way through I flipped the chicken skin side down.

This chicken was so good I'm making it again tomorrow.

←

Whoa! A split bird at 450 for 90 minutes? How did you not end up with charcoal? I cook chix this way as well, and they take less than one hour at 375 after searing. Am I missing something?

Edited February 20, 2008 by JohnnyH (log)

[mtigges]

Or if you follow Alton Brown you can do a med sized one under the broiler in around 25 minutes. And it's delicious.

[ChefCrash]

Whoa! A split bird at 450 for 90 minutes? How did you not end up with charcoal? I cook chix this way as well, and they take less than one hour at 375 after searing. Am I missing something?

←

We had to remove the pan from the oven several times to turn and salvage potatoes which were cooking too fast. That took some time since the rack had to be removed off the pan. Next time I'd cook the potatoes in a separate pan.

[Toliver]

Spatchcocking is also frequently mentioned in this eGullet discussion:

"Roasting a Chicken, The Topic (merged)"

[scubadoo97]

ChefCrash, love the pictures. Spatchcocking a chicken is my favorite way to prepare a whole bird. My most common method of cooking is to do it on the grill on indirect heat with a lot of wood to on the flame side to give it some smoke. Usually the bird is cooking at around 275 for about 2hrs. One trick I like to add to the method is to cut a slit in the skin that hangs off the thigh and tuck the leg bone in to the hole. It keeps the legs from flopping around when turning.

[boudin noir]

I have difficulty spatchcocking birds ( chickens and ducks ) using kitchen shears, chefs knives and cleavers. My hand hurts from shears and the bird is usually a mess whichever weapon I use. I recently saw on Amazon garden pruning shears that could cut through a 3/4 inch branch. I bought them. (I often use non-cooking stuff when I'm cooking.) They are great. They cut through the birds with little effort and the birds look as intended.

Edited March 3, 2018 by Smithy
Corrected title spelling (log)

[Martin Fisher]

Chicken (or duck) with it's back on the cutting board—a whack with a heavy chef's knife (or the like) on both sides of the spine should split it easily.

Use the spine for stock.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Good timing.  I split a bird for tonight's dinner about an hour ago and it's currently resting, salted.  Like @DiggingDogFarm my technique is to place the spine against the cutting board, then apply my heaviest chef knife on either side.  Very neat.  (But in my case I pitch the spine and the neck along with other innards.)

 

In my experience kitchen (or other) shears for breaking down poultry are an exercise in frustration and a pain to clean.

 

[rotuts]

kitchen shears , hands down

 

if you are having trouble , you've for crappy shears

 

this one is The One :

 

 

my unit :

 

 

its razor sharp and not expensive.  It has very good leverage .  I wash it by holding one handle while its open and use a kitchen brush and soap

 

then pat and air dry open in a safe place.

 

you have the respect its sharpness , but once you do there is nothing like it

 

this is not the IKEA one to get for cutting chicken :

 

 

hover its great for all around kitchen cutting.

 

I think the above is < 4 USD.   I have these all over the house  I can reach for one of these when ever I want !

 

 

when you are using the HeavyDuty one , top picks , on a chicken back , or anything else

 

Make Sure you know where all of your finger tips are.

 

 

 

Edited March 4, 2018 by rotuts (log)

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

I'm going to have to look for one of these shears. Every year at Thanksgiving my husband and I struggle to cut apart 2 big turkeys (they cook perfectly that way--leg/thigh/wings first and breasts last). Those poultry shears look ideal. Any idea where to find them? Amazon, I suppose.

 

Nancy in Pátzcuaro

[kayb]

2 hours ago, rotuts said:

kitchen shears , hands down

 

if you are having trouble , you've for crappy shears

 

this one is The One :

 

 

my unit :

 

 

its razor sharp and not expensive.  It has very good leverage .  I wash it by holding one handle while its open and use a kitchen brush and soap

 

then pat and air dry open in a safe place.

 

you have the respect its sharpness , but once you do there is nothing like it

 

this is not the IKEA one to get for cutting chicken :

 

 

hover its great for all around kitchen cutting.

 

I think the above is < 4 USD.   I have these all over the house  I can reach for one of these when ever I want !

 

 

when you are using the HeavyDuty one , top picks , on a chicken back , or anything else

 

Make Sure you know where all of your finger tips are.

 

 

 

 

Where does one acquire a heavy duty shear like that?

[rotuts]

the top shears are from IKEA

 

Ive found them :

 

http://www.ikea.com/au/en/catalog/products/40157720/

 

10 big USAD !

 

they are outstanding.

 

just make sure you use the inner-most part of the shears.

 

that give you tremendous leverage.

 

Ive done 22 lbs turkey backs w very little problems 

 

just keep track of your fingers and small to large chldren.

Edited March 4, 2018 by rotuts (log)

[TdeV]

When Lee Valley (US and Canada) first introduced these scissors they were $4 USD. The points are not sharp and they cut through anything. I have dozens of pairs all over my house. To clean, I open them and put in the dishwasher.

http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?p=59398&cat=1,64488

[HungryChris]

My method is to grasp the bird by the neck, with the back towards me and simply run a chef's knife down each side of the back, all the way to the to tail. It only becomes difficult if you go off course. I have used shears, but I find my method to be the most expeditious. Of course, it helps to have done thousands of them in a restaurant setting.

HC