A quick and easy rub for this Smoked Spatchcocked Chicken and my first run on my new Weber Smokey Mountain Grill – thoughts and review. Plus this dreamy chicken. Chime in – do you have the Weber Smokey Mountain? I’d love to hear your reviews on it.
Spatchcock: (verb) split open (a poultry or game bird) to prepare it for grilling.
Now that we got that out of the way giggle for another minute or so.
The other day I decided it was time to bust out my Weber Smokey Mountain from the garage and set to up. It had been collecting dust and other mountain biking debris in the confined garage and it was time to just take it out and play with it. Lucky for me, tt was easy. I was sad I waited this long that kind of easy.
I set the chimney full of a hefty portion of coals and let them get ashen. When ready, I laid them in the bottom with a few fresh ones on top along with some chunks of hickory. I set the bowl in place with water and set the lid atop it all.
Pro Tip: Line your smoker’s drip pan with foil for easy clean up!
Set up was so easy I even double checked with Google that I hadn’t overlooked something. Sometimes things just are that easy. So, I ended up looking up some really rad customizations to add in the near future. Handles to make adding fresh wood easy, drilling a small hole for a thermometer wire, custom paint job for the future GirlCarnivore outdoor kitchen coming late 2016. (One can dream, right?) It’s like a perfect starter Civic that you saved your hard earned bucks for. Perfect, but you just need a little flair to make it your own.
I always like to test a new cooker with a bird. They are inexpensive and easy (so easy, even a beginner can do it!). In the end, even a bad smoked chicken is better than a lot of the dried flavorless roasted ones I’ve tasted. Chopped up and added, even a smoker fail is perfect for chicken salad or enchilada filling. Seriously, just smoke your poultry.
Inside, I had already set to work. I had a bit of trouble getting the breast flat, even with a good amount of pressure after removing the backbone. As it was my first Smoked Spatchcocked Chicken , I let it go for posterity’s sake. I cleaned out the cavity and rubbed the bird down with a lackadaisically measured combination of chili powder, cumin, cayenne, oregano, garlic and onion powder, a bit of sugar, and salt.
Finally, with a prick of a thermometer, I set the bird in place on the top wire rack in the smoker. With the lid in place, the Smokey Mountain was holding heat well around 210F.
For fear that even a slight peek would release too much heat or smoke, I lingered elsewhere and waited not anticipating needing more coals or wood for the 6-pound bird.
When the thermometer reached 165F, I mustered my courage and whipped off the lid.
God, it was beautiful.
Girl will always remember her first Smoked Spatchcocked Chicken
grace @ the smokin' chemist says
i have a weber smokey mountain, & smoked half chickens are probably one of my absolute favorite things to make in it. i swear, it changed my entire perception of chicken forever! it is magical.
Kita says
I agree 100% 😀