Kitchen shears for spatchcocking

[SmokingPat]

I'm interested in spatchcocking a chicken for the first time. Rather than searching for a culinary-grade pair of shears, I thought I'd buy a pair of new gardening shears at the local home improvement store. Take it apart, wash thoroughly, assemble, and add a little vegetable oil for lubrication.

Is this dangerous? Should I buy official 'kitchen shears' instead?

[RonB]

I don't see why it wouldn't work, but just make sure the blades are thick enough to not chip while cutting bone. I'd hate to see ya ingest small bits of steel.

[willxfmr]

These are the ones I use, and I'm very happy with them. Not real expensive, and easy to take apart for cleaning. The only problem I see using gardening shears is that taking them apart to clean them is likely to be a PIA, so you might be tempted to skip it.

[Donw]

+1. I bought a second pair for other tough cutting jobs because they work so well.

[jfmorris]

Same set I have had for several years. After spatchcocking chicken and turkey quite a few times, my only complaint is that the blades no longer seem to cut the skin cleanly. Probably time to sharpen them...

[Mr. Bones]

While I don't own their poultry shears, I jus haveta interject that I do own multiple Oxo Good Grips products, an have consistently been delighted with them all...

[MBMorgan]

I think Kathryn ( fzxdoc ) is a shear user ... and might have something to add.

[GolfGeezer]

There have been a couple of threads on this idea. Here is a relatively recent one:

Spatchcock Scissors....Your Recommendations? - Pitmaster Club (amazingribs.com)

[Texas Larry]

I use Fiskars pruning shears https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00002N6...M54JKGJHQR1RD6. They cut through bone like crazy. Less so with skin.

[Rob whatever]

Here is what I used to spatchcock a turkey when my poultry shears broke.

rob

[SmokingPat]

That brings back vague memories of a Thanksgiving when my dad de-boned a turkey. I was young, uninterested in kitchen stuff, and don't remember how it turned out. My older siblings still laugh about it.

[scottranda]

I have these which are ridiculously nice.

https://www.williams-sonoma.com/m/products/wusthof-classic-poultry-shears/

Says no longer available, but I’m sure you can find them somewhere.

[Uncle Bob]

This will likely be one of those "...well, I've never had a problem...." deals, but for a health safety matter, whatever you choose should be made of stainless steel rather than just carbon steel such as most garden shears. I'm focusing more on the sanitizing part of the usage rather than cutting ease.

[SmokingPat]

Yeah, that does it. I'm sure I can clean them once with no issues, but cleaning properly every time would be a pain.

[LA Pork Butt]

I watched a YouTube video of a butcher doing it with a knife and found his method to be faster. Neck end on the cutting board. Cut down along side of the backbone but not all the way through. Cut the other side all the way through and then finish the first cut side. Done!

[djl]

I have always used a knife....

[surfdog]

Same here. A good heavy chef’s knife works great.
And, as a bonus, I don’t have to take it apart to clean.

[DavidNorcross]

Here is mine. Works like a charm. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Fiskars-...966J/100046021

[johnec00]

For chicken I use a knife like LA Pork Butt says, works fine. For turkey, I do the same with meat cleaver and hammer.

[bbqLuv]

Shears work just fine, get a good pair or straight-cut tin snips.