A Spatchcock Chicken on a Yoder Pellet - Need Advice

[Raven Rock]

See Update Post Below....

I want to smoke a spatchcock chicken on my Yoder (it's a practice run for the Thanksgiving turkey).
According to Meathead, chicken doesn't have a lot of connective tissue so it can be cooked at higher temps faster.
What do you recommend for temp and an approximate duration of the cook?
Seasoning will most likely be salt and pepper to start. I want to taste with the Yoder does without a lot of other seasoning.
I haven't yet cooked any poultry on the Yoder - any help is welcome.

[Smoldering Flea]

375. I’d say a touch under an hour

[Raven Rock]

Thanks Flea - that helps.

[lonnie mac]

Do a lot if chicken on the rectec. I usually go 350 for and hour to an hour and a half. Every bird has it's own mind. Dang dang good!

[Raven Rock]

Thanks Ionnie - That looks dang good.
What internal temp are you going for when you pull it off?

[barelfly]

That’s some yardbird! Good lookin’ yardbird!

[Jfrosty27]

I also do it at 350 on my Recteq. No less. 375 is ok too. Only way to get decent skin. Think of it as cooking on a wood fired oven. So really the same way you would cook it indoors.

[Raven Rock]

Thanks J Frosty - I think I'll go with 350 and see how it turns out.

[Waiting for the Worms]

The following is based on my experience doing chicken on a Camp Chef pellet pooper. Your mileage may vary.

If you are looking for some sort of "smoked" flavor then you will need to give it an hour or two at 225 or so, or use a smoke tube with either wood chips or pellets in it and a set temp in the 350-375 range . Running at 350-375, without the tube, the cooker isn't going to give off much smoke. It will make a darned tasty chicken, but not a "smoked" one.

[Raven Rock]

Hello All -
Here's what I did -
I fired up the Yoder to 225.
My Yoder YS640s has an upper and lower grate. I want to put our Thanksgiving turkey on the upper grate with a drip pan on the lower grate; so, I placed the spatchcocked chicken on the upper grate as my trial run.

After 30 mins, I increased the temp to 350 and ler 'er go for about an hour.
After an hour, the chicken was at temp in the breast and thigh but the skin was only light brown - not the deep brown I was hoping for.
I pulled the chicken since the temp was good.
The chicken itself was darn tasty with a light smoke flavor but the skin was chewy and not very good. Not good at all.

I'm thinking I need to increase the temp to 375 or 400 after half hour at 225. Your thoughts?

[IowaGirl]

I don't have a pellet pooper, but I noticed a friend who has one just dials in the temp at the controller, and doesn't check the actual temp where the food is. So I thought I'd ask -- are you double checking the cook temp where the birds are is or just setting the controller temp and calling that good?

I often cook on both racks in my Hasty Bake charcoal cooker. I've learned temps can vary quite a bit between the two levels -- sometimes the top is hotter, sometimes cooler depending on how much food is in the cooker, the amount of wind, air temp, direct sun vs shade, etc. I usually put probes on both levels when using both grates so I can compensate if needed.

[Jfrosty27]

I used to do it that way. I feel the half hour at low temp was the problem. The meat is cooking but the temp is too low to cook the skin properly. Cook the whole time at 350 or 375. Sure your smoke flavor may be lighter, but you can address that with a smoke tube. Personally, I like a lighter smoke flavor on poultry so it's fine.

[Raven Rock]

That's a good point - I will forego the half hour at 225

[smokinsteve]

Just follow the recipe here: https://amazingribs.com/tested-recip...chicken-recipe This is one of my "go to" recipes we enjoy so much! Just get one of those "Young" chickens at Publix.

[Raven Rock]

This looks good - thanks!

[klflowers]

I agree with the above. Skip the low and slow part and just go high all the way. Plus, dry brine with salt uncovered in the fridge overnite - skin will be excellent. Some of our kin here use baking powder (or is it soda) in the brine, I tried it but I didn't like it. I thought it imparted a slight aftertaste in the chicken. Not sure this will help with the turkey cook though.

I do go low and slow for some chicken cooks, like jerk chicken and this gem:

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/the-pit-mastery-program/chicken-turkey-and-duck-recipes/609161-the-h-j-leggie-texas-low-slow-chicken

On these, I am looking for bite through rather than crispy.

[Smoldering Flea]

I’d do the whole thing at 375. You may also want to separate the skin from the meat in the breast and thigh and rub some fat/salt in the gap. Or you could dry brine in fridge. If those don’t work to your liking you could add some baking powder to the salt.

[Raven Rock]

I actually did dry brine with salt from 6:00 am until about 4:00 when I put the chicken in the smoker.
I'll go with the 350-375 for the entire cook and see how that does.