Spatchcock chicken is a cooking method that has intimidated me until today. To spatchcock a chicken, or butterfly it, cutting along the backbone, allowing it to be completely opened out and flattened. Doing this reduces the cooking time significantly and allows the whole bird to be cooked in different, speedier ways, such as grilling, baking, or pan-frying.
I have pretty good knife skills for meats and poultry, so I don’t know why I was afraid to spatchcock a chicken; hell, people spatchcock their turkeys on Thanksgiving, so it cooks quicker. Now that I did it, I feel ridiculous it took me so long to try it.
I decided to make Piri Piri Spatchcocked Chicken. Piri Piri is a Portuguese dish, a marinade made with hot chili peppers, paprika, garlic, olive oil, and lemon. The marinade is slathered on the chicken; then, the chicken is grilled or baked.
Of course, I didn’t have any official piri piri, aka peri-peri chili peppers, so I had to improvise like usual. After reading dozens of recipes, I used what I had and put together my own marinade. I thought I made it spicy enough, but it could have been spicier for sure.
Yesterday, I brined my whole chicken then spatchcocked it. I patted it dry and popped it into the refrigerator until today. That was my first mistake. I should have applied the marinade then so that it would have permeated flavor into the chicken better.
Piri Piri Chicken is traditionally seared with grill marks on the skin side of the chicken over a hot grill, then flipped over to indirect heat to finish cooking. I used an internal digital thermometer so I wouldn’t second guess myself on doneness and temperature.
I was happy with my sear marks and the way the chicken was cooked. I rotated it once during the cooking time so both sides would be close to the hot side of the grill. I let the chicken rest and then carved it into 2 breasts, 2 wings, two legs, and 2 leg and thigh pieces.
It was cooked perfectly, juicy and tender. The char marks didn’t taste burned; they tasted grilled; I was skeptical until I actually tasted it. The meat fell off the bone and was delicious. There could have been a lot more flavor, though. Next time, I will make my marinade more potent and let the chicken marinate for at least 24 hours.
Piri Piri Spatchcocked Chicken was a hit and a lot easier than I thought! I’m going to try roasting a whole spatchcocked chicken next with lots of butter and herbs under the skin. Did I mention how much I love roasted and grilled chicken…yes, at least a dozen times.