Leave that beer can in the fridge because once you taste the tenderness and flavor of a butterflied (aka Spatchcock) chicken it will be hard to cook a bird any other way. Butterflying the chicken does two main things. First it allows for a more even heat by eliminating that inner cavity. Second, it exposes the tender meat to be seasoned better and allows that smoker to penetrate easier.

I like to remove the wings and freeze them for chicken wings, this is optional and my personal preference.

1. Rinse the bird
2. Remove any excess fat especially around the neck and tail
3. With a sharp pair of kitchen sheers, cut along both sides of the backbone.
4. Spread the bird out.
5. Locate the breast bone. With a sharp knife, cut along both sides of the lower portion.
6. Then cut through the cartilage at the top of the breast bone and pull it out.

Your done! Enjoy

Check out my video below,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf2saDUkTHQ

Handy little chart to get you started on where each cut comes from – Provided by the National Livestock and Meat Board.

As a backyard chef, cleanliness is vital to the cooking efficiency and longevity of you grill. A clean grate is essential to keep you food from sticking. You wouldn’t use a dirty pan indoors, so why use a dirty grate outdoors. Here are some tips to cleaning you outdoor grill.

Cleaning the grate,

1. Make sure the grill is hot, this helps loosen and burn off some of the stuck bits.
2. Use the scraper end to get off the large bits.
3. Then flip the brush over and hit the grate with wire end, being sure to put enough pressure so the metal bristles can loosen any stubborn leftovers.
4. Use the side scraper to get those hard to reach pieces in between the grates.
5. Lower or turn off the grill
6. Finally with a vegetable oil soaked paper towel, wipe the grates clean or spray with a non-stick cooking spray.
7. Your grill is now ready for your next grilling adventure.

Now that your grate is clean, you can wipe down the exterior with a grill cleaning solution or some all purpose kitchen cleaner.

If you are using charcoal, empty the ash pan after the grill has cooled off. Also if you grill has a grease trap be sure to empty it.

The Minion Method is a popular way to light you charcoal for smoking. The basic idea is a small amount of lit coals provide enough heat for smoking while slowly lighting the underlying layer of coals. This allows you to keep the heat down and have enough fuel for long cooks (12+ hours). This method is essential in Ugly Drum Smokers which lack a charcoal refilling door. Using this method in your UDS can help you achieve long cooks, which is why many love the UDS, set in and forget it.

1. Place 90% of your charcoal in the firebox. Optional: You can also mix in chunks of flavoring woods (Hickory, Apple, Pecan …) to the unlit coals
2. Light the remaining 10% in a chimney starter.
3. Pour the hot coals on top of the unlit coals.

Brining has been a longtime method used by some of the worlds top chefs to inject flavor and add moisture to meat. In a brine, the salt actually opens up the cells in the meat, allowing them to hold more water.

Unlike a marinade, which only imparts flavor to the outermost meat, a actually brine draws in the salt and other added flavorings all the way to the bone.

Here is the basic brine recipe:

1 gallon of water
1 cup of salt
1/2 cup of sugar

Make sure brine is cold before placing the meat in it. Brine for 3-36 hrs. in the refrigerator depending on the thickness of meat, keeping the meat fully submerged in the solution.

• Boneless Chicken Breasts, Pork Chops: 2 hrs.
• 2 lbs: 4-6 hrs.
• 3-4 lbs: 6-8 hrs.
• Whole Chicken: 12 hrs.
• Small Whole Turkey: 12-24 hrs.
• Large Whole Turkey: 24-36 hrs.

You can add flavors like herbs, chile, citrus and additional sugar to the basic brine recipe to achieve different results.

TIP: To adjust the salty flavor in the meat, change the brine time instead of altering the salt content in the recipe.

Here are some chicken drumsticks I brined and smoked last weekend. I added chile flake and garlic at some lemon to the basic brine recipe.

Unfortunately I missed the final product photos, but the drums turned out great and had plenty of moisture.

Starting charcoal has always been a pain and one of the biggest reasons people turn to gas as opposed to charcoal grills. Using lighter fluid, paraffin wax cubes, presoaked charcoal briquettes and other methods which impart their foul flavor into the charcoal is unnecessary.

In my opinion the simplest and cleanest method to light them coals is to use a chimney starter (cost under $15).

How to Use a Chimney Charcoal Starter:

• Place old newspaper in the bottom compartment. TIP: I use pieces of the charcoal bag, tear a small piece from the top of the bag, then separate the layers. (see pictures below)
• Place on the grill for other safe area away from combustibles.
• Fill chimney with you favorite brand charcoal lump or briquettes.
• Ignite the paper underneath with a match or lighter. TIP: I use a Bernzomatic Auto Torch as a convenient alternative to a lighter. Its has been my favorite time saving products and I am still using the first bottle of propane.
• Wait 10-15 minutes until the top layer of charcoal begins to turn white.
• Pour in the grill or the smoker and enjoy the flavor of real wood.

I hope that helps.

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A well known method for cooking ribs is the 3-2-1. Basically it involves the ribs for 3 hours at 225-250 F, allowing the ribs to firm up and take in the smoke. Then you wrap the ribs in tin foil placing them back on the smoker, allowing them to continue to cook without taking in to much smoke flavor. The final stage you unwrap the racks placing them back on the smoker to firm up. Usually if you are going to glaze the racks with sauce the last 15-30 minutes of the cook is ideal.

• 3 hours unwrapped, taking in the smokey flavor
• 2 hours foiled, back on the smoker to tender up
• 1 hour to firm back up after stage two. Sauce 15-30 min before removing.

I find this method works well with whole spare ribs. But if you are cooking St. Louis style spares or baby backs you need to modify the cooking times such as 2-2-1.