Hey Friends,

Are you ready to level up your chicken cooking experience? Let's dive right in and get you the skills and techniques you need to cook a better chicken!

The Science - How I Learned I've Been Cooking My Chicken Wrong All These Years

If you've ever cooked or eaten a chicken with bone-dry breast meat and stringy, "bloody-looking" thighs then you have experienced the challenge of cooking a whole chicken - the various muscle groups cook differently.

I knew that in theory but it never clicked in my head until recently. Cooking a whole chicken was a crapshoot - sometimes fantastic, sometimes not so good but never consistent results.

Here is where I went wrong for so many years. Let's take a look at a whole chicken first for reference:

The legs seem so small, spindly and oddly sized while the breast meat is a big, dense brick.

It would make sense that to "fix" this uneven cooking issue, you need to focus the direct heat on the breast meat since the meat is denser and will take longer to cook. And on the flip-side, because the legs are so small and will cook so much faster, they need to cook slowly over indirect heat so the whole happy chicken reaches 160 degrees at the same time.

Makes sense right?

And when I pulled my roasted chicken from the oven and the breast meat was juicy and perfectly cooked I felt like a rockstar. Bring on the 'grams!

But then we'd sit down to dinner and the thighs would be chewy, bloody and under-done.

What was I doing wrong?

My Lightbulb Moment

The light bulb went off when I read this on a Serious Eats recipe one day (emphasis mine):

"Leg meat, on the other hand, must be cooked to at least 170°F (77°C). OK, that's a bit of an overstatement. It'll still be perfectly edible at around 160°F (71°C) (any lower than that and the abundant connective tissue will remain tough), but the juices will still be pink or red, and it will not have yet reached optimal tenderness. Unlike breast meat, leg meat contains plenty of collagen. Given a high enough temperature (160°F and above), and a long enough time (the 10 minutes it takes the legs to get from 160°F to 170°F), this collagen will begin to convert into rich gelatin, keeping the meat moist and juicy, even after the muscle fibers have shed most of their liquid."

Say what? I'm not trying to make the whole chicken reach the same 160 degree temperature throughout?

A finished chicken actually is best when the breast and thigh meat finish at different temperatures! (And keep in mind that when you remove the meat from the grill, carryover heat will continue to cook the chicken).

Only 150 for breast meat? I know the food police are squirming in their chairs but Kenji says it's OK.

The main point is to implement techniques that tilt the scale in your favor to reach both temperatures simultaneously.

The Technique - Start with the Spatchcock

So we already know that a whole chicken is an awkward size and shape. To ensure even, consistent cooking we need an even, consistent shape.

Cue the spatchcock.

Spatchcocking a chicken simply refers to removing the backbone and pressing it flat. It's easy to do and is essentially the Marie Kondo folding technique of the chicken world :)

If as a CSA member, you only ever implement one chicken-cooking technique, please let it be the spatchcock!

It's easy to do. You will need:

• a whole chicken, patted dry

• a cutting board

• kitchen scissors or poultry shears

How to spatchcock

• Turn chicken breast-side down on the cutting board with the tail facing toward you

• Grasp the tail with your non-dominant hand then with the shears in your dominant hand, start your cut where the base of the tail meets the back.

• Cut from tail all the way up to the top of the neck. Cut along the other side of the tail up to the top of the neck leaving a ~1" strip of backbone.

• Remove backbone (place in a freezer bag to make stock another day). Spread open chicken like a book.

• Flip chicken over so the breast is facing up. Use the palm of your hand to press down in the center of the breast to flatten

You did it! It feels like a little extra work, I know but since it evens out the shape of the bird for more even cooking, you actually end up shaving off some cooking time.

I know that when written out, even the simplest things can seem complicated. If you're still not quite sure how to proceed, Rachel recommends this YouTube video:

The Recipe - Peruvian-Style Chicken

Why it's great:

• Spatchcock chicken cooks evenly

• Mild spice rub packs a huge flavor punch without being spicy (great for kids!)

• Grilled for that smokey flavor and to make the neighbors jealous

• Crispy skin and flavorful, perfectly cooked meat throughout

What's in the spice rub?

• 3 teaspoons kosher salt (recipe calls for 4 but that felt way too salty)

• 2 tablespoons ground cumin

• 2 tablespoons paprika

• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 3 medium cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tablespoon)

• 2 tablespoons white vinegar

• 2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil

Cooking notes

Recipe calls for charcoal grill but we use a gas grill with great success and a hot (450-475 degree) oven works too.

On the grill, cook the chicken breast-side up over indirect heat. Orient the legs to point towards the hotter side of the grill.

Once the breast meat reaches 110 degrees, carefully flip chicken and place, skin side down, on hotter side of grill, with breasts pointed toward cooler side. Cover and cook until skin is crisp and an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of breast registers 145 to 150°F. let rest 10 minutes before serving.

The recipe also includes notes for how to make a spicy, tangy, creamy green sauce but it is totally optional. The grilled chicken is divine in its own right.

GET THE RECIPE

The Gear

An instant read digital thermometer ($20-$30) and a sturdy pair of poultry shears (~$25) are indispensable tools for crafting this recipe.

I know the poultry shears may feel like a uni-tasker in a minimalist world but sometimes the best recipes rely on a fusion between cooking technique and cooking technology.

That's it friend. This concludes Day 2 of our 5 days to cooking *a-freakin-mazing* chicken challenge.

We learned:

• the science behind why cooking a whole chicken is challenging

• why spatchcocking a chicken is worth your time

• the tools of the trade

I also shared my favorite recipe for grilled chicken - Peruvian-style grilled chicken.

I'll be back tomorrow with more science, techniques and recipes to make sure you never suffer from "blah chicken" again. See you then.

Cheers!
Katia