Have you cooked chicken and been disappointed with rubbery skin? Have you tried hacks and tricks like using baking soda on the chicken to get that crispy result? What if I told you there was a surefire way to get crispy skin every time?! Well, you have come to the right place as I walk you through my method to get the crispiest chicken skin on your Big Green Egg every time. Now sit back, grab an ice cold PBR, and enjoy this post for Crispy Spatchcock Chicken on the Big Green Egg.
Crispy Spatchcock Chicken on the Big Green Egg
For this post I cooked two chickens side by side to test two different methods to get the skin crispy. I will skip to the end and tell you the dry brined bird produced superior results. With that said let’s get started!
First, spatchcock the chicken by removing the backbone. To do this, take a sharp knife and cut along each side of the chicken’s backbone.
Once the backbone has been removed, flip the bird over, and press down breaking the breast plate. This will get the bird to lay completely flat.
For the dry brined chicken, sprinkle kosher salt all over the surface of the chicken’s skin. Salting the skin this way helps to denature the bird but it also pulls out all the moisture thus drying the skin. Once the skin side has been salted, place on a wire rack on top of a baking sheet, then in to the fridge (uncovered) overnight.
24 hours later remove the bird from your refrigerator. You will notice the skin is dark yellow and very dry. This is what you want and the SECRET to crispy skin.
Apply a little hot sauce to each side of the bird as a binder, then sprinkle generously with paprika, salt and black pepper. You can also use your favorite BBQ rub too.
Crispy Spatchcock Chicken on the Big Green Egg
Setup your Big Green Egg for indirect cooking, with one lump of smoking wood (I used hickory), and preheat to 350°.
Once the Big Green Egg is set and you see clean smoke, place the chicken inside. I am using the EGGspander
which raises the cooking surface to the felt line. I find that cooking the bird higher in the dome helps with crispy skin.
Leave the bird undisturbed in the Big Green Egg for an hour before checking. At that point you should see beautiful color forming on the chicken and when you touch the surface, crispy skin! At the 1 hour 20 minute mark the chicken probed at 165° in the breast (using my ThermoPop) which means it is done.
Comparing the 2 chickens, the dry brined bird was far and above crispier than its counterpart. Time to carve up and serve with some of my homemade Spicy Alabama White BBQ Sauce.
Enjoy this recipe and technique everyone… well worth the prep and effort!
Crispy Spatchcock Chicken on the Big Green Egg
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken 4-5 lbs
- 1 Tbs Kosher Salt
- 1 Tsp hot sauce
- 2 Tbs of your favorite BBQ Rub or my mix of salt, pepper, paprika
Instructions
- The day before you plan to cook, take the chicken out of the packaging
- Wipe down the bird with paper towels to dry skin off
- Remove the backbone and press down to break the breast plate
- Lay the chicken flat on a wire rack on top of a baking sheet
- Salt the skin of the chicken
- Place in the refrigerator uncovered overnight
- The next day preheat your Big Green Egg to 350° using an indirect setup
- Use 1 chunk of smoking wood
- Take the chicken out of the fridge and slather with a little hot sauce then apply rub
- Place the bird in to the Big Green Egg snd let cook for 1 hour 20 minutes
- When temp probe measures 165° in the breast it is time to pull
- Rest 5 minutes, carve, and enjoy
How much salt do you recommend for the brine? Your recipe recommends a 1 TBPS of kosher salt, but Basics with Babish covers his completely in salt if you watch his video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABtt5y-maO4&t=431s
Not sure about Babish but I lightly salt just the skin… this is more of a trick to get the skin crispy.
Followed your recipe exactly..skin did not come out crisp.
Sorry brother… it happens
Doing this tomorrow, but I don’t have the Eggspander.
Can I cook this without it?
Yes of course as long as you have the ConvEGGtor you are good to go!
Should the ConvEGGtor legs be up or down?
Up. Standard indirect setup.
Is the point of adding the hot sauce to just be a binder, or to provide flavor? Can I use another binder that won’t ruin the crispy skin? I’m cooking for someone allergic to chili powder and most every type of pepper besides bell peppers. Thanks!
You can use olive oil or even a small amount of yellow mustard. It’s purpose is to bind the seasoning to the skin before cooking.
When cooking do I close the lid?
yes
Chris, this is mostly a general comment but thanks for turning me into a fake pit master.
Well, you are welcome ?
can I do this and NOT let it sit overnight.
Can I do it today, eat it tonight, and still get some crispy skin on my spatchcock chicken?
Give it a shot and report back with results!
It was perfect! I seasoned it and made sure it was super dry. Sat on my kitchen counter for about 2 hours. Then green egg at 350 degrees and the skin was very crispy and delish. Now you know!
Thanks for sharing the results!
Hi Chris, just discovered your blog while snooping to perfect my cold smoked salmon technique.
In this chicken post, you start off saying you are trying 2 chicks. One, dry brined overnight with salt…and the other? I’m guessing just natural!? But did you spatchcock it and just dry it or did you skip all that and just spatchcock and straight to the BGE.
I have been spatchcocking for a while and roast on a Kanka Grill (Kankagrill.com) on open pit fire for a few years. I normally brine my chicks 2-2 1/2 hours (no more!) in buttermilk prior to roasting.
I am wondering if I could combine my method with yours. I’m thinking; salting the skin, dry overnight, buttermilk bath, rinse/pat dry, rub and roast. What would be your thought on this?
Thanks a bunch ??
Dan
Thank you. Will be trying it soon
Hey Dan. The other I just spatchcocked and cooked right away. I’d be interested in seeing the results of the combined method. I love using buttermilk as part of a marinade but am not sure it will produce the crispy skin. Let us know!
Did you use the plate setter for indirect?
Yes
Hey Chris. Thanks for this…
Question – did I miss a step where you removed the salt after taking it out of w fridge?
While my skin was crispy, the meat was WAY too salty…
Thx
Do not wash the salt off as it will defeat the purpose of the dry brine. The only thing I can think of is you may have used too much salt for the dry brine?
First time using this recipe and it will definitely not be the last! I salted both sides of the bird and only let it sit in the fridge for about 16 hours. However, the skin turned out crispy and delicious. I used Frank’s Red Hot sauce as the binder and Badia Southern Blend Poultry Seasoning for the rub. The timing in the recipe was dead on for me. I held the temp in the Big Green Egg between 350 and 360 F. The skin was crispy and delicious. The meat was really flavorful and very juicy. The leg turned out to be my favorite part and I’ve never been too keen on legs. Follow the recipe and you will not be disappointed! Thank you for this recipe.
Thank you for the kind words!
This is an outstanding recipe…We’ve used it 4 times, and it’s one of our favs!!!
Thanks for the comment! I am so happy this works for you 🙂
Hi, would you share your recipe for your “mix of salt, pepper, paprika”? Since, I am not sure if I should be attempting to use my favorite rub that has sugar in it, for fear of burning the sugar.
Thanks!
¼ cup Diamond kosher salt
2 Tbsp sweet or smoked paprika
2 Tbsp ground black pepper
2 tsp dark chili powder
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp granulated garlic
½ tsp cayenne pepper
That was by far the best chicken we have ever had! The only difference is it stood in the fridge with the dry brine for only 6 hours because I didn’t find this recipe until today but even so it was delicious. The most tender breast part I’ve ever had. Thank you and I will pass this one on.
Thanks for the kind note!
This recipe is the titties. Have used it 5-6 times with Meat Church rub and it was absolutely delightful
A better compliment cannot be made… thank you 🙏
I follow your recipe regarding the salt and pepper and leaving it in the fridge up to overnight if possible but a lot of times it just put it in the fridge in the morning and leave it as long as I can. I mix my rub of choice with a stick of softened butter. I work the butter mixture between the skin and meat. The remaining butter mixture I add to the outside of the bird. Toss him in the egg and the meat is juicy and the skin crispy.
I love what you’re doing here!
Hi Chris,
Question on setup for 350 indirect. Recently tried that temp indirect for the first time and I feel like I had to get my fire SO hot to get 350 dome (large egg) with the half moon conveggtor plates in. The underside of my protein was a little more charred than I’d prefer as a result (gave “turbo” ribs a shot). Good news is I basically clean burned my fire box! Just wondering if that’s normal for a higher temp indirect. Thanks for sharing all your eggspertise!
Sounds like you got the temp too high. My guidance for you is to start the charcoal earlier and slowly get to the desired temp of 350°. Once you get to that temp and hold, you shouldn’t have the issues you’re describing. I always start my jump at least an hour before cooking so I’m in control of the heat and not the other way around. Hope this helps!
Thanks for the response! I’ll give that a shot.
Good afternoon, I want to follow you recipe but using bone in skin on chicken breast. Your thoughts, thank you.
Exactly the same process outlined in the recipe just will take less time. Cook until breast measures 165°F and you’ll be good to go!
i have tried this 3 times.perfect every time and my family loves it
So happy you like this!
I have made this 3X now since finding your video. It is AHHHHHMAZING!! And the sauce brings out the moaning!!!
Thanks for taking the time to leave such a nice comment ☺️
Just fixed this spatchcock chicken recipe for the second time. Turned out amazing again. Won’t fix chicken any other way. I used smoked paprika this time for a little extra smoky flavor with hickory wood. For those not so inclined to use a knife for the spatchcocking, use a strong scissors like I did, works well enough. Anyone who makes this recipe and does not use the Alabama white sauce, shame on you. Perfect compliment to poultry or pork!
Thanks for taking the time to leave such a kind note 🙏