Primal Yardbird (Updated … you need to see this.)

This first section of this post is additional information (video) and a new picture. Why?

My original post concerned grilling a whole chicken. After posting April Walker aptly suggested that I ‘spatchcock’ my whole chickens. …. yes that is a REAL word and it’s a most AWESOME THING!

This chicken was grilled after Spatchcocking. MUCH EASIER!

In a nutshell it’s removing the chicken’s spine and sternum  … BUT WAIT!!!

I know that sounds complicated and time consuming …. I assure you, it is not.
@paleoeater on twitter sent me this AWESOME VIDEO (click this link) … check it out. It shows how easy Spatchcocking is….  this guy spatchcocks a chicken in less than 4 mins.

AND it makes cooking a chicken so EASY!   I will NEVER buy chicken breasts again.

FYI – I did not use ‘shears’ I simply used a heavy duty kitchen knife… no problems.

Couple of notes…

1. I do NOT cut off any of the fat or fatty skin from the chicken… I cook and eat it.

2.  I also cut off the chicken wings, I cooked them separately on the grill.  I wanted to eat them once they were done… otherwise they would over cook… can’t let that happen! :)

3.  I did cook and I ate all the giblets (offal), sternum and back bone.  DON’T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT!!!  LOL!

Especially the bony parts … I cooked very well until they became almost crunchy … very tasty and nutritious!!!

The only real negative I see (and hear) … is the sound of all that delicious and tasty chicken fat falling onto the hot coals. :(

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Original Post

I know what you are thinking … grilled chicken … big hoopty doo!  :)

And I would agree except … this was a whole chicken, something I had not tried before.

I really enjoyed ‘cooking a bird like grok’ … I know I know, Grok did not have a gas grill 10,000 years ago…. but cooking a ‘fowl’ over an open flame was cool. :)

** As always, click on the pictures to enlarge them! 

Is this not beautimous?

 Before I begin …

From a taste standpoint this ‘experience’ was a total win/win…. the chicken tasted FANTASTIC.

If you are preparing this for a family ‘sit down’ dinner … I would NOT recommend grilling a whole chicken.  Cut it up into parts or purchase breasts or thighs etc.

I would recommend this method if you are having an outdoor gathering with other foods available and the chicken was more of a ‘snack’  as opposed to the main course.

Some have patience and some don’t. I fall in the latter category. I normally have very little patience … and even less when I am hungry.   I do not recommend grilling a whole chicken if you are hungry; I had been fasting all day and grilling this ‘bird’ took about an hour.

I was starving and smelling the ‘bird’ cooking … was too MUCH for me.  :)

Steps

1.  Opening up the chicken – I split the chicken’s breasts opening it up as you can see below. This is very simple and requires minimal effort.

Split the Bird down the middle, splitting the breasts.

2. Seasoning – I coated the entire chicken with Texas Pete and then added Tony Chachere’s and Black Pepper.

Note: I had a brush and a small bowl of Extra Virgin Olive Oil beside the grill, I used this to coat the chicken if it became too dry and/or began to stick.

3) I placed the chicken ‘skin side’ down on the grill. I rotated several times in the first 20 minutes of cooking.  At this time I noticed…. I was getting VERY HUNGRY (I had fasted all day) and I was about to go open sardines  when I noticed the chicken wings were apparently ‘ready to eat’…. apparently.

See the picture below???? Does it NOT look FANTABULOUS? ….

This is the last picture before a FEEDING FRENZY began.  :)

Big Mistake - The chicken wings appeared to be ready and … I ate them.   It tasted soooo goood!!!  Grilled chicken wings… are you KIDDING ME! :) ….

The problem? …  the wings did NOT sate me … it seemed to only increase my appetite and they were not entirely done….

I have never been one to cook my food to death. I love steaks rare/medium rare.  I generally like my chicken and pork ‘done’ … but if I err I like to err on them being ‘less than completely cooked’.  Having said that… when I cooked this chicken, I ate meat that was far less done than I would have liked.

I was so hungry, I ate many mouthfuls of chicken that were not ‘entirely’ cooked.  I’ll leave out the details but  just know …. I ate some chicken that was not entirely done.

AND… I SUFFERED NO Gastro/Intestinal distress…. not condoning it…just ‘reporting’.  :)

All would have been FINE if at that point I’d eaten sardines … but I did not.

The skin looked nice and golden … and ready to eat… so I ate it…. most of it anyway.

At this point I was still not sated … but the ‘giblets’ appeared to be ready to eat.  I had seasoned and skewered them … they were the next to be consumed.   Below is a picture of the giblets still skewered.  If you notice…apparently this chicken had two hearts. :)

After eating the wings, drum sticks, skin and now giblets … you’d think I would be sated enough to stop eating… you would be wrong. :)

I was still hungry and began eating the ‘back meat’,  one of the chicken thighs and one of the breast.

At this point, the chicken had been cooking for an hour and was completely cooked.

The only thing left for my wife to eat …. a chicken thigh and a chicken breast.

IT WAS GREAT PRIMAL FUN!!!     I’m sure it was something National Geographic would have wanted to film …  a human in a shark-like feeding frenzy. :)

Summary:

I did have fun and enjoyed the experience thoroughly… although I did have a few anxious hours  waiting to see if I would get food poisoning. LOL!

Just to summarize…  throwing a whole chicken on the grill and eating it can be fun and definitely delicious… just don’t do it hungry OR make sure you are fully sated before cooking. :)

Note:  Friend April Walker suggested ‘spatchcocking’ the chicken as a way to speed up the cooking process.  Spatchcocking is removing the spine and sternum of the bird/fowl and flattening for cooking.  Here is a wikipedia article on Spatchcocking. :)

Here is my Diabetes Warrior Info:

My Diabetes Meal Plan ( a true diabetes diet, not like most of those promoted by American Diabetes Association.

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