iLoveMyBBQ.com team

Having heard loads about how much better a whole chicken tastes if you flatten, or spatchcock it 0 as it is also known, I wanted to give it a try.

We covered ours in the BBQ Cajun Marinade Rub and it tasted incredibly moist and very nice indeed, well worth you giving it a try. The other benefit is that, similar to the BBQ Beer Can Up the Bum Chicken recipe, it is a great visual conversational point for your BBQ as well.

For this recipe you will need the following:

2 Wooden skewers

1 Medium to large chicken (depending on how many you are feeding)

1 Pair of sturdy kitchen scissors

Here is the Step-By-Step guide to flattening, (spatchcock) a whole chicken ready for your BBQ.

Step One - Wash Your hands

Step Two - Remove the chicken from the packaging, cut off the string binding it all together and lay on a chopping board (see pic below)

Step Two

Step Three - Turn the chicken over, so it is resting on the breasts and so the big hole is facing you and with some sturdy scissors, begin cutting alongside the backbone (in the imge below I have started by cutting on the right of the backbone). You will need to crunch through some of the bones, gruesome but worth it!

Step Three

Picture Three A, below, shows one side of the chicken backbone having been cut.

Step Three A

Step Four - Start cutting down the left hand side of the backbone, as you did on step three (but the other side!).

Step Four

Step Five - Remove the backbone, which you have now cut out.

Step Five

Step Six - Turn the chicken over, so the breast is now facing you (upwards). Then, using the heel of your palm, press down firnly on the chicken breast to flatten the chicken. You will hear the ribs of the chicken breaking, don’t worry, it is supposed to make this noise!

Step Seven - Now the chicken is flattened you need to secure it. Get some wooden skewers and push diagonally through the breast into the drumstick and out the other side. As shown in the picture below.

Step Seven

Step Eight - Once the skewers are in you are done. The chicken is now ready to be covered in your favourite marinade.

Step Eight

To cook the Spatchcock chicken place it on the grill of your BBQ on a moderate heat for roughly (based on the size of your bird) 15-20 mins per side.

BBQ Fun!

There is no doubting it, the Guinness BBQ Marinade is the hit of the 2009 BarBeCue season so far. We have had it at every BBQ so far and everyone has raved about it!

We have had so many BBQ’s I have struggled to keep up on here but the last few have involved friends coming round and having a choice of meats.

This weekend we had two BBQ’s and on Saturday night gave the option of the Guinness Marinade Chicken Marinade or the Coca Cole BBQ Steaks Marinade.

Both were an absolute hit but the chicken BBQ recipe got massive praise because it was so tender, juicy and tasty!

I am itching to do the Chicken Beer Can up the Bum BBQ Recipe again soon but word is spreading about the Guinness marinade so it is in hot demand.

The Guinness BBQ Marinade (mainly aimed at Red Meats) is available from Drunkstuff for £4.98

Beer Can up the Bum Chicken

Some time ago we tried a recipe I had read loads about on American based BBQ websites called, “Beer can up the bum chicken”, ok, it sounds a little odd but it is actually really good fun, a great talking point for any big social occasion you are planning a BBQ for and best of all, tastes funking awesome!

You WILL need a Kettle Style BBQ for this.

All you will need for this is (based on catering for 6)

2 x medium sized chickens

1 xWeber Charcoal Chimney Starter

1 x Weber Large Drip Pan

Plenty of charcoal

2 x Cans of Lager (I think the stronger it is the more flavour it adds to the chicken - but we used Fosters)

4 x Tbsp of Cajun Rub (optional)

The Plan:

1. Light your charcoal and let it get itself to temperature

2. Rub the Cajun Rub over your chickens

3. Take a swig out of the cans of lager/beer. Just one swig from each mind, and no monster gulps either!

4. After making sure there is nothing in the carcass of th chicken, place the can into the hole (on both chickens)

Half way through cooking BBQ Beer Can up the Bum

5. Go back to your coals and if at the right temperature (white hot and glowing), push to edges of Kettle BBQ (see pictures to see how we did it).

6. In the middle of the BBQ (0n the same level as the coals, place your Weber drip trays to catch the fat and juices)

7. Place your grill above the coals as normal and then balance your chicken (with can up the bum) on the grill

8. Close the lid, cook for 2 hours for large chickens or a bit less for smaller ones. Your coals will cool after about an hour and you will need new ones so use the Chimney to prepare some new coals and then place in the Kettle BBQ after an hour of cooking.

9.  To check if the Can of Beer up the Bum Chickens are cooked, prod a knife into the thickest part of the chicken and it clear fluid comes out it is done.

10. Tuck in!

Why not let us know how you get on with your Beer Can up the Bum Chicken BBQ Recipe? Maybe had a great variation on this or did something to make it a bit different? let us know by leaving a comment (no need to register or any of that).

Starting point for Beer Can up Bum BBQ Recipe

Cola Steak Recipe

This is simple as they come.

We had a surprise last minute decision to hold an impromptu BBQ and freezer supplies were at a low point so we had to dash out and get some grub.

On the run into Gloucester we remembered that the Farmers Market comes to visit on a Friday and decided to get our meat from there.

We got there so late there was little left to choose from so we were left with the tough decision to buy fillet steak or fillet steak.

Cairo remembered reading about a Coca Cola Steak recipe so we got everything we needed, erm, a few cans of coke and dashed back home.

We left the steaks to marinade for a few hours and then people started arriving. There were a few raised eyebrows at the thought of the coca cola steak recipe but as soon as the meat hit the grill the combined smell of the coca cola and the red wine smoking chips was hella nice.

Steaks only need a few minutes per side on a nice hot grill so in no time whatsoever we were ready to go.

BBQ Coca Cola Steaks Recipe -

Just to clear things up, here is how we did the steaks… simple as anything. Pop the butterfly steaks into a watertight bag and pour coca cola over them. Leave them for up to an hour and then bang them onto the BBQ grill. Bosh

Over the years I have become the accidental master of how to butterfly various poor unsuspecting slabs of meat needed for Barbecue recipes. From prawns and fish through to lamb, beef and chicken, I have successfully taught myself the best way to butterfly them all.

The most common, and in my mind the best, meat that is cut into a butterfly is chicken.

For those who have never heard the term “butterfly” in relation to meat or BBQ recipes, it is when you slice the meat in half but still leave it joined in the centre so that when you fold it out and lay the meat flat it looks like a, you guessed it, Butterfly.

The reason people butterfly the various cuts of meat is because it makes the cooking process easier and ensures no one gets the dreaded BBQ bug. It also helps with the marinade process and make sure your marinade recipe works its way through the entire piece of meat.

When you first try to butterfly a piece of meat it can be a little tricky and even a bit daunting so I thought it would be handy to give you a step by step guide, supported with a little video.

The first thing to do is to find the sharpest knife you can. If you have a sharpener, use it on your chosen knife before you start.

Step one, lay your chicken breast down on the chopping board, if you are right handed, place the chicken breast so the straighter edge of the chicken breast is furthest away from the knife in your right hand.

Step two, place your left hand flat on the top of the chicken breast and hold it firmly.

Step three, take the knife and slice diagonally from the right to the left, pulling down as you go. Don’t worry if you don’t make it right to the left hand edge of the breast, just try and get half way through at least.

Step four, if you have not made it to the left hand side, open the flap of meat you have created and then use the knife to continue slicing, ideally in one fluid movement, until you can fold the meat out into two halves (remembering not to slice it entirely into two pieces) and it looks like a butterfly.

Hey presto you are done and you can now pop the chicken breast, or any other form of meat for that matter, into the marinade recipe you have created.

Below is a video that hopefully shows you how it should work.

How to Butterfly a Chicken Breast