Grilling Notes: Spatch-Cocked Saturday - Heffer Dust & Alabama White Sauce, (Smoked) - 22 May 2021

Sscottfitz

Well-known member
Messages
117
Location
Hot Springs Village, Arkansas
Grill(s) owned
  1. Trailblazer
  2. Bullseye
A NEW variation on an old theme......... this Trailblazer cook is inspired by a Meat Church video and recipe for a rubbed Whole (Spatchcocked) Chicken, smoked, & cooked, THEN basted (immediately after being pulled from the smoker) in an Alabama White Sauce. If it goes well, we see this also becoming our next "Pizza Toping Experiment for the Bullseye.

  • Grill Location: Hot Springs Village, AR.; 34 37 60.0N 92 54 55.4W - first day in a week without rain or air that you wear.....
  • Weather at time of Grill: Partly Cloudy to Cloudy, ~steady breeze from SSE at ~8 MPH, Temp ~80F, Humidity 62%
  • Total Grill Time: ~1 Hr. 14 Min (14:51 -16:05 CDT)
  • Total Event Time: ~2.5X Hrs (making Alabama White Sauce, Spatchcocking the Chicken, seasoning, smoking, cooking, & plating)
  • Grill Plates: No
  • Grill Matt: Yes we use it all the time for a whole chicken cook.
  • Temp Probes: Yes x 1 for the higher heat cook portion of the cook
  • Pellets Used: RecTeq Ultimate Blend Note: Down to my last bag, gonna have to make a decision on WHAT to try next.

  • Meat & Meat Prep
    • Meat: 1 ea. small whole “young” chicken - 5.5 lbs - Brookshire's (just outside Hot Springs Village) - and yes, although we live in the largest gated community in the US, we have no place "inside the gates", to buy groceries......not a complaint (we were aware of that before we decided to retire here), just an observation, maybe a "slight vent"....<grin>
    • Total Meat Prep Time: ~15 min spatchcocking, and rub application (Heffer Dust), also include making the Alabama White Sauce (our first attempt, using the Meat Church recipe. NOTE: If you've never tried the Heffer Dust on chicken, I recommend you give it a try, especially if you are wanting a "pepper forward" rub.
    • Meat on at ~15:00 CDT, Smoked for ~30 min (15:00 - 15:30 CDT), Cooked for another 26 min to get it up to ~165 F target temp.
      • Chicken temp at the end of smoking period was ~84 F
  • Sides:
    • Roasted Zucchini Boats, filled with a zucchini guts, onions, panko bread, parmesan cheese, & chicken broth, with a Mozzarella cheese topping - Oven Roasted at (350 F)
    • Risotto - prepared with Butter, Olive Oil, Red Onions, White Wine, Salt & Pepper (Skillet cooked on the Range)

Misc Grill Observations - all times are CDT
  • Grill configured with the Spatchcocked Chicken on a Grill Mat, everything else was using the OEM provided components.
  • Grill Start to Target Temp Smoke: 81 F to Smoke 180 F ~6 min (14:51 - 14:57 CDT)
  • Grill Smoke Setting (180 F) to 375 F: ~8 min (15:30 - 15:38 CDT)
  • Grill set to 375 F to get Chicken temps up to 165 F - temp probe introduced during this portion of the cook - temp probe set into the largest/thickest breast - temp prob recorded 166 F at the end of the cook.

General Comments:

  • I'm of the firm belief that spatchcocking gives us our best overall cook results for a whole bird, I'm sure there are differing opinions, but it seems to work best for us.
  • We were both very happy with our first attempt at the Alabama White Sauce (AWS) - it WILL be a key player in this coming Friday's pizza experiment.
  • In addition to basting the chicken with the AWS, it was also used as a "per bite drizzle" - very tasty!
  • Here is the link to the "Meat Church Cook" on Youtube:
 

Attachments

  • Spatchcocking the Chicken 20210522.jpeg
    Spatchcocking the Chicken 20210522.jpeg
    1.6 MB · Views: 124
  • Spatchcocked Chicken Rubbed 20210522.jpeg
    Spatchcocked Chicken Rubbed 20210522.jpeg
    1.9 MB · Views: 85
  • Chicken on for Smoking 20210522.jpeg
    Chicken on for Smoking 20210522.jpeg
    2.1 MB · Views: 80
  • Chicken Smoke to Cook w Probe 20210522.jpeg
    Chicken Smoke to Cook w Probe 20210522.jpeg
    1.2 MB · Views: 90
  • Pre Cook Zuchinni Boats 20210522.jpeg
    Pre Cook Zuchinni Boats 20210522.jpeg
    2 MB · Views: 73
  • Basting with AWS 20210522.jpeg
    Basting with AWS 20210522.jpeg
    2.8 MB · Views: 74
  • Just Basted Chicken 20210522.jpeg
    Just Basted Chicken 20210522.jpeg
    1.6 MB · Views: 83
  • Dinner Ready for Plating 20210522.jpeg
    Dinner Ready for Plating 20210522.jpeg
    2.8 MB · Views: 85
  • Plated AWS Chicken 20210522.jpeg
    Plated AWS Chicken 20210522.jpeg
    2.4 MB · Views: 80
  • CU Plated AWS Chicken Meal 20210522.jpeg
    CU Plated AWS Chicken Meal 20210522.jpeg
    3.9 MB · Views: 93

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