Whole birdSpatchcock Chicken on a Charcoal Grill
Removing the backbone and flattening the bird solves the fundamental problem with roast chicken: breast and thigh want different temperatures, and a flat bird lets you give them both.
Whole birdJerk Chicken Over Charcoal and Pimento Wood
Real jerk is a smoking technique, not a sauce. The marinade matters, but what makes it jerk is slow smoke over pimento wood.
Thighs and legsTandoori Chicken Without a Tandoor
Two marinades, not one. The first is salt, lemon and chilli cutting into scored meat; the second is yoghurt and spice clinging to the surface. That order is the whole technique.
Whole birdWhole Roast Chicken on Charcoal (Better Than Beer Can)
Beer can chicken does not work, for reasons of basic physics. Here is the whole roast chicken it is trying to be, cooked upright on a proper roasting stand.
Whole birdSmoked Turkey Crown
The best thing that can happen to a turkey is a charcoal fire and a brine. Smoked over apple wood, the meat stays juicy and the skin turns mahogany, and your oven stays free.
The fundamental problem with a whole chicken is that breast and thigh want different final temperatures, 75°C (165°F) and 80°C (175°F) or more. Spatchcocking solves it: remove the backbone, flatten the bird, and you can put the legs nearer the fire and the breast further from it.
It also halves the cooking time and gives you far more skin in contact with the heat, which is the entire point of cooking a bird over charcoal rather than in an oven.
Dry-brine with salt and a little baking powder, uncovered in the fridge overnight. The baking powder raises the skin's pH, which speeds browning and makes it measurably crisper. Use baking powder, not bicarbonate of soda.
At a glance
| Recipe | Method | Grill temp | Cook time | Pull at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spatchcock Chicken on a Charcoal Grill | Two-zone cooking | 135 to 175°C (275 to 350°F) | 50 min | 75°C (165°F) |
| Jerk Chicken Over Charcoal and Pimento Wood | Two-zone cooking | 135 to 175°C (275 to 350°F) | 1 hr 15 min | 80°C (175°F) |
| Tandoori Chicken Without a Tandoor | Two-zone cooking | 230 to 290°C (450 to 550°F) | 35 min | 80°C (175°F) |
| Whole Roast Chicken on Charcoal (Better Than Beer Can) | Two-zone cooking | 135 to 175°C (275 to 350°F) | 1 hr 10 min | 75°C (165°F) |
| Smoked Turkey Crown | Low and slow smoking | 135 to 175°C (275 to 350°F) | 3 hr | 70°C (160°F) |
Techniques used
Low and slow smoking. Hours at 105°C (225°F) to 150°C (300°F) with wood on the coals. Collagen melts, bark forms. Two-zone cooking. Coals banked to one side: a searing zone and a gentle zone in one grill. The single most useful technique in charcoal cooking.
Cookers these suit
Bullet smokers. Drum smokers. Kamado grills. Kettle grills. Tandoor ovens.