We’ve preached for years that the best way to cook poultry is using the spatchcock method. Well today we’ll break it down for you. This is the barbecue 101, must know recipe and technique that everyone who dips their feet into the world of BBQ must know. This is Spactchcock BBQ Chicken.

Spatchcock BBQ Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken
• Sweetwater Spice Apple Chipotle BBQ Bath Brine Concentrate
• R Butts R Smokin’ Butt Kick’n Chicken

For the BBQ chicken sandwich:

• brioche buns
• thick cut bacon
• pickled jalapeños
• shallots, sliced thin
• cotija cheese
• Firebug Grilling Sauce Mild

Instructions:

Using poultry shears, cut along each side of the chicken’s backbone to remove the backbone from the rest of the bird. Discard, or save for chicken stock. Loosen the skin from the chicken, but do not remove.

Place the spatchcock chicken in an 8 qt Briner Bucket. Add one bottle of Sweetwater Spice Apple Chipotle BBQ Bath Brine Concentrate. Add an equal amount of water. Slide the plate into place and lock to keep the chicken submerged. Soak the chicken (in the refrigerator) for 1 hour per pound.

Preheat your Kamado Joe Classic Joe II to 325ºF, set up for direct grilling, with the coals banked to the back of the grill.

Remove the chicken from the brine bath. Remove excess moisture with paper towels. Season with R Butts R Smokin’ Butt Kick’n Chicken underneath and on top of the skin of the chicken.

Add a few chunks of Cattleman’s Grill Competition Smoking Cherry Wood Chunks on the coals and allow to ignite. Put the grill grates back in place.

Place the chicken flat on the grill grates, meat side up, opposite the banked coals. Cook until the internal temperature reaches 160ºF in the breasts, about 75 minutes. Remove from the grill and allow to rest for about 10 minutes.

You might also like: Spatchcock Chicken Quesadillas

To pull the Spatchcock BBQ chicken, simply remove the skin, and begin separating the meat from the bones. It’s easiest to do this by hand, wearing knit gloves covered with nitrile gloves, to protect your hands from the heat. Discard the bones. Finish shredding the chicken. Toss in the juices on the work surface that have escaped the flesh.

To make the sandwich, place the brioche buns and bacon on the hot grill. Toast the buns until lightly brown. Cook bacon to desired doneness.

Place some of the pickled jalapeños and thin sliced shallots on the bottom bun. Top with a heaping serving of pulled chicken. Top the chicken with Firebug Grilling Sauce Mild, then two slices of bacon, a sprinkle of cotija cheese and the top bun.