Chicken under a brick Rev. 1

I really like watching America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Country on PBS. This recipe was on there recently. Basically you spatchcock a chicken and put it skin side down into a non-stick skillet to brown. They have replaced the brick that was used to hold it down (to keep the skin in contact with the pan) with a Dutch oven. When the chicken was browned I threw it into the smoker and it turned out great! It is also good in the oven with the potatoes. Anyway, here is the recipe-
3-3.5# chicken so that it will fit in a non-stick skillet. I used a 5# and it fit in mine
Tuck the wings under the body and pat dry (don’t forget to pat dry to get the skin crisp)
Butterfly/Spatchcock the chicken
Press on the breast bone to flatten
Cover in plastic wrap to prevent squirting and pound until flat- if you don’t have a meat pounder you can use a rubber mallet or a small cast iron pan. You want it flat so that it can get good and crisp
Season both sides with salt and pepper
Heat non-stick 12” skillet over medium high heat with 1 T oil
Put skin side down and put a Dutch oven on top of the chicken (covered with foil on the bottom to keep clean) to weigh the chicken down for 20 minutes (or until browned) checking every 5 minutes
This is where I put it in the smoker. If not smoking continue-
Make marinade with little bit of olive oil, 3 cloves minced garlic, 1t fresh thyme or half to 3/4 dry thyme, 2T fresh lemon juice, a little salt and pepper
1.5# red new potatoes cut in half or no bigger than 3/4”
Carefully remove chicken from pan when skin browned and crisp
Drain off excess oil
Put potatoes in pan cut side down (at least mostly) add 1.5 t thyme, a little salt and pepper
Chicken skin side up on top of potatoes
Brush on marinade on top of chicken and put in 450 degrees oven on bottom rack for 10-15 minutes until breast meat hits 160 degrees
Let chicken rest for 10 minutes and return potatoes to oven to finish cooking after giving them a good shake
Add 1 T fresh parsley
Carve chicken cutting breasts in half so that 4 people each get a piece of white and dark
 
Brian - Thanks for sharing.  To this very day I have not yet smoked chicken. I did smoke a turkey, sort of, in my weber back in the 1970s.  Tasty but the gravy was too smokey.  I spatchcock chicken fairly regularly and use indirect heat on the grill. Very tasty. I may give your method a shot but I have a question.  After smoking, is the skin still crispy or just sort of crispy?
 
Cover in plastic wrap to prevent squirting and pound until flat- if you don’t have a meat pounder you can use a rubber mallet or a small cast iron pan. You want it flat so that it can get good and crisp

So, do you pound the whole bird; i.e., legs, thighs, and wings?

I'm curious about this recipe because I bought a chicken last week to put on the rotisserie and when I opened up the plastic bag it was in, it looked like it had been run over by something -- legs and thighs broken, skin torn away from breast, etc.  There's no way I could rotisserie cook that bird.  I should have taken it back, but I kept it, thinking it might be a candidate for my first attempt at smoking a chicken, and this sounds like a good approach to try.
 
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