Chef John's Chicken Under a Brick

Great instructions for how to cook a spatchcocked bird under clay bricks. There is, however, one crucial piece of info that would appear to have been inadvertently omitted in the written recipe. Fortunately, it was included in the video. The temperature that the oven must be preheated to is 425 degrees. Other than that omission, everything else is spot-on. If you're unsure how to spatchcock your bird, the video covers that. It's helpful to see a demonstration if you've never done it before. Note that although it's possible to do with a meat cleaver and/or a pair of kitchen shears, I'd strongly recommend that you invest in a pair of poultry shears, which have the heft and blade to cut through chicken bones easily. Save yourself some frustration and get the right tool for the job. This technique is excellent for roasting, as in this recipe, or cooking on the grill. The chicken cooks in a fraction of the time. Actually, you can even cook your Thanksgiving turkey this way. It's fast, easy, moist and tender. As you can see, once you get those poultry shears, you'll make liberal use of them.

Instead of bricks, I just use another heavy cast iron skillet for weight, preheating both in a 425 oven until screaming hot. This always turns out perfectly, regardless of which spice mixture I rub on the chicken the night before.

I find garden shears, the kind used to cut flowers, the best for cutting through chicken bones/ribs. Hor skillwr necessarty to keep skin from sticking to pan. You can put skillet an grill as well. You can do this as well with a rotissary chicken from the supermarket! The back bone comes out without cutting. And the skin will crisp up in the pan.

I only ever want to make chicken this way again!!! I seasoned with garlic lemon Rosemary + butter but followed recipe method. Divine!!!!

Absolutely Delicious and worth making over again and again. Bought the clay bricks at HomeDepot for 49 cents each and used my 12 inch cast iron skillet and everything turned out just like the video. The texture and crispy thin skin was perfect. Enjoyed every bite.

Made it twice. Heated the bricks and the pan in the oven ahead of time. Will keep making this recipe.

I have to give this recipe 5 star's. Some people may disagree, but that's why we are all different. This is the best chicken I have ever had. I made this just as recipe stated, and it was awesome. Many Thanks Chef John for posting this.

What a great idea! It was so different, I just HAD to try it. We live in a condo, so I went to a building centre to buy 2 bricks (good conversation starter). I've always spatchcocked chicken with a boning knife, but I must admit, kitchen shears ARE easier. The brick trick worked perfectly, though mine was a bit slippery, since I placed a sheet of silicone paper between the aluminum foil-wrapped bricks and the chicken (I never cook with/on aluminum). I don't use cast iron anymore (glass cooktop), so I thought I'd use my heavy 14" stainless sauté pan... but it was NOT large enough, so I used a shallow enamelled (rectangular) roasting pan, lined with more silicone paper, and that worked beautifully. If I can find a cast iron pan that is rectangular, I would buy it, just for this purpose. It was that good! Thanks, Chef John! :)

Chef John straight up on this one....Chicken stayed moist and skin was crispy, just like this ol' boy likes it......in a word numanum will do again.

Excellent!! I made this for company tonight and everyone loved it! No one heard of spatchcock chicken before so it was a great conversation piece (plus I love saying spatchcock:) I have made spatchcock chicken before using a different method; both are fantastic. I love using my cast iron skillet, however, I did not have bricks so I used another cast iron pan as my weight. Definitely watch the video! I decided to add sliced onion & minced garlic to the skillet prior to roasting the chicken in the oven. While the chicken was resting I quickly made a gravy out of the drippings using 1/4 c chicken broth & 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch. Thank you again Chef John!

Cooked this out on a grill camping . It turned out great but I did not use a brick. but did cut it like he said and it seemed easier than I thought to do it. we ate half of it when it and deboned ithe other half and added bbq sauce and put in foil to heat up slowly on the fire. Thank you

Family Loved this! Followed recipe exactly using a cast iron skillet. The chicken was so juicy-will make this again and again

Never heard of Spatchcocked chicken before but extremely glad I saw this from Chef John. I used a cast-iron skillet and followed the instructions and this was some of the best chicken I have ever had along with the easy clean-up for a chicken meal and it was simply marvelous!

Just the biggest fan of Chef John. We made it exactly as he said except we had to cook longer because we had a 5 1/2 pound chicken so cooked about 10 minutes longer.

Very good! I will make again. I would like to try it on the outdoor grill.

I used Kansas City Style Seasoning & pepper since I didn't have the recommended seasoning....chicken was really good.

This is very good, like to suggest you put the chicken in the oven and then out bricks on it due to heavy weight. This is very flavorful, juicy with the skin exactly like the video. I found it difficult to get that back bone cut as easily as John's, but I probably will the next time. My form was not as nice looking in the end, but that beautiful crunchy color was, enjoy John's dry humor. His videos are great he has a Super Bowl wing recipe that turns out exactly like his and it is phenomenal!

This was great. I used two chicken legs and YUM!!! This one that I saved and will have gain. Chef john has another winner.

I followed the directions for preparing the chicken and seasoning. But i cooked it on the grill and used my pre-heated salt block instead of bricks. it took about 25 minutes over medium heat and I can't remember having chicken that good in a long time.

I had a 5 lb organic chicken so increased the bake time. Didn’t have bricks so I used another cast iron pan on top with my potatoes in it (multi tasking!). Traffic was bad so family got here late but it held up fine on top of the stove under foil. The grandkids ate several helpings. It truly is moist!!! I saved the back & wing tips in the freezer for bone broth. No waste here

the range of cooking times recommended by Chef John were on the low side. Err on the high side.

I will make this again and again. Crispy skin and very juicy chicken. Five stars from my wife too.

I will definitely make this delicious dish again! It was so interesting to use the bricks and it comes out nice and crispy on the outside and tender and moist on the inside. Chef John's video was very thorough and also entertaining and informative.

Yum.

Wonderful recipe. Followed recipe exactly. Excellent results. Just be careful with that extremely hot cast iron skillet. Rave reviews for this one.

Very yummy!

This is a wonderful way to fix a whole chicken! I followed the recipe to the letter, except for the broiling, which I will do the next time. The best test for us was the breast meat, which was tender and juicy and cooked to perfection. Even the leftovers were. Fixed it in a cast iron pan and took it out at exactly 165°. I added about 1/2 cup chicken broth to the pan juices and it made a small amount of sauce, just enough. Thanks, Chef John.

First time I've ever cooked a whole chicken. Followed the recipe to a "t" (although as someone else mentioned, you have to watch the video to find out that you need to set the oven to 425 degrees) and the result was GLORIOUS!!! Perfectly cooked, juicy, tender, delicious....

I made no changes. It was good but not what I expected but I will make again and hope for a better result. I liked that it cooked quickly and was moist. The skin peeled off in a large part when I pulled it out of the pan, so I was disappointed aobut that.

Very Good

Kept the cooking instructions as written and the bird was great. Cast iron skillet(s) should be your go-to; other variables I've read in the reviews might be to your liking, but skillets worked for me. Overnight marinade of rosemary, garlic and basil was my spice of choice, but this recipe has scads of spice variables for your imagination. Take the pan juices and make a nice sauce for potatoes, rice or noodles.

2nd time I’ve made this masterpiece! I don’t have bricks so use my dutch oven underside (it’s heavy!) wrapped with foil for the weight. My husband loves this method of roasting chicken, as do I! Thank you Chef John.

One of my favorite ways to prepare chicken. And it's a great excuse to go out and get that over-sized cast iron skillet. I went big and got a 13 inch one and can do bigger birds than the recipe; just calculate a little longer cook time according to weight. And Chef John is right, that last step under the hot broiler makes it perfect.

This was really good and fun/different to make. **But one major change, Do NOT put heat on high....I did this following directions and the bird / skin practically turned black...smoke all over the kitchen, fire alarm went off...the meat cooked fine needing at least another 15 minutes after removing bricks...but the skin had an off putting charred burnt taste. I am thinking med -high is probably the way to go Also, watch seasoning....too much salt and you will wake up in the middle of the night downing water. Served with mashed potatoes and beat salad....YUM!

I learned about spatchcocking - so that's cool. The chicken tastes great too, but not so sure it was worth the effort to basically shorten cooking time slightly and add a crisper skin. Fun 'show meal' if you have a couple friends over because it is not a common method. My wife and kids were curious and amused - and it sparked some fun conversation while the chicken roasted.

yum and done,....recommend.

Just didn't use the bricks. Split the bird by cutting out the spine with gardening shears. Patted the bird dry, sprinkled my seasoning and let it sit for 1/2 hour. Lightly oiled then reseasoned and dropped bird in vary hot cast iron skillet and placed in oven. All other steps were per the recipe. Very tender with crisp skin and juicy meat. Wife demands that I make this one again! Now that is high praise for me!