Spatchcock Chicken

INSTRUCTIONS

• 1 Compound Butter: Mix together the butter and Stubb's Chicken Marinade. Set aside.
• 2 Preheat your grill or smoker to 325° degrees and add some PECAN wood chunks.  If you are using a gas or charcoal grill, set it up for indirect heat. While the smoker is heating up, it’s time to SPATCHCOCK or 'butterfly' your yard bird.  Start by removing the backbone with a sharp knife or set of kitchen shears.  Once the backbone is removed, turn it over (Bone side down) and press down with 2 hands on the middle of the bird. Press down HARD. We want it to flatten out a little.
• 3 Once the bird is lying flat, loosen the skin by sticking your fingers or a small spatula in between the skin and meat. Make sure you do not rip the skin. Once the skin is loosened over the entire bird, we can mix our compound butter. I know a full stick of butter seems like a lot, but we will lose a lot of it during the cooking process.  Spread the butter in between the loose skin and meat. Apply evenly with your fingers. Once this is done, sprinkle the entire outside of the bird with Stubb's Chicken rub. Don't be shy, sprinkle liberally. Place on a hot smoker and kick back for an hour.
• 4 I let the bird smoke for about an hour before checking the internal temp with my instant read thermometer. We are looking for an internal temperature of 165° degrees and some crispy skin on the exterior. The higher grill temp of 325° degrees will help crisp things up. After about an hour, your bird will start to darken. Once we have reached 165 internally, it's time to pull the bird from the smoker and let it rest. If you would like to add some of your favorite Stubb's Bar-B-Q sauce before removing from the grill, go ahead.  You will lose some crispiness in the skin, but add some great gooey goodness with the sauce. Once the bird has rested for about 15 minutes, DIG IN!
• 5 The legs can be removed with a butter knife at this point. They are super moist and will be dripping tasty bird juice. Use a sharp knife to cut right down the middle of the bird and separate the breast meat from the bone. Or leave it on the bone. Either way is ridiculously tasty. You will be shocked at how juicy and flavorful this bird is due to the compound butter mixture. The skin is also super crispy and will crunch when you take a bite.