Ask-A-Butcher
Senior Cook
an upside down chicken (4.5 lbs) cooked at 375° indirect for 1.75 hours over an empty drip pan.
It was brined for 8 hours in a gallon of water with Kosher Salt and Splenda brown sugar. Served with sliced portos, steamed carrots and fried green beans/garlic. Btw, other than the brine, there were NO liquids or spices in the chicken or the sitter. Just a little salt at the table. Best chixie I've et in a long time.
Why did I cook it 'upside' down? When the chicken is placed on a sitter, normally the breast is 'up' and the 'legs' down. The temp in the cooker is hotter near the top of the grill, so therefore whatever is nearer the top cooks quicker. I prefer two different temperatures in my 'done' chicken...around 170° in the breast and 185° in the legs. By reversing the normal process, the legs got hotter than the breast and both were done at the same time. With this particular chicken, I pulled it at 173° breast and 186° thigh....poifect
I took a pair of poultry scissors and cut out about 1-1½" of the neckbone/backbone and then just a quick snip of the end of the breastbone. This enabled the neck opening to be stretched open to accommodate the sitter. It's not necessary to tie the legs, but I thought it looked better than them just flopping around
Here is the sitter I used
It was brined for 8 hours in a gallon of water with Kosher Salt and Splenda brown sugar. Served with sliced portos, steamed carrots and fried green beans/garlic. Btw, other than the brine, there were NO liquids or spices in the chicken or the sitter. Just a little salt at the table. Best chixie I've et in a long time.
Why did I cook it 'upside' down? When the chicken is placed on a sitter, normally the breast is 'up' and the 'legs' down. The temp in the cooker is hotter near the top of the grill, so therefore whatever is nearer the top cooks quicker. I prefer two different temperatures in my 'done' chicken...around 170° in the breast and 185° in the legs. By reversing the normal process, the legs got hotter than the breast and both were done at the same time. With this particular chicken, I pulled it at 173° breast and 186° thigh....poifect
I took a pair of poultry scissors and cut out about 1-1½" of the neckbone/backbone and then just a quick snip of the end of the breastbone. This enabled the neck opening to be stretched open to accommodate the sitter. It's not necessary to tie the legs, but I thought it looked better than them just flopping around
Here is the sitter I used
