Spatchcocked Chickens in the New REC TEC

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Smokin' in AZ

Gone but not forgotten. RIP
Original poster
OTBS Member
Jul 13, 2019
1,993
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Chandler and Show Low Arizona
Ok folks, I received the New Rec Tec grill on Tuesday and put it together and did a burn in.

So I decided to do a couple of yard birds for the maiden voyage (as secondhand smoker calls it :emoji_laughing:).

I did one with Jeff's Original Rub and one with his Jeff's Texas Rub. I cut out the backbone and removed the skin as my wife and I do not care for the skin, and I felt that getting the rub onto the meat rather than the skin (which we were going to throw out anyway) was a good plan. But beware as the skin holds the thighs and legs onto the bird after spatchcocking :emoji_astonished:.

Here is the Texas Rub
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Here is the Original Rub
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And here they are a couple of hours in with the TBS being applied....it is not a fuzzy picture what you are seeing is the smoke - gotta love the Rec Tec.
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Here it is off the smoker resting for a bit.
First the Texas Rub.


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And the Original Rub

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Here it is plated up with Potato Salad and Broccoli Au Gratin.

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Sue and I tasted both and agreed that we like the Original Rub best.

I used the Lumberjack 100% Pecan pellets for this cook, that I bought from Dicks on sale for $9.99, as part of the 220 pounds of a mixture of 100% Cherry, 100% Pecan, and Competition blend (Got the competition for $8.99). :emoji_laughing:

I ran the smoker up to temp while I prepped the yard birds and then threw them on and lowered to extreme smoke mode for an hour and a half, then went to 235 for the duration and it only took 4 hours to get to 165 degrees internal temp. One was 4.5 lbs and the other was 5 lbs.

Overall it was a pleasure cooking on the Rec Tec, the hardest part of the cook was the yard bird prep.

I put my DOT thermometers in with the ones supplied with the smoker and there was only a few degree difference and it ran rock solid!

Sunday I am going to do one rack of Baby Back extra meaty ribs and a rack of St. Louis style ribs 3-2-1, so stay tuned for that cook. Have never done the St. Louis style ribs before so it should be interesting.

Thanks for Lookin'

John
 
Last edited:
Looks great John! Glad you are enjoying your new grill! If you don't like the skin I would suggest to just peel it off afterwards. I pull the skin up and place rub and pats of butter on the breasts and place the skin back. Works like a charm every time!
 
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Good lookin chickens!!!
:emoji_laughing:
Thanks kruizer for the like, after posting this i had to go tothe fridge a pick at the leftovers as it made me hungry....

Looks great John! Glad you are enjoying your new grill! If you don't like the skin I would suggest to just peel it off afterwards. I pull the skin up and place rub and pats of butter on the breasts and place the skin back. Works like a charm every time!

Thanks John for the like, I was thinking about leaving the skin on next time....and there will be a next time.

Forgot to mention that I injected Jeff's Chicken injection recipe also.

Congrats on the new cooker John. Both those birds look great.

Thanks Texoma for the like and the congrats!

NICE! Enjoy many more stress free cooks! Congrats again on your Rec Tec!

Thanks sandyut, already lining up the cooks....

I need to do this!! Great lloking smoke!!!

Thanks ravenclan.

John
 
Great way to break-in the new toy.
Those mighty tasty!
Don't think those loose leg quarters would have made it into the kitchen if I was cooking
Nice Cook!
Like!
Spatched yardbird is a favorite here.

I am with you, was a bit of an experiment. Won't be skinning it next time, as I just processed it for the freezer and I still ended up with a skin of sorts. So was a waste of time removing the real skin.....live and learn.

Thanks Chile for the like and comments. :emoji_thumbsup:

John
 
John,

Those birds look outstanding!
From your pics, it looks like you and the new Rec Tec knocked it out of the park on the maiden voyage.
Enjoy!
 
So was a waste of time removing the real skin.....live and learn.

It's always worth trying out something new just to see what happens. But besides being less hassle, the skin also protects the meat - the high airflow in pellet grills tends to dry out the surface if no skin is covering it.
 
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Reactions: ravenclan
Boy howdy John, looks like you smoked up a couple of beautiful birds to break in the new unit, nice piece of work! Now your off and runnin', big LIKE. RAY
 
John,

Those birds look outstanding!
From your pics, it looks like you and the new Rec Tec knocked it out of the park on the maiden voyage.
Enjoy!

Thanks Secondhand for the like and nice comment.

John

Great looking chickens! I'll bet both of them were tasty! Congrats on the new Rec Tec!!!

Thanks creek bottom

John

It's always worth trying out something new just to see what happens. But besides being less hassle, the skin also protects the meat - the high airflow in pellet grills tends to dry out the surface if no skin is covering it.

Yep, gotta try new things just to see what happens, thanks for the info bregent!

John
 
Wow John....for a first cook that is nothing short of perfection. Great way to break in the new toy my friend. I too am loving my Rec Tec. So easy to run and it turns out some absolutely amazing food. Truth be told, I'm considering selling a couple of my cookers since getting the Rec Tec. Oh well....no need to really consider that right now. I'm just going to keep basking in the glory of your posts. Both have been awesome!!

Robert
 
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