Spatchcock Chicken

Ingredients

• 2 whole chickens
• wingtips removed
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp dried tarragon
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 4 tsp olive oil
• 2 lemons, thinly sliced and seeded

Method

Heat your oven to 230°C. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil.

Spatchcock the chicken by placing it breast-down on your work surface. Using kitchen shears, cut along both sides of the backbone from tail to neck — you're removing it entirely. Flip the bird breast-up and press down hard on both sides of the breastbone until you hear the sternum crack. The chicken will flatten into a single plane. This butterflying technique exposes more surface area to direct heat and ensures even cooking; dark meat and white meat finish at roughly the same time because nothing's tucked underneath creating thermal shadow. Repeat with the second chicken and arrange both on the baking sheet.

Mix the salt, tarragon, paprika, and pepper with the olive oil to form a paste — don't skip this step, the oil carries the fat-soluble flavour compounds from the paprika and herb into the chicken's tissue during cooking. Slip your fingers under the skin of each breast and thigh, loosening it without tearing through to the flesh. Rub the paste directly onto the meat under the skin; this protects it from direct heat and seasons deep into the protein. Slide the lemon slices in a single layer under the skin as well. The acid will gently denature the proteins nearest the citrus, tenderising those fibres, whilst the lemon oils perfume the white meat.

Roast at 230°C for roughly 35 minutes. The oven's dry heat will render the skin fat and crisp it golden-brown — watch for a colour shift from pale to amber and a texture that crackles when you press it. The real marker is the internal temperature: insert an instant-read thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh (not touching bone) and pull when it reads 75°C. At that point the collagen has converted to gelatin, the meat is tender, and you've stopped short of the dry, stringy texture that comes from pushing poultry past 80°C.

Let the chickens rest for 5 minutes — the residual heat continues cooking the outer layers whilst the muscle fibres relax and reabsorb their juices. Cut each bird into eight pieces: two breasts, two thighs, two drumsticks, two wings. Serve warm or at room temperature.