BBQ chicken, BBQ rub UK, Emerald Ember, jalapeno chicken, kebab seasoning, spatchcock chicken recipe -

Emerald Ember Spatchcock Chicken: The BBQ Recipe for Maximum Flavour

Spatchcocking a chicken is the single best thing you can do to improve your BBQ cooking. By removing the backbone and flattening the bird, you create an even surface that cooks in half the time with twice the skin contact on the grill. Combined with Emerald Ember BBQ Dust, you get a chicken that tastes like it came from a proper street food grill rather than your back garden.

What is Emerald Ember BBQ Dust?

Emerald Ember is Welsh Chilli's green jalapeno BBQ dust — built to bring authentic kebab shop character to home cooking. Mild heat with serious flavour depth. The green jalapeno powder gives the chicken a bright, herbal, savoury crust that makes people ask what is on it before they have even finished their first piece.

Ingredients (serves 4)

  • 1 whole chicken, around 1.8kg
  • 3 tablespoons Emerald Ember BBQ Dust
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 lemon, halved
  • 4 cloves garlic, crushed

To serve:

  • Warm flatbreads
  • Sliced tomatoes and raw red onion
  • Greek yoghurt with a pinch of Emerald Ember stirred through
  • Fresh parsley

How to Spatchcock a Chicken

Turn the chicken breast side down. Using strong kitchen scissors or a sharp knife, cut along both sides of the backbone from tail to neck and remove it completely. Flip the chicken over and press firmly on the breastbone with the heel of your hand until you feel it crack flat. The chicken should now lie flat.

This takes about 2 minutes and makes a significant difference to how evenly the chicken cooks.

Method

The marinade:

Mix the Emerald Ember, olive oil, salt, lemon juice from one half of the lemon, and crushed garlic into a paste. Score the chicken thighs and drumsticks a few times with a knife to help the marinade penetrate, then rub the paste all over the bird — under the skin on the breast where possible as well as all over the exterior.

Marinate for at least 2 hours in the fridge. Overnight gives noticeably better results as the jalapeno powder has time to work into the meat properly.

To cook on the BBQ:

Set up for two-zone cooking. Place the spatchcocked chicken skin side up on the indirect side, lid on. Cook for 35 to 40 minutes until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the thigh reaches 75°C.

Move to the direct heat zone skin side down for the last 5 minutes to crisp and char the skin. The Emerald Ember will caramelise on the skin and turn a beautiful deep green-gold colour. Watch it carefully — it can catch quickly over direct flame.

Rest for 10 minutes before carving.

To cook in the oven:

Preheat to 220°C (200°C fan). Place the chicken on a roasting rack skin side up. Roast for 45 to 50 minutes until the juices run clear and the skin is deeply coloured. Finish under a hot grill for 3 to 4 minutes if you want more colour on the skin.

To serve:

Squeeze the remaining lemon half over the chicken as soon as it comes off the heat. Carve and serve with warm flatbreads, sliced tomatoes, raw red onion, fresh parsley and the Emerald Ember yoghurt. The whole spread looks like proper restaurant food and takes about 10 minutes to put together.

The Result

The Emerald Ember gives this chicken the flavour you get from a good kebab shop — savoury, herbal, with a mild warmth that builds as you eat. It is not a hot dish. It is a flavour-first dish. The kind where everyone at the table goes quiet because they are too busy eating to talk.

Get Emerald Ember BBQ Dust for £15 or get the full Streetbox Trio for £36.

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