Kyl Haselbauer has 20 years of experience working in fine-dining and modernist kitchens, including Bar Cotto and Anchovies &amp; Olives in Seattle. He is also the owner of Bright Spot, a café and coffee shop in Seattle.

Kyl Haselbauer

Butterflying or “spatchcocking” is a great way to roast or grill a whole chicken. In its simplest form, this butchering method involves removing the backbone with a pair of sturdy kitchen shears, and then pressing down on the breastbone to flatten and splay out the bird. This ensures the bird cooks evenly, resulting in tender, juicy and flavorful meat with golden, crispy skin.Flattening the chicken and roasting it at high heat allows the legs to cook at a slightly faster rate than the breast. Since dark meat is best when it hits a relatively higher temperature than perfectly done breast meat, the breasts and legs hit their target temperatures at the same time.We like to speed the cooking process up even further by making a few additional knife cuts after removing the backbone to expose the meat on the underside of the bird —removing the ribs and breastbone, making incisions along the drumstick and thigh bones—and scoring the skin.To double down on chicken flavor with a boost of umami, we season the bird with chicken bouillon powder instead of salt before roasting. The results are killer: juicy, savory roast chicken with crispy skin all over.

Epic Spatchcocked Roast Chicken