How to Spatchcock a Chicken

Being able to grill your chicken on the inside has to be one of the best ways to ensure that your chicken is safe to eat. I hope that it goes without saying that in addition you need to know where your chicken has come from (and I don;t mean which Supermarket) and also to ensure that it is washed thoroughly before preparation.
The way I grill my chicken most of the time is spatchcocked for this very reason but I have to say that in addition it also tastes great and I can get my skin really crispy, just the way my family like it.
So where's the problem? Probably you don't know how to spatchcock a chicken, right? Well don't worry, I'm going to describe how it's done.
In terms of equipment you need shears and a sharp boning knife. If you haven't got shears then you can get away with a sharp knife, it'll have to be bigger than your boning knife and you'll have to take extra care to keep your fingers out of the way.
The first step is to remove the backbone and if using the shears it's quite easy to cut it out, just put the chicken breast side down on a board and use the shears to cut down one side of the back bone and then the other. If using a sharp knife sit the bird on it neck and then use the knife to saw from tail to neck again down either side of the backbone. The bones either side of the backbone are quite brittle so it's not a major affair but you will need to use a bit of force so this is definitely the time to care of your fingers and keep them well out of the way.
When you've cut the backbone out don't throw it away. Take a look and you'll probably find the liver still attached. You can scoop it out and collect a few more for chicken liver pate or if you're not into that then at least grill it and then make some stock.
Back to the spatchcocking (if that's a verb) and the next job is to remove what's commonly referred to as the breastbone. It is actually called the keel bone for reasons that will become apparent when you remove it. To be fair you don't actually have to remove it, many folks will just suggest that you use the palm of your hand to flatten the chicken but I like to remove it so that the chicken sits flatter on the grill and it also makes it so much easier to quarter when cooked. In my view the easiest and best way to serve barbecue chicken.
Open the chicken out so that its neck is at the top of your board and at the top end of the keel bone is a piece of white cartilage about the size of a dime. Use your knife to make an incision through this and picking up the chicken in both hands, use your fingers on the underside of the chicken (skin side) to push up and the keel bone should pop out. Don't worry if it doesn't come immediately, you can always use your boning knife to cut around it and give it a helping hand. When it does come out, take a look at the shape and how it resembles the keel of a boat.
That's it. You now know how to spatchcock chicken and it's now time to turn it into barbecue grilled chicken. Forty minutes usually does the job and I generally go for about forty five to fifty grilling the inside of the chicken for the first half hour and then flipping it over to grill the skin side for the remaining time until the skin is golden and crispy.