A flattened chicken is easier and faster to grill than a round chicken. One way to flatten is to cut out the backbone and lay the bird flat by cracking the breastbone, known as spatchcock chicken.

Here’s a novel way of flattening a chicken, called “leaping frog” chicken by Gourmet magazine. Cut the skin between the leg and breast, then pop the thigh bone out the socket. Using kitchen shears, cut the rib cage all the way up to the wing joint, then flip the breast meat over the backbone so that all the meat is on one side. The chicken is easier to maneuver because the backbone is still holding all the chicken parts together.

This chicken (seasoned with salt and pepper) was cooked in the Big Green Egg at 400 degrees for 25 minutes. Cherrywood was added to flavor the smoke. The chicken cooked skin side up and was never flipped. Yes, we ate the whole thing; the meat was irresistably juicy and smoky.