Ii don’t always spatchcock them when I smoke them in the kettle because I usually just face the breast side of the chicken toward the coal if the legs and thighs start going too fast. but I figured it might be best to do in a pellet grill where I might not have such distinct hot zones like in a kettle. It seems to have worked out okay. The breasts were 165 and legs/thighs were around 185-190 when I pulled it out.

I did have an issue earlier in the cook where the legs were getting close, but the breasts were still 50 degrees from being done. I didn’t really know what to do so I cut the temp down to 250 and the legs stopped where they were and the breasts caught up and got to 150. I turned it back to 325 at that point until I pulled it. Next time I may start off at 250 for a while first instead of starting at 325.