If you’re looking for reasons to make a spatchcock turkey this Thanksgiving, ask yourself these simple questions: Do you want the bird to actually taste good? And be juicy? With perfectly browned skin? Of course you do. This method, which disposes of the backbone so the bird can be flattened and cooked skin side up, is a game changer. Because the turkey is butterflied, there’s more surface available for even browning, and the high cooking temperature means crackly, crispy skin. Perhaps most seductive of all, a 12-pounder cooks in 90 minutes. Repeat: 90 minutes. That’s half the time of your old-fashioned roast. So, you rebels, you risk-takers, let’s spatchcock. It guarantees that everyone will be talking about the turkey. In the best possible way.
How to Spatchcock a Turkey
- With turkey breast side down, use poultry shears (and some force) to cut along both sides of the backbone. Save it, along with the giblets, for stock.
- Open up the turkey and use the tip of a knife to score alongside the keel bone (the dark oblong bone in the middle of the breast). This makes it easier to flatten the bird.
- Turn the turkey skin side up and press down strongly with the heel of your hand on the center of the breast. You should hear a crack and feel the bones give way.
...and Then Carve It
- Cut legs from body at point where thigh meets breast.
- Cut through leg joint to separate drumstick from thigh.
- Hold drumstick and slice meat off bone, if desired.
- Cut thigh meat off bone (angle your knife as you go).
- Carve both breasts from breastbone and rib cage.
- Use slicing knife to cut breast crosswise into ½” slices.
