How to Spatchcock a Turkey
Note: Serious eater Grace Yang, the blogger behind Gracenotes NYC, swears by the spatchcocking method for a perfect Thanksgiving turkey. What is spatchcocking, you say? Grace explains.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. But as the host, it can be tough deciding which "fool-proof" method will insure the juiciest, most flavorful turkey.
After doing my research, I'm convinced spatchcocking is the way to go. Say wha? Spatchcocking? It involves butterflying the bird, removing its backbone and breaking the breastbone so it lies flat. The breast meat turns out very tender, the drumsticks are juicy and flavorful, and the entire thing is done in half the time.
While the typical turkey-roasting (for a 10- to 12-pound bird) can last about three hours, this shaves off at least half of that. Last weekend, I tested this approach and the turkey came out beautifully. Check it out, after the jump.
Brining
The first step to a perfect spatchcoked turkey is brining. Letting the bird sit in a salt-and-herb mixture overnight allows the wonderful flavors to distribute evenly. You don't have to buy an expensive brining kit. You can create a simple brine with basic kitchen ingredients.
Last year, I did a buttermilk brine with practically no salt, because my turkey was pre-brined, which turned out really well. If you buy a kosher turkey, there's no need to brine because it's already gone through a salting process.
Simple Brine
1 cup kosher salt (very important)
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon roughly cracked black peppercorns
1 handful of rosemary
1 handful of thyme
1 handful of sage leaves
1 gallon water
Tray of ice cubes
1. Combine all the ingredients, except the ice, in a pot and stir on medium heat until the salt and sugar combine.
2. After the salt and sugar have dissolved, turn off the heat and add a tray of ice cubes to the mix to quickly cool down the brine. Prepare your turkey for brining by removing the gizzards (you can save that for the gravy) and place it in a brining bag, a clean plastic bag that will cover your turkey (that's what I did) or a large container that will fit your turkey.
3. Place in a cool area (the refrigerator or somewhere chilly like the garage) overnight. If the brine doesn't completely cover the turkey, rotate it halfway through the brining process to ensure an even distribution. After brining overnight, wash off the brine and pat the turkey dry before placing it in the oven.
4. Create an herb butter to place under the turkey skin. This is the easiest and awesomest idea ever. Butter = good. Herbs = good. Butter + Herbs = VERY VERY GOOD. All you have to do is mix some butter with herbs, stick it under the turkey skin, and place it in the oven.
To make an herb butter: Find the herbs you want to flavor your turkey (like sage, thyme, or rosemary), chop them up, place them in a bowl, and plop in a stick of semi-soft butter.
5. Thoroughly mix the butter and herbs by hand and break it up into pieces to stick under the turkey skin. Carefully separate the turkey skin away from the meat.
While the turkey's in the oven, the butter will melt and distribute some great flavor, especially to the breasts!
Spatchcocking
6. Now it's time to spatchcock the turkey. Most sources recommend spatchcocking a 10- to 12-pound turkey (or chicken), but I have to feed 14 people so I went with a 16-pounder, and it turned out well. (A pound per person is usually safe).
7. After brining the turkey, rinse it off so the residual brine doesn't stay on the turkey and set it on your counter. I covered mine in Saran Wrap for easier clean-up.
8. Find the backbone of the turkey and with very sharp kitchen scissors or poultry shears, start cutting along one side. Then cut along the other.
My brother David helped so I could snap these photos.
At this point, the backbone's almost removed. If you need help and the scissors aren't cutting it (ha!) try a chef's knife.
And the backbone's been removed!
9. Save the backbone for flavoring stews, broths, or other soups. I froze mine to use later. After the backbone has been removed, spread out the turkey.
If you've ever wanted to see the innards of a turkey, here's your chance.
Spread eagle. Er, wrong bird.
10. After spreading out the turkey, flip it so the breasts are facing the ceiling and break the breastbones. (Warning: you'll hear a loud popping sound when they break.)
11. Before placing the turkey in the oven, rub the skin with some olive oil.
Roasting
A spatchcocked, brined, herb butter-filled, olive-oiled turkey!
12. Roast the turkey at 450°F (undisturbed) for 20 minutes.
13. Remove from the oven. The skin should already be slightly browned. Baste it, or rub it with butter, and return it to a 400°F oven. Roast for another 30 minutes or so. (Since my turkey was larger, I had to roast it for an extra 40 minutes.) Make sure the thigh reads 160°F before removing the turkey from the oven.
Resting
Our spatchcocked turkey, out of the oven.
14. Let the turkey rest. If you follow no other tips, PLEASE follow this one. After taking the turkey out of the oven, do not start carving it right away! Doing so releases all of the wonderful turkey juices. Instead, let the bird rest for 10 to 15 minutes to achieve maximum juiciness.
Ooohing and Aaahing
Me and David with our turkey.
Everyone at our party loved the spatchcocked turkey. The meat was tender and flavorful, and the entire thing was done in half the time a traditional roasting method takes. Have you ever tried spatchcocking a turkey?
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25 Comments:
Great technique, quicker and faster! I like it!!
Lvn4life at 10:06AM on 11/18/09
I did several Thanksgiving's ago, following the Chris Kimball/America's Test Kitchen method.
I brined as well, and it worked out very well.
One suggestion is to make cuts -- I've seen Jacque Pepin do this -- where the thighs join the bird and the wing joins the breast. These areas are tought to get done and making incisions at these points help the heat penetrate and ensure thorough cooking.
andymcmorrow at 10:49AM on 11/18/09
Thanksgiving will never be the same.
Let Me Say Something About This
garek at 10:50AM on 11/18/09
We spatchcocked chickens all summer. I never thought of doing it with a turkey but makes perfect sense. Technically so you know spatchcocking is different than butterflying. You don't push all the way flat to break the breastbone for spatchcocking as you do with butterflying. I'm so going to do this next week. Can you tell us your buttermilk brine recipe?
latenac at 11:04AM on 11/18/09
Never thought about doing this with a turkey, as well. Though when I do it I'll usually remove the wishbone while spatchcocking the bird. Helps to simplify carving.
PSFam at 12:01PM on 11/18/09
So, for those of you following at home:
Dead turkey: Ok
Dead lamb: Not ok
SqueezeBottle at 12:01PM on 11/18/09
@latenac - thanks for the clarification on spatchcocking vs. butterflying! Here's my buttermilk brine recipe (I saw it in the Williams-Sonoma Thanksgiving planner last year and modified it to make it a lot simpler). For a 15 pound turkey, use 4 quarts of buttermilk, Whole peppercorns (a handful is enough), Fresh Sage, Lemon wedges, Fresh Rosemary, Fresh Thyme, a little salt (if the turkey is already brined). Mix all ingredients together and prepare your turkey by cleaning it with cold water, placing it in a brining bag, and pouring the buttermilk brine over the turkey. Remove air from brining bag and set in fridge overnight.
The post from last year: http://tinyurl.com/bttrmlkbrine and Williams-Sonoma's original recipe: http://tinyurl.com/WSbrine
Good luck with this year's turkey - I'm so obsessed with spatchcocking that I've already spatchcocked 2 chickens this week!
Gracenotes NYC at 12:02PM on 11/18/09
I've never actually cooked a turkey (always travelling over the holidays), but I always do chickens this way, so if I end up staying put this year I'll definitely do my turkey this way.
joyyy at 12:04PM on 11/18/09
I always do both chickens and thanksgiving Turkeys this way. I find that as well as reducing the cooking time it really does create the juiciest bird. Last year I even skipped the brining due to poor time management and it still came out juicy and evenly cooked.
zenright at 12:34PM on 11/18/09
question: article says this technique shaves a half-hour off of the typical 3 hour cook time for a 10-12 lb bird, but then steps 12-13 imply that total cooking time is only about an hour? confused.
halvsie at 2:00PM on 11/18/09
I spatchcock chickens all year 'round. But I'd never thought to do the turkey - something about liking the visual of the giant bird in the middle of the table. But the time savings seem curiously worth it now.
shoneyjoe at 2:28PM on 11/18/09
@Squeezebottle: Yeah I was wondering about that. There was a bit of hubbub about the dead lamb butchering, but not about the pretty graphic break down of a turkey? ::sighs::
fuuchan at 3:27PM on 11/18/09
I spatchcock turkeys all the time for a couple of reasons: One, because I get an extra piece of meat to add flavor to my roasted turkey stock; and two, the most important reason, the turkey lays flat, so I can use the second rack in the oven for the side dishes that are just as important as the turkey. A salute of my Pilgrim hat to whoever thought up this technique.
betteirene at 4:08PM on 11/18/09
This looks interesting, I have not thought to do it with a turkey.
My question is a about fat drippings. Generally I try to raise the bird in cooking rack (not sure what it is called, an x shaped thing that the bird sits in the top half, that lifts it above the pan)
So then would all the meat sit in the fat while it cooks?
If so, is there enough juice in the pan to make gravy?
Do you grease the pan first so that it doesn't stick?
All the fat loving people, trust me, I am with you, but my family is not, and on this day I cater to their needs.
Thanks
SF
SkinnyFatty at 4:41PM on 11/18/09
Also, just so I can start my Christmas planning, has anyone tried to spatchcock a Goose?
In that case I imagine that the fat dripping would be a REAL issue.
SkinnyFatty at 4:42PM on 11/18/09
I think spatchcocking a turkey may be illegal in several Southern states. Well, maybe if it was consensual ....
Lorenzo at 5:28PM on 11/18/09
Just use a large roasting pan with a flat rack instead of a v-shaped rack.
Better yet you can just place the turkey on large chunks of aromatics/mirepoix (onions, celery & carrots) & herbs (or potatoes maybe) and use them as a rack to keep the bird from sitting in drippings. Add a little stock to keep them from burning at roasting temps. They'll be useless after they've roasted for long, but strain them out & deglaze the pan and you have some delicious strong stock for gravy.
Big Guy at 5:39PM on 11/18/09
This technique sounds so good. A couple years ago, I cooked my turkey breast side down technique, that was a very moist turkey. Another time I tried pouring boiling water on turkey while in the sink, again kept the moisture in and was very moist ,and tender, but ruined the skin, too tough and I was bummed as I am a skin lover. coco ps: I will have to try this
cocoloco at 11:42AM on 11/19/09
We had a Thanksgiving pre-game last weekend and used the spatchcock method. I used Alton Brown's brine recipe, brined for about 8 hours. A 15 lb bird took about an hour and a half to cook. Our guests said again and again that it was the juiciest turkey they have ever had. A few weeks ago I spatchcocked a chicken as a test run and it was the best roast chicken I've ever made. The brine-spatchcock method is definitely the way to go.
jordo2798 at 10:11PM on 11/19/09
I can't wait to try this one. It looks so moist and yummy. Might have to make it for Christmas as well.
mistressnoodle at 3:27PM on 11/20/09
Dear Grace: I made this yesterday. I spatch-cocked my turkey saturday morning, after a 12 hour brine, for a friends' thanksgiving saturday afternoon. It turned out SO awesome. I've pretty much hated every other turkey that I've ever had/made except for this one. and it was so fast! I was really worried because after 20 minutes at 400F, there was a 40 deg F temperature difference between my thigh and my breast. (or 22.2 deg C difference). I ended up cooking the breast to a higher temperature than you recommended, yet none of my turkey meat was dry.
The high temperature of 450 I first used when I made this Thomas Keller recipe for simple roast chicken, where he also roasts at 450 deg F. (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/My-Favorite-Simple-Roast-Chicken-231348)
Interestingly enough, even without brining, Thomas Keller's recipe for cooking chicken at high temperature also avoids dry chicken meat.
his roast chicken recipe is good practice for this recipe in my opinion because of the following reason:
When I made that recipe, I followed the commenters' and my sister's advice, and layered potatoes underneath the roast chicken because otherwise there is quite a bit of smoking.
Why is this important?
The spatchocked turkey also smokes quite a bit when cooking at 450F.
So be prepared for that. I thought it might be butter, but Keller's recipe doesn't call for butter, so it's simply from the poultry.
the smoke is nothing that opening all the windows in my 650 sq. ft apartment didn't fix! But I wonder if you could avoid the smoke by, as many who prepare Keller's chicken do, layering potatoes underneath the bird and throwing those into your gravy or something.
I just want to say that these are what I found to be most key in making your recipe:
Brine overnight
dry with LOTS of paper towels
compound herb butter is a MUST on the breast
prepare for the smoking
and definitely turkey resting is key prior to carving
If anyone else experienced the smoking, or same temperature differential between thigh and breast I would love to hear about it.
everyone loved it!! thank you so much G - you RULE!
prunesaregood at 5:02PM on 11/22/09
I was following the great Alton Brown Says No to Stuffing the Turkey debate a little while back. Someone suggested using the above technique, roasting your turkey on a wire rack directly above the pan of stuffing/dressing. That sounds great to me. Perfectly cooked turkey, with turkey-enhanced stuffing. Yes!
http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/11/alton-brown-says-no-to-stuffing-the-turkey-dressing-thanksgiving.html
SW Food Works at 12:56PM on 11/23/09
I've done this for years (although I like to cut through the backbone, using a cleaver and meat mallet). A rich mushroom/ricotta/parmesan mixture goes between the skin and the flesh, and I smoke the turkey at an average grill temperature of 350º.
Cathy at 4:57PM on 11/23/09
I both spatchcock and butterfly chickens - brining if I need - For the last couple of years I brine my turkeys using new things each year, from apple cider to chicken broth to wine. This is the first year I decided to spatchcock or butterfly my 18 lb turkey. All your comments and directions talk about brine then remove backbone. I remove the backbone first, then brined the poultry. --- Makes it a lot easier to handle - more area is exposed to the brine - and it took up a lot less space with the turkey being flat. No turning involved.
j wagner at 12:37PM on 11/28/09
i hAVE TO COMMENT ABOUT STEP # 3 IN THE BRINING INSTRUCTIONS. you say to place the bird in a "chilly" place such as a garage. this is not a good idea,as the temperature can fluctuate and to be safe, it NEEDS TO BE KEPT AT 41 DEGREES OR LOWER! to neglect this is to invite contamination, and no one wants salmonella.. if you have to brine,keep it under proper refrigeration-
chocncaff60 at 10:59AM on 01/06/10