Roast Spatchcocked Turkey

Author Notes

In some ways, this recipe represents the best of Food52. I haven't done my holiday turkeys like this for years and years. No, this one was developed with a lot of help via the Hotline (especially when it was the FoodPickle), and then refined last year using the basic dry brine technique of the Russ Parson's "Judy Bird" posted as part of the Genius series. I've made a lot of turkeys over the past 35 years, experimenting with all different methods. This is by far my favorite. Here's why. We always take a rather long hike on Thanksgiving Day, so my turkey doesn’t even go into the oven until mid-afternoon. Butterflying the bird helps get dinner on the table much sooner. Also, if you brine (wet or dry), your drippings generally taste too salty to use in gravy. Having the back of the turkey (not brined) to roast on its own with the neck of the bird allows you to make a flavorful gravy. (See my recipe for “Make-Ahead Turkey Gravy”, if you’d like more specific information on that. You don’t need to buy extra wings, if you have the back.) Furthermore, a spatchcocked bird doesn’t take as much vertical space in the oven, leaving more shelf space for cooking side dishes. Butterflying also produces an evenly cooked bird, as the lower joints cook more quickly, so the breast does not dry out.

If you want to roast a spatchcocked turkey, you really should buy your bird from a butcher who will "butterfly" it for you. Make sure you have her or him give you the backbone and other parts that are removed, as they are perfect for roasting and making a rich stock for gravy. Wrap up the turkey back and neck in butcher paper or put them in a plastic bag; refrigerate until you need them. They are perfect for roasting separately, to make gravy.

If you butterfly the bird yourself, get the sharpest kitchen shears you can find and patiently snip (it may feel like hacking) down each side of the backbone. A sharp cleaver or a good-sized butcher knife may be necessary to cut into the pelvis, if you're roasting a larger bird. Then cut deeply into aptly-named keel bone between the two breast halves, which will allow you to flatten the breast. This is important in roasting the bird evenly. Don’t worry about removing the keel bone altogether; snipping the cartilage along one side should allow you to spread the two breast halves apart.

Helpful tools for this recipe:
- Five Two Essential Roasting Pan & Rack
- Five Two Bamboo Double Sided Cutting Board
- Five Two Essential Kitchen Knives


—AntoniaJames

Test Kitchen Notes

Though it may sound like a old-fashioned culinary term, spatchcocking is in fact one of the biggest hacks around when it comes to cooking poultry. Essentially, to spatchcock (or butterfly) a bird is to remove its backbone and flatten it before cooking.

You can spatchcock any bird, but let’s talk turkey. As the author notes, cooking turkeys present a number of challenges, from fitting a large bird into the oven along with everything else needed for Thanksgiving dinner; how the breast meat is finished cooking long before the dark meat come up to temperature, not to mention just how dang long it takes to cook a big ol’ turkey. When spatchcocking, these problems disappear: the flat bird neatly fits in a standard half sheet pan, so you can easily pop in a casserole dish of stuffing or a pan of Brussels sprouts on another oven rack. And as for the over- or undercooking risk, when the entire turkey lays flat on the tray, it cooks more evently, as heat hits the whole thing directl. Perhaps most importantly, the turkey will cook in significantly less time than non-spatchcocked—figure about 6 minutes per pound if following this recipe, or until thigh meat registers 165°.

A few things to keep in mind when spatchcocking for the first time. Defrost the turkey before starting, and note that this can take several days if it was frozen. Place the turkey on a large cutting board and remove giblets from inside either end’s cavity (save them for stock!). Dry off the skin with paper towels, then flip the bird breast-side down. Using your sharpest pair of kitchen shears, cut out the backbone from pole to pole—it helps to start from one end, cut up about halfway, then turn around the bird and finish cutting from the opposite end, then repeat on the other side. Save the backbone with the giblets, then flip the bird breast-side up. Either shallowly snip just the interior flexible breastbone (without cutting through the meat or skin), or, by applying as much weight as you can to the skin-side, break the breastbone by pressing down firmly until the turkey sits flat. You’re ready to brine! Also, as our author notes, if this process simply isn’t for you, buy your turkey from a butcher who will spatchcock it for you. —A&M