spatchcocking turkey

Took some of the excellent advice offered here and am spatchcocking my bird (and cooking a large breast as well) so I can cater for more people faster. I asked my butcher if he'd spatchcock the 30lb bird I ordered and he said he'd never heard of it. He offered to 'sleevebone' it, which I think is not what i want... I told him to remove the backbone and flatten the bird, making sure he gave me the backbone.
Is that right?!
am English and in England we call it spatchcocking - is there an alternative I don't know? any advice I can gently give him on what I'm after?

humblecook
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4 Comments

bigpan
bigpan November 13, 2012
Don't be afraid to do it yourself. Simply cut the spine out with good kitchen shears, use a sharp deboning knife to cut out the keel, then flip over and push down on it to flatten. One, two, three, Bob's your uncle and you have a spat chocked bird ready to go.
 
hardlikearmour
hardlikearmour November 13, 2012
Yeah, if you ask him to butterfly it, they should know what you mean - but you may have to ask them to crack the keel for you.
 
AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames November 13, 2012
Perhaps he'd understand the term "butterflying" it. That expression seems to be more commonly used. As HalfPint says, ask him what you want done: you want him to remove the backbone and the keel bone, which separates the two breast halves. (It looks just like the keel of a ship.) That's really all that's necessary. ;o)
 
HalfPint
HalfPint November 13, 2012
Spatchcook has been catching on in the last few years. Your butcher might be 'old school'. Sleeve bone is not what you want since it seems to be de-boning all bones except the feet and wings. I'd bring him a picture, just to make sure he understands what you are trying to do.
 
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