Turkey: Botched spatchcock and cooking time question

The butcher indeed spatchcocked my turkey, but it appears he just split the backbone in half. Should I try to remove the halves?

Also, the bird is about 16lbs. I planned on roasting in a convection oven, and The Food Lab recommends a 450 oven (without temp reduction). At what temp should I be roasting this bird, and for how long? I also have two additional legs (thigh/drum) and wings to roast on a separate rack. What cooking time am I looking at for those parts?

TIA!!

Jacklyn Salama Lahav
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Samantha W.
Samantha W. November 24, 2016
Hi Jacklyn: If you are confident with your butchering skills, you could try to remove the rest of the backbone! But if you are pressed for time or intimidated, you could just go for it and be concious that parts of the backbone are still in there when you carve it.

And here's our definitive guide to cooking temps: https://food52.com/blog/18372-the-essential-numbers-a-guide-to-times-and-temps-for-cooking-your-bird
 
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