Poultry and power tools
Dan Bolyard/courtesy photo - A butterflied, or “spatchcocked,” turkey cooks faster and with crispier skin. The backbone is too strong to remove with kitchen shears, but a little ingenuity with a reciprocating saw does the trick.
A few weeks ago I hinted that I had prepared my turkey a little differently. Like a lot of people, I've browsed the internet for various things, and had come across an unorthodox way of preparing a turkey that helped keep the breast from overcooking and allowed for maximum crispy skin.
This called for cutting out the backbone of a turkey of about 12 pounds in weight, turning it over and roasting it. The turkey is butterflied, or as the author of the recipe called it. “spatchcocked.”
Spatchcock seems an odd name for cooking a turkey, since the origins of the word lead one to believe it was used for a just-killed chicken and immediately skinned, split and broiled. No matter, as the term seems to be here to stay.
I certainly wanted to try this technique, especially since everyone here likes to eat the crispy skin. The first problem I had to overcome was how to remove the backbone. I had purchased a 24-pound turkey and mere kitchen shears were not going to be able to get through the bones of a bigger bird. Here is where the kitchen equipment and power tools line gets blurred in the house. My Milwaukee brand Sawzall is no stranger to my kitchen, having had tours of duty during the last two cattle I broke down into manageable sizes, and then again when dealing with a pig. I also had a brand-new blade. Let's just say that about eight seconds after starting the cutting procedure, my turkey was ready to bake.
The recipe said to bake the 12-pound turkey at 450 degrees for about 80 minutes. My concern with a bigger bird was that temperature was too high for the length of time my bird would need to bake. I turned down the oven to 400 degrees and figured it was going to be about 4 hours before the breast temperature would register 150 degrees and the thigh registering 165 degrees. I do have a convection oven, so the time was actually about 2 hours, but I did regularly temp those two locations so as to not overcook the bird.
The skin of my bird was lightly prepared with some favorite seasoning lightly spread over it before I realized that I did not have a pan large enough to hold my bird prepared this way. I cobbled together a series of airbake pans I have and some aluminum foil so any drippings from the turkey would be caught. The recipe called for the turkey to cook over a bed of vegetables, but with the lower temperature of my oven, that would not be a problem and I could reclaim the drippings for gravy and such.
Do perform this technique, dry your turkey with a paper towel and place breast side down on a cutting board. With a pair of kitchen shears, cut up both sides of the backbone so as to completely remove it. Trim off any excess chunks of fat as well, along with the tail piece and wing tips. Turn the turkey over, splaying its legs out. Press down hard on the ridge of the breast bone. You should hear a couple of cracks, and the turkey should now rest flatter.
Recipe adapted from one by J Kenji Lopez-Alt.
BUTTERFLIED TURKEY
- 3 large onions, roughly chopped (about 1 1/2 quarts)
- 3 large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped (about 1 quart)
- 4 stalks celery, roughly chopped (about 1 quart)
- 12 thyme sprigs
- 1 whole turkey (12 to 14 pounds total)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet or broiler pan with aluminum foil. Scatter 2/3 of the onions, carrots, celery and thyme sprigs across bottom of pan. Place slotted broiler rack or wire rack directly on top of vegetables. Pat turkey dry with paper towels and rub on all surfaces with 1 tablespoon oil. Season liberally on all surfaces with salt and black pepper (if using a brined, salted, or Kosher turkey, omit salting step, see note above). Tuck wing tips behind back. Place turkey on top of rack, arranging so that it does not overlap the edges, pressing down on the breast bone to flatten the breasts slightly. Transfer turkey to oven and roast, rotating occasionally, until an instant read thermometer inserted into the deepest part of the breast registers 150 degrees, and the thighs register at least 165 degrees, about 80 minutes.
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