Butterflying a Turkey ?

[Anonymous]

Have you ever cooked turkey that way by removing the backbone and flattening it.
I am thinking of trying it for Thanksgiving.

[Anonymous]

Spatchcocking? Yes. It’s good. I had a butcher do it for me.

[Anonymous]

Yes! It's my favourite way to cook turkey and chicken. I think a lot of people use scissors but I dont have kitchen shears, so I just use a big knife to cut out the backbone. Flip it over and press down hard on the breast bone to break it. It's super easy, cooks quicker and much more evenly.

[Anonymous]

It's what my family does every year. Helps to even out the cooking of the breast and thighs. However, it does mean you don't have a wishbone (which was a big part of my childhood, so I miss it!!).

[Anonymous]

Spatchcocearly and you can use the backbone for stock for gravy.

Get some good poultry shears if you don't have any.

[Anonymous]

I know spatchcocking is all the rage, but you can take things a step further and just break the bird down into parts and cook it that way. Cooking time on a smaller bird is maybe an hour and a half. It also makes it very easy to cook the dark and light meat to different temperatures.

I don't care about marching a whole bird to the table. And I also hate carving a bird at the table. So this works best for me. Anybody who objects can be in charge of the turkey next year.

(For the wishbone-missers -- you can cut out the wishbone while cutting up the turkey, cook it (taking it out partway through), then pull it apart, just like in your childhood.)

[Anonymous]

If you get your bird from a local farm, they usually will do that for you (may cost an extra $10 or so).

[Anonymous]

I tried this one year and was really surprised at how hard it was to cut out the backbone compared to a chicken. I even had a nice chefs knife and good shears. Maybe it's easier with a smaller turkey!

[Anonymous]

Sure you could but why?
Easier to cook it whole then debone/butcher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sure you could but why?
Easier to cook it whole then debone/butcher.

Shorter cooking time but if it’s harder to do like pp said I might change my mind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sure you could but why?
Easier to cook it whole then debone/butcher.

Shorter cooking time but if it’s harder to do like pp said I might change my mind.

Large turkeys only require about 10 min per pound, and prep is easy, wrap and bake, set timer.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I do mine this way every year on a pellet grill. Helps control for the white meat dark meat problem.