Grilled Spatchcock Turkey With Citrus-Herb Salt And Sage Butter Recipe - problem with the skin

[Daverich4]

This is the recipe I used for our Turkey yesterday and it was almost a complete success. The meat was tender and juicy and the cook was generally good throughout but the skin wasn't crispy at all. Although it browned up nicely, the texture was pretty much the same as before the bird went in the grill. I use an Extra Large Big Green Egg with the platesetter in and followed the recipe as closely as I could. Can anyone give me a suggestion on what I did wrong or could do differently the next time? On a side note, I attempted to ask this question in the comments section of the recipe itself but you apparently have to sign up with Discus in order to do that, something I don't have any interest in doing. Thanks.

[Santamarina]

Not certain about your specific situation, but I’ll tell you what I did that resulted in deliciously crispy turkey skin.

Dry brined the day before - put salt directly on the meat (under the skin), and on the skin itself. Kept uncovered on a wire rack on a baking sheet in the fridge. Those two steps alone had the skin nice and tight before it ever hit the cooker.

Cooked in the oven at 325°F (no time to babysit my stickburner with all the other food I was making).

Skin was crispy and beautifully colored before it was done cooking.

[Ghawtho]

It’s looks like your oven will convection cook. Is that a convection fan in the back of the oven? My turkey was cook smoked on the Yoder Wichita offset and the skin was only golden crisped. I think that’s because of the heat management plate in the Yoder. My heat is only radiant heat without convection type air flow. I think for skin to brown there must be air flow all around the bird and the heat plate prevents that.

[Santamarina]

Yes, I used the Convection Roast setting on my oven. The air moving around certainly helps crisp the skin as well.

[RonB]

It would be helpful if you posted how you cooked the bird. Time, temp, etc.

[Ghawtho]

My turkey 16.75# was spatchcock smoked at 315 - 335 and was dry brined 24 hours before smoking. Cooking time was 2hrs 45 minutes. Smoke flavor was there but nothing to write home about. In my opinion 325 is WAY TOO hot and will only give a kiss of smoke. On my next turkey is will be breast only and probably no skin at 275 - 290 degrees maximum. Baby back ribs at 275 for 2 hrs 45 minutes would be absolutely HORRIBLE in my opinion.

[Daverich4]

Not certain about your specific situation, but I’ll tell you what I did that resulted in deliciously crispy turkey skin.

Dry brined the day before - put salt directly on the meat (under the skin), and on the skin itself. Kept uncovered on a wire rack on a baking sheet in the fridge. Those two steps alone had the skin nice and tight before it ever hit the cooker.

Cooked in the oven at 325°F (no time to babysit my stickburner with all the other food I was making).

Skin was crispy and beautifully colored before it was done cooking.

My finished turkey looked similar to yours but the skin was completely rubbery. We just discarded it as the meat itself was excellent. I’ll give it the dry brine treatment the next time and see if that helps.

[Jared49]

I believe the bird uncovered in the fridge overnight is the key. Certainly works for my chicken wings.

[Daverich4]

It would be helpful if you posted how you cooked the bird. Time, temp, etc.

Not sure if your request was aimed at me or one of the other posters but I cooked mine in a XL Green Egg with the plate setter. I followed the directions for the spatchcock turkey recipe on this site listed in the title. 325 degrees for two hours did a nice job on the white and dark meat. Skin was browned but as rubbery as if I hadn’t cooked it at all.

[RonB]

325° seems right to me, but you might try 350° next time and if it browns too quickly, lower the temp to 325°.

[Red Man]

I don’t have a kamado, but kamados have very little airflow through them to maintain temp. I wonder if the lack of airflow caused the rubbery skin.

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

Convection improves the drying of the skin and crisping - so yes, I'd think the airflow may be an issue.

[DennyWoo]

12 pounder, and I did mine in the PBC on the rack. Ran about 325 degrees. 1 hour and 40 minutes. Looked great and tasted great but the skin was pure rubber. Dry brined uncovered overnight, so not sure what to do for crispy skin.

[JHB]

I had the same experience on my PBC. Cooked at 325° for two hours until the breast meat hit 160°, then finished in the oven. The meat was tender and moist with lots of smoke flavor, but the skin was leathery. Overall it was a success, but I’d like to find a way to crisp up the skin.

[GolfGeezer]

One thing to consider is the bird itself. There are many variables (age, feed, heritage, how raised, how it wasn't raised (), fresh/frozen, etc.) that will contribute to the results. I've used the hot oven spatchcock method and size turkey (12-ish lbs) for many years using the same kitchen oven. And they cook different every time (some faster, or dark gets done too quickly, or skin is well cooked, but still a bit rubbery).

I don't stress it anymore - and a good brandy/bourbon and a cigar, with the one I love, make up for my lack of perfection. Just sayin'....

[treesmacker]

I was pretty happy with the skin on my cook - I put it in a 550F pellet burner for just 8 minutes or so after sous vide; I wiped it dry after the sous vide, also wiping a lot of the seasoning that was included in the sous vide bag away - I don't like burnt seasoning. Yes, I understand this is apples and oranges different methods of cooking, but I wonder if just taking the bird out, cranking the oven to max, and then placing bird back in until crispy brown would work. You can see my cook over at "show us what you're cooking" if interested.

[Daverich4]

I don’t have a kamado, but kamados have very little airflow through them to maintain temp. I wonder if the lack of airflow caused the rubbery skin.

I use a thermostatically controlled fan that fits in the lower vent of my Egg that runs at whatever speed is needed to maintain the set temperature.

[Red Man]

But in a kamado that speed is going to be very low. I’d consider bumping it to 375 next time, but hopefully someone with a kamado can chime in with some advice.

[Daverich4]

A number of people have commented on a lack of air possibly being the problem in my Egg but this is the first Turkey I’ve done out of many that didn’t have crispy skin. Previously I’ve done them in a roasting pan instead of spatchcock and ended up with crispy skin so I wouldn’t think lack of airflow was the problem. I’ve always done them at 350 instead of 325 like this recipe called for so maybe next time I’ll up the temp and see if that helps.

[fzxdoc]

It's my understanding that putting a lot of fat on/under the skin can lead to less crispy skin. The recipe you used, Daverich4 , called for a compound butter to be smeared under the skin and cooking oil over the top of the skin, as I recall. I wonder if that could be a contributing factor.

Cooks Illustrated folks routinely either remove fat deposits under poultry skin or poke those areas several times with a skewer to encourage the fat to drip away from the skin so it can crisp during the cook.

You could PM Chris Cantwell to find out how the skin of his recipe's test turkeys turned out and go from there.

Kathryn

[Daverich4]

It's my understanding that putting a lot of fat on/under the skin can lead to less crispy skin. The recipe you used, Daverich4 , called for a compound butter to be smeared under the skin and cooking oil over the top of the skin, as I recall. I wonder if that could be a contributing factor.

Cooks Illustrated folks routinely either remove fat deposits under poultry skin or poke those areas several times with a skewer to encourage the fat to drip away from the skin so it can crisp during the cook.

You could PM Chris Cantwell to find out how the skin of his recipe's test turkeys turned out and go from there.

Kathryn

Thanks for your suggestions, I’ll see if I can contact Chris

[fzxdoc]

Let us know what you find out from Chris, Daverich4 .

Kathryn