Spatchcock Turkey

[CosmicMiami]

As I browse through my FB this morning, I see lots pics of whole roasted birds. I see none spatchcocked. Why? It is THE only way to roast a turkey. It takes a little bit more preparation but is well worth the effort. Wifey kept asking me, "why haven't you started the turkey?" I told her it would only be a couple hours. This was a 14# bird. Sure enough, just about 2 hours after putting in the oven, she was done. The turkey, not wifey.

There is the added bonus of not tying up the oven, if you don't use the grill, for 5-6 hours and generating all that heat in the kitchen (South Florida problem).

That being said, I wonder if anybody has used an electric knife to remove the spine? Even my stout kitchen shears have a tough time getting through the bones.

Cheers y'all.

[Bumby]

CosmicMiami I agree with you on every day of the year regarding spatchcocking...other than Thanksgiving. In my opinion, the whole roasted bird is an important part of my Thanksgiving tradition. And I also enjoy the challenge of cooking it as perfectly as I can (admittedly it isn't as much of a challenge with Meathead's guide).

[CosmicMiami]

BTW, I'm not condemning frying or smoking. Just saying that if one chooses to roast, this is the one and only method to assure a juicy, tasty bird.

[Hulagn1971]

Ask and you shall receive...

[Steve B]

That's a perfect looking bird. Very nice..

[Hulagn1971]

Thank you Steve B

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

That's bomb, baby. Daaaaaaang.

[JGo37]

That's a real like pulling a brody in the parkin' lot 'Daaaaaaang'.

[snowswamp]

I spatchcock every year. This year I did two. There’s a bunch posted over on the "Show Us What You’re Cooking" thread.

[SmokeyGator]

I spatchcock for the smoker. I’m sold on the idea. Throws off the traditional presentation but the end results more than make up for that.

EXCEPTIONS: rotisserie and deep fried. Growing up my dad would use an electric rotisserie often, mainly to free up the oven for other stuff for my mom. But I have a charcoal fired oven, which frees up the electric oven for my wife. And I use the outdoor cooker as much as possible to avoid heating up the house.

[CosmicMiami]

Greetings fellow 305er.

[CosmicMiami]

I wasn't really looking for pics of spatchcock. I was wondering about using an electric knife to remove the backbone and ruminating on why so many (not those here) are still relying on the old-fashioned way of roasting turkey whole. Seems like a dinosaur method to me.

[EdF]

Ours was really difficult this year. I started with the kitchen shears, and got 2/3 way through it, then hit a thigh bone. The ever-enterprising wife got out the rarely used meat cleaver and a dumb-weight mallet, and finished the job quickly.

[BGWolf]

I went to Harbor Freight and bought a pair of tin snips especially for working with food. Makes spatchcocking a turkey easy and makes quick work of removing the "knuckles" from chicken thighs. Toss them in the dishwasher and be sure to dry them well and lube them with some veggie oil .

[Sephon]

I use a dedicated pair of pruning shears. Works like a charm

[klflowers]

CosmicMiami, maybe it is the dinosaur method, but when the wife say whole, I say "yes, dear".

[UncleFester]

I spatchcocked mine this year. As others have mentioned, my shears stood no chance. I ended up getting the cuts as far as possible with a sharp knife and then using the cleaver to power the rest of the way through.

[McEDaddy]

Call me crazy, but couldn’t just have the butcher do the spatchcock?

[EdF]

Yes, you could - and why not? Ask for the backbone for stock/gravy.

[OneEyedJack]

Absolutely keep the back bone for gravy. There is a killer recipe for gravy in the November issue of Cook's Illustrated, "Game-Changing Turkey Gravy." The technique lets allows you to make the gravy a few days ahead so it only needs reheating on the day of dining, thus saving a huge hassle when you have lots of stuff to cook.

[Dan Deter]

In my case, spatchcocking wouldn't fit in the turkey roaster, which has given us a juicy, delectable bird every year. And since we host my family, why mess with perfection....

[Holysmoke]

Spatchcocking the bird is always my go to as well. A 24 lb bird was at 160* (breast temp) using an Akorn in 2.75 hours and was very tasty! (I should mention I suppose that living on a farm we remove the backbone a little differently. I've tried shears but ug. We use a reciprocating saw. It's way easier tho unconventional.)

[EdF]

The Sawzall - why didn't we think of that? Thanks!

[Santamarina]

Spatchcocking is the ONLY way I cook whole turkey - It’s far superior. "Presenting" the whole bird on the dinner table has never been a part of our tradition (neither mine nor my wife’s family). What it looks like in the oven is of no concern when everyone’s used to a plate of carved turkey showing up on the dinner table.

But my in-laws *definitely* has their doubts the first time they saw me cooking. They haven’t said anything since they took the first bit of my turkey a few years ago!

Holysmoke Beat me to the punch: I was gonna say reciprocating saw...but my suggestion was part joke. Glad to know it really works. I may try it next year, as that spine can be a beast to get out!

[wu7y]

So a circular saw would probably not be a good idea?? :-)

[Santamarina]

Chainsaw?

[Holysmoke]

Yep. The chainsaw was a disaster The recip saw with a long metal cutting blade is the charm. It's definitely a two person job, one to cut and another to hold the bird, but it only takes about 30 secs to get the bone out. And, really, which one of us won't feel the thrill of having a serious power tool in the cooking process!

[Onez]

The standard kitchen shears (that typically come with knife sets) are terrible at cutting through the bones and make things complicated.

A couple of years ago I finally stepped up to the OXO Good Grips Spring Loaded Poultry Shears. They make a world of difference. Super easy to cut right through with little effort. Love to use them on whole chickens, as well.

They are $25, but they do make life easier.

**The link above is for Amazon, but I've found any old Bed Bath & Beyond carries them on the shelves as well.

[jfmorris]

I broke at least one, maybe two pairs of kitchen shears last Thanksgiving. This year I went to the store and picked up those Oxo poultry shears and boy! What a difference. There were still some tough spots, but the sheers helps up, and I love that they come apart for easy cleaning.

[jfmorris]

EdF You need to keep your conventional shears. They are useful for other stuff. I don't think the curved blades on the poultry shears will be as good for some of the other things my wife cuts in the kitchen.

[EdF]

Thanks for the advice, jfmorris !