Thanksgiving 2019 (Cook your turkey in half the time)

With Thanksgiving approaching, I wanted re post some of my past Thanksgiving articles (2018 Thanksgiving Tips) and extol the virtues of how to cook your turkey is about a half of the normal time.

Spatchcock or butterflied turkey allows you to cook the bird more evenly, sear the skin on the dark meat and get a nice, overall browning of the skin. And if you brine the turkey beforehand, the breast meat will not dry out and you will end up with a moist, tender delicious Thanksgiving Turkey that cooks in a little less than an two hours (depending on the size, of course). Either a wet or dry brine will work for turkeys.

There are many ways to cook a splayed turkey. My favorite recipe is the one from Melissa Clark of the NY Times (https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018403-splayed-turkey-with-herbs). Not only is the recipe easy to follow, but I think she is a fabulous cook and engaging person on her cooking videos.

Or choose one of the following recipes below. But they all get to the same place eventually – a great Thanksgiving Turkey that is evenly cooked, moist and ready in half the time.

https://www.marthastewart.com/275445/how-to-spatchcock-a-turkey

https://www.epicurious.com/archive/blogs/editor/2014/12/the-year-of-the-spatchcocked-turkey-and-why-you-should-do-it-all-the-time.html

https://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/holidays-recipes/article/how-you-roast-turkey

How to carve a turkey – Every Thanksgiving, I would roast a beautiful turkey, bring it to the table to show the admiring guests and proceed to butcher it into an unrecognizable mess. Until I learned how a turkey should be carved. Watch this NY Times video about how to carve a turkey. It shows you how and tells you why you do it this way. And the presentation at the table is far more elegant and functional for guests.

NY Times How to Carve a Turkey