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.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.
Thanks, Charlie. Have a very Happy Thanksgiving!
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Thanks Mary Beth, I’m sure we’ll see you around the ‘hood for our multitude of parties.
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