Spatchcocked Turkey – Cook your Turkey in half the time

Spatchcocked Turkey: Cook Your Turkey in Half the Time. A technique called Spatchcocking can reduce the time needed to cook a turkey. We also show you some tricks for making your Thanksgiving Gravy.

Spatchcocking: This involves removing the turkey’s backbone and flattening it. This increases the surface area and allows for faster, more even cooking. Depending on size, you can roast a Spatchcocked turkey in about 1.5 to 2 hours.

The Weekend before Thanksgiving –

Defrost your turkey in the fridge (if using a frozen turkey).

The USDA recommends thawing your turkey in the refrigerator. This is the safest method because the turkey will thaw at a consistent, safe temperature. This method takes some time, so allow one day for each 4 – 5 pounds of turkey. If your turkey weighs 16 pounds, it will take about four days to thaw.

Thaw turkey breast side up, in an unopened wrapper on a tray in the fridge (40 degrees F or below). Keep the turkey in its original wrapper and place it on a tray to catch water as it defrosts. Never thaw at room temperature.

Tuesday – two days before Thanksgiving, Spatchcock and Wet Brine the Turkey.

Spatchcock and brine the turkey. Wet brining involves soaking a turkey in a saltwater solution overnight. This results in a very flavorful bird that becomes plump with moisture.

A raw turkey left to soak in unsalted water will plump up. But when the turkey is immersed in salt water, the proteins and connective tissues absorb more brine. Food & Wine says to think of Spatchcocking as turning a 3-D turkey into a 2-D turkey.

Brined Turkeys keep more water as they cook. For example, a 16-pound turkey soaked overnight in a wet brine will weigh over 17 pounds when it emerges. In the oven, this added moisture will offset the juices released during roasting, resulting in a very moist bird.

Wet brine formula for a 14-16 lb turkey

• 2 cups kosher salt
• 8 cups of water to boil, 2 gallons for the brining
• ½ cup sugar
• Whole peppercorns
• 4 or 5 Cloves of garlic, cut in half
• Red or white onion, quartered
• Fresh herbs like rosemary, bay leaves, parsley, and thyme
• Spices like juniper berries, mustard seed, star anise, chilies, allspice berries, and cinnamon sticks

Boil 8 cups (2 quarts) of water with the salt, sugar, and other aromatics and spices. Just boil for a minute or two until the salt and sugar are dissolved. Mix in the aromatics. Once dissolved, combine the saltwater solution with more water to make 2 gallons of solution.

Add more water if needed. If the salt and sugar have not dissolved, add more water and keep stirring. Water can absorb only so much salt at one time. The higher the proportion of water available to take in the salt, the better it will dissolve.

Mix with ice water. Add the saltwater solution to the remaining amount of COLD water and ice. This will make up 2 gallons of the saltwater solution.

**NOTE!!! NEVER add hot or warm saltwater solution to a raw turkey. Doing so can result in a very bad bacterial contamination situation. Always use room temperature or chilled saltwater solution.

Let the brine do its thing. Allow the turkey to brine for 12-24 hours, but overnight is best. Then, let the skin dry out for 12-24 hours. This will guarantee that it browns and crisps when it cooks.

While the brine cools, Spatchcock the turkey

Let’s talk about what Spatchcocking is. Spatchcocking is a technique where you remove the backbone from the turkey and then flatten it out. This technique reduces cooking time. It also ensures even cooking between the white and dark meat.

Because all the meat is on the same plane and is equally exposed to the heat, it cooks more evenly. There is no more overcooked white meat, while the thighs struggle to get cooked.

Additionally, it creates a crispier skin when you let it dry in the fridge. When cooking the turkey, all the skin is on top of the bird. This allows the skin to get very crispy.

A more functional reason to spatchcock your turkey is that it takes up less vertical space. This lets you accommodate more dishes on the other oven racks.

How to Spatchcock a Turkey

1. Put the turkey on a stable cutting board, breast side down, and cut out the backbone.
2. Turn the turkey over, and press on it to flatten.
3. Press down on the thighs until they pop out of the sockets and the legs lie flat.
5. Let the wet brine cool to room temperature or cooler. Put the turkey in the brine for 24 hours or so.

Make Some Turkey Stock. Use it for gravy on Thanksgiving

Here’s a recipe for turkey stock with all the good stuff. Take the extras from inside the turkey to make a great stock for your gravy on Thanksgiving Day.

Ingredients:

• Turkey backbone, hearts, gizzards
• 1 onion, halved or quartered
• 2 carrots, roughly chopped
• 2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
• 2-3 garlic cloves, smashed
• A handful of fresh parsley
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp peppercorns
• Salt to taste

Instructions:

1. Place the turkey parts in a large pot and cover with cold water
2. Add the onion, carrots, celery, garlic, parsley, bay leaves, and peppercorns.
3. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 3-4 hours.
4. Skim off any foam that rises to the surface.
5. Strain the stock, discarding the solids.
6. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
7. Let it cool and store it for when you need it. Your gravy is going to be sensational!

Wednesday – the day before Thanksgiving. Dry rub and flavor the turkey

The process of dry brining is salting and seasoning the turkey and allowing it to rest. Combine salt and seasonings and rub all over the turkey skin. Refrigerate for 24 hours uncovered.

Dry Brine Rub Ingredients for Spatchcocked Turkey

• (1) 16-pound turkey brined, dried, and cleaned
• 2 tbsp coarse kosher salt
• 1½ tsp black pepper
• Lemon Zest from one lemon
• 1 bunch of thyme, rosemary, oregano, or any other dry spices.
• 10 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled

Dry Rub Instructions for Spatchcocked Turkey

1. Remove the turkey from the wet brine.
2. Clean the salt and herbs from the turkey.
3. Press down on the thighs until they pop out of the sockets and the legs lie flat.
4. In a small bowl, stir together salt, pepper, and lemon zest, and smear the mixture all over the turkey.
5. Put herb sprigs and garlic over the bird.
6. Refrigerate, uncovered, overnight, lying flat on a sheet pan

Thursday – Thanksgiving Day – What you will need

• One brined 16 lb turkey, dry rub cleaned off the carcass, at room temperature
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, more for drizzling
• 1 cup or more of dry white wine, as needed, for the pan
• 1 large onion, halved and sliced 3/4-inch thick (not thinner)
• Salt for the onions
• Instant Read Thermometer

Get Ready for Roasting the Spatchcocked Turkey

• Remove the turkey from the refrigerator 1 hour before you want to roast it.
• Take all the herb sprigs and garlic cloves off the surface of the turkey.
• Remove the racks from the oven so you can place the turkey on the oven floor
• Heat oven to 450 degrees.
• STOVE TOP TURKEY PREPARATION
• Place a large, empty heavy-duty roasting pan on top of the stove, across two burners.
• Heat the pan for a minute, until the pan is quite hot.
• Add the oil, and let it heat up for a few seconds.
• Place the turkey in the roasting pan with the breast side up. Position the legs parallel to the short sides of the pan. Make sure they have room to flop open. They should protrude.
• Press on the splayed legs so they touch the bottom of the pan.
• Let the turkey sear for 5 minutes, pressing down on the legs.
• Pour wine into the bottom of the pan to a depth of 1/8 inch.
• Scatter onions around the turkey and sprinkle them with salt.
• Drizzle turkey and onions with a little olive oil.
• TURKEY INTO THE OVEN
• Put the pan in the oven, set it on the oven floor roast for 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes at 450, reduce the heat to 350 degrees,
• As the turkey cooks, occasionally check the onions to make sure they don’t dry out. and that they don’t burn. Add wine as needed.
• Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh (but not touching the bone) reads 165.
• The breast meat should be at least 160°F. This process will take about another 40 to 65 minutes, depending on your oven and the pan you use.
• Transfer the turkey and let it rest for 20 minutes before carving.

While the Turkey Rests, make the Gravy

Ingredients for Turkey Gravy:

• Pan drippings from your roasted turkey
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups turkey stock (or chicken broth)
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste
• A whisk

Instructions for Turkey Gravy:

1. Warm your turkey (or chicken or veggie stock) stock.
2. Remove your turkey from the roasting pan to let it rest before carving.
3. Heat the roasting pan over medium heat, with the pan drippings
4. Add the flour, whisking constantly to form a roux.
5. Gradually whisk in the warm turkey stock, continuing to whisk until the mixture is smooth.
6. Add the soy sauce and bring to a simmer. Soy Sauce gives the gravy color and Umami flavor.

Why use Soy Sauce in your Turkey Gravy

Using soy sauce with turkey gravy adds depth and Umami flavor. The savory profile of soy sauce complements the richness of the gravy, enhancing the overall taste. It can also help balance out any sweetness from other ingredients, creating a more complex flavor profile. Plus, it gives the gravy a slightly darker color, which can be visually appealing!

How to Carve a Spatchcocked Turkey

Every Thanksgiving, I roast a beautiful turkey. I bring it to the table to show the admiring guests. And, then I would butcher it into an unrecognizable mess.

That is 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.  There is also an article in the New York Times food section that details how to carve a spatchcocked turkey

http://www.nytimes.com/video/dining/100000002542844/how-to-carve-a-turkey.html

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If you like this recipe for a Spatchcocked turkey, you should try another one. It is our recipe for Feijoada, The Brazilian National Dish.

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