3 ms·

All the brining advice is good, but in my opinion there's an even easier way to avoid dry turkey- spatchcocking. Get some good poultry shears and remove the sp

All the brining advice is good, but in my opinion there's an even easier way to avoid dry turkey- spatchcocking. Get some good poultry shears and remove the spine of the bird, then press down on the sternum and splay the bird out. Everything gets more evenly exposed to heat, it takes way less time to cook, I've never made a bird (turkey or chicken) this way that wasn't delicious. Most frozen turkeys are already thoroughly brined so imo (and the opinions of many recipe writers) it's not strictly necessary.

MH15 5y ago
This is the way. Need a large oven pan however as the bird is much wider when spatchcocked.
- rp1 5y ago
  I usually do a 10lb turkey, and it fits nicely on a baking sheet.
KineticLensman 5y ago
Yes. If I roast a chicken in my kettle barbeque, I always joint it into four - first into front-back halves, then separate each half in the natural middle of each. The kettle has briquettes on two sides and the bird sits on a frame between them, with something underneath to catch the juices. Because the heat is indirectly from the sides, there aren't hot spots as such. This is fire-and-forget cooking: once the coals are hot and the chicken is positioned, I can put the lid on and leave it alone for two hours, when it will be ready. If you're looking, it's not cooking.
mr_tristan 5y ago
Spatchcocked my first turkey yesterday, which I cooked in a pellet grill; came out great. I usually do that with my chicken, which also comes out nicely, so I guess I was pretty used to it. But it's honestly pretty easy, and I agree, much faster to cook well. My other real tip is to just spatchcock and season the skin night before and let the skin dry out in the fridge. Makes for nice, crispy skin. I drizzled butter over the skin twice during the cook, and the color came out beautifully I also used an injection for the first time instead of brining, which was easy. I suspect I could have cranked up the heat and got this 14 1/2 lb bird cooked in 3 1/2 hours, no problem. It actually feels quite forgiving.
busymom0 5y ago
> spatchcocking I learnt that a few years ago for whole chickens from a Gordon Ramsey video. Best tip!

MH15 5y ago

This is the way. Need a large oven pan however as the bird is much wider when spatchcocked.

rp1 5y ago
I usually do a 10lb turkey, and it fits nicely on a baking sheet.

KineticLensman 5y ago

Yes. If I roast a chicken in my kettle barbeque, I always joint it into four - first into front-back halves, then separate each half in the natural middle of each. The kettle has briquettes on two sides and the bird sits on a frame between them, with something underneath to catch the juices. Because the heat is indirectly from the sides, there aren't hot spots as such. This is fire-and-forget cooking: once the coals are hot and the chicken is positioned, I can put the lid on and leave it alone for two hours, when it will be ready. If you're looking, it's not cooking.

mr_tristan 5y ago

Spatchcocked my first turkey yesterday, which I cooked in a pellet grill; came out great. I usually do that with my chicken, which also comes out nicely, so I guess I was pretty used to it. But it's honestly pretty easy, and I agree, much faster to cook well. My other real tip is to just spatchcock and season the skin night before and let the skin dry out in the fridge. Makes for nice, crispy skin. I drizzled butter over the skin twice during the cook, and the color came out beautifully I also used an injection for the first time instead of brining, which was easy. I suspect I could have cranked up the heat and got this 14 1/2 lb bird cooked in 3 1/2 hours, no problem. It actually feels quite forgiving.

busymom0 5y ago

> spatchcocking I learnt that a few years ago for whole chickens from a Gordon Ramsey video. Best tip!