One Word: Spatchcocked


 
MichaelLC said:
Chris - or others - I see that you did not take out the keel bone in the spatchcocked turkey, unlike your chickens. Just not worth the hassle, or other reason? Thanks.



SPOILER: I removed it so hope I'm not Heck Outta Luck....
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Michael,
I don't want to remove mine because I want the keel bone to shield the breasts from the heat underneath. Let me know if they end up dry?
 
Donna...
Here's our 2020 turkey as cooked by Maryann...
Was delicious, juicy and overall one of our best if not the best.
Buttered skin and a compound butter using Sterling's Desert Gold under the skin & inside.

2020 Thanksgiving Turkey.jpg
 
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Donna Fong said:
Michael,
I don't want to remove mine because I want the keel bone to shield the breasts from the heat underneath. Let me know if they end up dry?
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Ah, interesting. Thanks.

I'll say it was a BIG PiTA and didn't notice that much of a difference either way so probably would not remove next time.

So didn't seem to make it better or worse.
 
I've been spatchcocking my turkey for the past 5 years now but I cook it in my oven @ 450 and its always done in 80 mins. I buy the natural kosher turkey at Trader Joes as they're around 12-13 lbs. Dry brine the skin 24-48 hours with kosher salt and baking power. Apply an herb compound butter under the skin and brush melted butter on top before putting in the oven. All the skin is super crispy.
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I wasn’t brave enough to risk it for Thanksgiving. We oven-baked a 16 pounder in a bag, no brine, just top-seasoned and it came out perfect. 200F internal temp, super juicy all around. I thought 200F would have dried it out, but the oven bag works wonders. I’m going spatchcock and grill the other one we got, maybe some time in December.
 
Karl Quist said:
I went through 3 other pairs of poultry shears before I finally bought the OXO ones. They are fantastic. I wish I had bought them to begin with. Spatchcocking that big turkey will certainly help with cooking it evenly. You might even want to consider cutting it up into quarters. Have a happy thanksgiving!
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Thanks for this post. I thought to not buy cheap, but didn’t know what was good. Just ordered a pair from Amazon.
 
MichaelLC said:
Chris - or others - I see that you did not take out the keel bone in the spatchcocked turkey, unlike your chickens. Just not worth the hassle, or other reason? Thanks.
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I remove the keel bone in chicken because that's how Paul Kirk taught me to butterfly a chicken, it's fun to do, and it makes it easy to separate the chicken into two halves either before but especially after cooking. But it's not a requirement--most people won't go to the effort to remove a chicken's keel bone.

As for turkey, I've never tried removing the keel bone. Your experience confirms my assessment that it would be a pain in the butt to accomplish.
 
Chris Allingham said:
I remove the keel bone in chicken because that's how Paul Kirk taught me to butterfly a chicken, it's fun to do, and it makes it easy to separate the chicken into two halves either before but especially after cooking. But it's not a requirement--most people won't go to the effort to remove a chicken's keel bone.

As for turkey, I've never tried removing the keel bone. Your experience confirms my assessment that it would be a pain in the butt to accomplish.
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It really was - certainly during my first time anyway.

I changed too much from last year to compare between this and last year, but both were good.
 
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