The New York Times’ Guide to Spatchcock Turkey: A Foolproof Thanksgiving Recipe

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I usually carve the turkey after it cools, then put it into the refrigerator. I fill my crockpot with about an inch of turkey stock and turn it on high a few hours before I want to eat. After its warm I add the carved turkey pieces and reset the temperature to low/keep warm. It will stay warm and moist in the crockpot for hours. And it frees up space in your oven.

In response to a few inquiries, an 11–13 pound spatchcocked turkey will fit perfectly on a half sheetpan. If it were any bigger, I would definitely cut off the thighs and legs and arrange them on either side of the butterflied breast. Get a pair of good poultry shears. OXO makes a good one. Remove the wish bone before using the shears to cut on both sides of the spine. It will make it easier. Add the spine (broken into pieces) with the giblets to make a stock for the gravy.

I did this last year follow Inas make-ahead book recipe and it worked FANTASTICALLY.

Help, I’ve never done this before. I need help with a small detail re the process. Do you refrigerate the cooked spatchcocked turkey and then reassemble it on its original roasting pan for the second roast, or do you pack it for refrigeration and reorganize it for the second baking?

I host 10-15 friends and family for Thanksgiving. They used to rave about my roast/stuffed turkey. Subsequently, several years prior, I included an additional pair of legs that I had confitted in duck fat and roasted in order to crisp the skin. Because it was so popular, I now confit the entire decapitated turkey (without the stuffing) in a gallon of duck fat the day before serving, and crisp it for about 20 minutes at 170°C. Sweet, tender, succulent meat with crisp skin is a total favorite.

I’ve always been a spatchcock, and for the past few years, I’ve been doing two at once, carving them, and then hurrying or schlepping them to my parents’ house, which is ten miles away, since my mom can no longer handle the cooking. This make-ahead recipe will save me! Thank you Melissa!.

Jeff, Ive been doing that for years now: smoke or roast turkey; chill. Carve cold (juices stay in) just before reheat. Reheat is different this way however: You need moisture. Our current method, which works well, is to tightly foil wrap the carved pieces and place them on a steam tray or rimmed sheet pan that has been soaked in turkey stock. Its impossible for the bird to lose moisture this way. We reheat at 250 until pan temp comes up, then hold at about 155 so not overcooked. No crispy skin, though!.

It does. During the first Thanksgiving after the COVID-19 pandemic, I prepared two spatchcocked turkey breasts and sent one, along with all the sides prepared for reheating, to our daughter and SIL, who were too sick to cook and were only recovering from the pandemic, forty minutes away. Husband I ate the other one and our reheated sides.

A pair of Felco pruning shears that are sharp and in good condition will definitely help you quickly tackle spatchcocking if you’re a conscientious gardener who maintains your equipment. Admittedly, I’ve only tried this with chicken, but in two weeks I’ll give it a shot with a turkey.

The idea, I believe, is that the turkey can be reheated in the same oven as the typical sides while baking at a temperature much lower than the original roast (450 degrees).

https://www.seriouseats.com/butterfiled-roast-turkey-with-gravy-recipe Did this last year. Worked great.

Ummmm…may I come to your house for Thanksgiving this year???

This was fantastic, but the (beautiful) skin was extremely salty; do you rinse the bird after the dry brine to remove the salt?

The turkey was great. And most importantly, Done On Time for dinner. A few points: An accurate digital thermometer must be used to determine interior temperature. Time alone is not enough to judge doneness. On the first roasting, 165 F must be reached in the thigh. If the breast is getting above 155 F, cover with foil. Getting the par-cooking done to temp will insure that the timing is much more predictable the next day. Still good to start a half-hour early. Plan ahead to make stock for gravy.

I also had difficult with even cooking of the turkey. I did not purchase a frozen turkey, so thawing was not an issue. I cooked it for an hour the day before, brined it to room temperature, and cooked it for an additional hour as per all the instructions. The thighs registered 165 degrees, the breast in the 130s. It took over another hour to finish cooking, which threw the timing of the side dishes off. That said, it was absolutely delicious. Thankfully, we had very flexible guests!.

I followed the instructions and took my thigh’s temperature, which turned out to be AMAZING, but when it came time to carve the breast, it was raw and only two inches deep. Probably was super frozen although I did an ample thaw in fridge. Just a reminder to check the breast even though it usually cooks more quickly than the thigh.

Do I reheat the turkey with the foil on?

No, roast as usual.

Hi! I’m roasting this right now. I no longer have that bag of innerds. What did you do for gravy?.

I asked the same question a few days ago. No answer yet!

Sorry for the late answer. But it will still be good next year. With this dry-brine, spatchcocked method, few pan drippings are produced. So, you need to plan ahead for the gravy. Make the stock on the first day. Better Than Bouillon brand makes a roast turkey flavor that works pretty well. Make a nice stock as you would with onion, celery carrot, mushroom, parsley. Add some white wine, cook the alcohol off. Then add the store-bought stock base, to get the concentration you want.

The first step involves setting a large rimmed baking sheet on top of a flat wire rack, and then placing the turkey on top of the rack. Thank you! Does the turkey remain on the rack during the entire recipe—that is, during the initial cooking, cooling, and reheating—or does it occasionally come off the rack and go directly onto the pan?

Every year around Thanksgiving, I remember my late mother-in-law cooking the turkey the day before, carving it, slicing it, wrapping it in aluminum foil, and steaming it gently before the feast. The turkey tasted like a washcloth that had been recovered from the Dead Sea when it was further heated and served with a buttery, salty gravy. —almost toxic, one endured a difficult Thanksgiving and nervously anticipated our Christmas dinner selection, and the month was long.

Home run hit! Fed 20 and didnt break a sweat. No carving pressure. This recipe created a beautiful browned turkey that maintained its juicyness. question: Using a rimmed sheet pan and a flat wire rack. I did have turkey fat to the rim, so why that specific arrangement? Wouldn’t a roasting pan with a rack work?

Does the roasted spatchcocked turkey give up enough juice for the gravy?

Is it possible to transport a whole roasted turkey and reheat it (whole) at another location?

The easiest and best turkey I’ve ever made! I just followed a Saveur magazine article on how to spatchcock a turkey, and it turned out perfectly! Skipped the salting overnight. Patted the Turkey down a little olive oil salt and pepper and into the oven it went. I cooked a 13 1/2-pound turkey for about 1.5 hours at 400 degrees. I also rotated it half way. Super easy to carve. This will forever be the way I make Turkey.

How to roast (or smoke) and reheat….

YouTube has a lot of videos on how to spatchcock a turkey. Just search for it

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Fastest Roast Turkey | Thanksgiving Recipes | The New York Times