It's almost like turbocharging the prep for your Thanksgiving Dinner. Chef Billy from Restaurant Associates stopped by
Tonia's Kitchen to talk about the Spatchcocking method of turkey roasting. Billy says it could cut the time it takes to cook the bird by a good 45-minutes. In short, you pull the backbone out of turkey and butterfly the bird. Because the turkey is flatter, everything cooks at the same, resulting in a juicer bird on the inside, with a crispier skin on the outside. Because everything cooks more evenly, the turkey's time in the oven should be much shorter, which means everyone gets to eat sooner!
- 1 turkey approximately 10-12 lbs, defrosted
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons fresh herbs rosemary, thyme, parsley, sage
- salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 450°F. Combine olive oil and chopped fresh herbs. Set aside.
Remove neck and giblets from the turkey (and reserve for broth or gravy).
Place turkey on a work surface breast side down so the backbone is facing up. Using
poultry shears, cut along each side of the back bone to remove the back bone completely (reserve the bone for broth or gravy).
Flip the turkey over breast side up. Using your palms, press on the turkey to flatten it. You should hear the cartilage in the breast bone crack as it flattens.
Using the poultry shears, cut the wing tips off (reserve for gravy).
Arrange the turkey on a large rimmed baking sheet. Brush with the olive oil mixture and season well with salt and pepper.
Roast the turkey for 1 1/4 hrs to 1 1/2 hrs or until the thickest part of the thigh reaches 165°F.
Remove from the oven and loosely tent with foil. Rest at least 15 minutes before carving.
