At serious eats, we recommend buying a natural unenhanced birdpreferably freerange and of a heritage breed for more flavor. Kenji lopezalt of serious eats toted the spatchcocked turkey as the quickest easiest route to juicy meat, and ultracrisp skin. If wet or drybrining, you can do this up to 3 days ahead of cooking. Spatchcocking delivers breast meat juicier than a standard roast turkey, leg meat more tender than a standard roast turkey, and skin thats so crisp it literally shatters when you poke it, all in about half the time it takes to roast a conventional turkey.
This spatchcock chicken recipe is our favorite way to bake a whole chicken. Kenji graciously agreed to share his spatchcocked roast turkey recipe and video tutorial from serious eats with sporkful readers. Transfer turkey to a rack in a foillined rimmed baking pan. Im not talking deepdish chicagostyle, with its crisp crust and rivers of cheese and sauce. Every part of the roasted chicken turns out juicy and flavorful with the garlic herb butter. Crispskinned butterflied roast turkey adapted from j. November, 2017 spatchcocking your thanksgiving turkey is the fastest, quickest, easiest route to juicy meat, and ultracrisp skin. Rub the turkey all over with kosher salt, figuring about one tablespoon per 5 pounds, or 12 teaspoon per pound exact amounts are not critical. Toast aniseed in a dry small skillet over medium heat, tossing occasionally, until fragrant, about 3 minutes.
Last year, i spent thanksgiving with my friend mary from barefeet in the kitchen and she makes the absolute best roast turkey with wine and herbs. Spatchcock is a funny word, but its a seriously smart way to cook a large bird. How to cook a spatchcock turkey the fastest, easiest, best way to cook a thanksgiving bird spatchcocking delivers breast meat juicier than a standard roast turkey, leg meat more tender than a standard roast turkey, and skin thats so crisp it literally shatters when you poke it, all in about half the time it takes to roast a. If you spatchcock cook your turkey, can you still make. How to cook a spatchcocked turkey cravings of a lunatic. Better home cooking through science based on his serious eats column of the same name is a new york times bestseller, recipient of a james beard award. Basically, its a method for lazy folks with great taste. Place chicken, breast side down, on a cutting board. Find out why spatchcocking your turkey that is, cutting out the backbone and flattening it out before roastingis the fastest, easiest route to a juicy thanksgiving bird. It lived behind a paywall, and almost nobody got to see it. Spatchcocked turkey logistics thanksgiving roasting size. A perfect thanksgiving bird on the table in under 90 minutes.
But youre a thanksgiving pro by now youve watched kenjis video about how to spatchcock a turkey. Using poultry shears, cut along both sides of backbone, and remove backbone. The best turkey gizzard recipes on yummly pickled turkey gizzards, turkey gizzards, juiciest turkey recipe ever. A spatchcocked turkey, on the other hand, resembles a cuboid, in which the top surface is skin and the volume is meat. Spatchcock your turkey and save hours this thanksgiving. The spatchcock turkey guide do you have your turkey yet. Spatchcocking delivers breast meat juicier than a standard roast turkey, leg meat more tender than a standard roast turkey, and skin thats so. How to brine a turkey for thanksgiving serious eats. Place turkey in the oven on the middle rack, and cook for 80 to 90 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches of the breast is approximately 150 degrees, and the thigh reaches. For best results, look for a 10 to 12pound turkey, which will be easier to handle and cook more evenly. Because its resting on top of a roasting pan or baking sheet, one side of that sphere will always cook more than the other. Serious eats and each offer mouthwateringly gorgeous ideas for how to plate the carvedup turkey to best effect.
How to cook a spatchcock turkey the fastest, easiest, best way to cook a thanksgiving bird. Spatchcocked turkey with anise and orange bon appetit. Depending on the size of your bird you may need several days. This video is unavailable because we were unable to load a message from our sponsors. Kenji lopezalts butterflied roast turkey with gravy recipe. A regular turkey can be approximated as a sphere with meat inside and skin on the outside. Serious eats video brining or drybrining your bird can mean the difference between dry turkey and supremely moist and plump turkey. The turkey is spatchcocked and drybrined with kosher salt, and then left to sit looselycovered in the refrigerator for 24 to 48 hours. This will be our 2nd year doing a dry brined and spatchcocked bird for thanksgiving, using the serious eatskenji lopez alt method. Heres a thread from chow about spatchcocking large turkeyssomeone reports that she had to use a full size pan 26 x 18 to fit her 26 lb bird. The serious eats guide to thanksgiving cider pairing. Uncover turkey, and place, breast side up, on rack in prepared baking sheet.
Ive been doing chickens using the same method over the past month or so as practice runs. You may want to stick with a turkey thats no more than 12 12. My mom has been making spatchcock turkey for years in fact, i started this post for you guys 4 years ago. Stir together oil, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. If you find a lower temperature, return the turkey to the oven. Kenji lopezalt from serious eats explains how and why youd want to spatchcock a turkey in the above video, but it basically boils down to this. Over the years, ive written many articles on brining or not brining turkeys. Although kenji says you can use a 12 14 pound turkey, i found that my 12.
The bigger performer seems to be this serious eats article, how to cook a spatchcocked turkey. Spatchcocking turkey cooks more evenly and more quickly than nonbutterflied versions, for stunningly crisp skin and perfectly cooked white and dark meat. Several years ago, we produced a food lab video series for serious eats. The story of spatchcocking and how mark bittman changed.
I love the info at serious eats, but i made my first spatchcocked chicken at 450 f, and got a lot of smoke and spattering grease had to clean the oven after. Underneath the crispy skin, the tender meat is flavored with an herbinfused butter or ghee, if you prefer. Spatchcocking is a method of removing the turkeys backbone to flatten its body prior to. Save the backbone, neck and giblets to make a rich turkey broth below. Ask a butcher to remove both the back and breast bones from your turkey. Kenji lopezalt, serious eats managing culinary director is a passionate advocate of the spatchcocking aka, butterflying a turkey. That means you remove its backbone and lay it flat, so the meat cooks more evenly. How to spatchcock a turkey turkey cooking times, cooking.
Sure, buying a turkey may sound simpleright up until you get to the supermarket. This method keeps the meat moist, and you can cook your whole bird in less than an hour. Serious eats is a leading resource for all things food and drink. Nov 10, 2014 if you havent roasted your turkey like this. Pages other brand kitchencooking serious eats videos knife skills.
How does kenjis roasted turkey recipe compare with alton. Serious eats is the source for all things delicious. Season the turkey generously with salt and pepper on bottom side. Watch the video above or checkout serious eats excellent tutorial. Refrigerate, uncovered, at least 6 hours or up to 12 hours. The only party i hate in the turkey cooking process is the thaw out time.
Heres a photo from this nomnompaleo post that shows a 1214lb bird going into a home oven. Brining your turkey is the first step to juiciness. Then wet brine, drybrine, or season the spatchcocked turkey. Spatchcocked herbroasted turkey recipe taste of home. Im talking thickcrusted, friedonthebottom, puffy, cheesy, focacciaesque pan pizza of the kind that you might remember pizza hut. Turn chicken breast side up, and open the underside of chicken like a book. What is the best temperature to roast a spatchcock chicken. The fastest, easiest thanksgiving turkey, which spread widely on.
Follow our instructions for how to spatchcock a turkey. Unraveling the mysteries of home cooking through science. Dry brinedspatchcocked turkey how to get brown skin. Crispskinned butterflied roast turkey in the kitchen. If you are using adblocking software, please disable it. While there are more than a few guides to spatchcocking serious eats has a great slideshow and explanation of the process, and weve previously mentioned mark bittmans method, i like this video.