Today I am going to share how to spatchcock a turkey for a fast-cooking turkey. There are so many ways to cook a turkey but today I am going to share the most useful and less time-consuming way than traditional roast turkey. I used this way of cooking turkey and trust me it is the best way to make juicy meat with other loaded skins of flavors.
HOW TO SPATCHCOCK A TURKEY
I always shared many useful ways of cooking different recipes in different ways, today I am here to share ways of spatchcocking a turkey, if you are wondering about its name, let me tell you it is another name butterflied turkey. The process of butterfly flying is not so difficult and surely you can do it in a few easy steps without much effort, it may take a bit of pressure to crack the bird open. This is how I proceeded in this process:
First, remove the giblets and backbone.the very first thing I did, was I washed the turkey and then placed it on a paper towel so that all the moisture was absorbed completely and then placed it breast side down. Placing it on the paper towel dries and helps in marinating it later and flavors stick over it easily. After exposing its chest, cut it along the sides of the backbone with the help of poultry shears and proceed from the tail towards the neck and remove it then. As I was cutting it alone, I have to push it a little bit harder while cutting it throughout.
Pro Tip: I didn't toss the backbone so you should also store it in the freezer for homemade turkey stock or gravy.
Second, open up the turkey.After cutting the bird, I used the tip of the knife for slicing the keel bone so that the turkey opens easily so that I can flatten the bird easily. If you are not aware of the keel bone let me tell you, it's a dark bone in the middle of the breast, you will not be able to open up the bird until you slice it with a knife.
Lastly, flatten the turkey.Now it's time to do the most difficult step which is applying force to flatten the bird. For this purpose, I flipped the turkey in such a way that its breast side up. After placing it in the right place I applied force over it with the heel of my hand and pressed it until I heard a cracking sound from the chest of the bird. At this point, my turkey was flattened properly.
Pro Tip:to crack your turkey open you have to prepare yourself for cracking it, for doing so you can prepare yourself to perform a Heimlich maneuver with full force.
TIME TO ROAST YOUR SPATCHCOCK TURKEY
After performing all the above-mentioned steps you will be pleased to know that you have gotten a spatchcocked turkey. Now it is ready to cook and you can cook it easily, I added my favorite spices, rubs, and other flavors enhancing ingredients before cooking them. I rubbed all the ingredients on the turkey as well as under its skin so that all the flavors are distributed properly and I got a perfect taste after cooking. You can enhance the taste of turkey by using other ingredients like cheese and other garnishing flavors, you can also add spices according to your taste. The taste of the skin can be changed by adding new ingredients and for a perfect and balanced taste rub all the ingredients over as well as under the skin.
SPATCHCOCK AHEAD OF TIME
If you are short of time, you can spatchcock the turkey a day before roasting it. After the spatchcock, just place the turkey on a baking sheet and place it in the fridge uncovered for a night. For crispy and yummy skin just rub it with salt after removing it from the fridge.
Conclusion
There are so many ways of spatchcock turkey, but here is the easiest way, remove the backbone and expose it by placing the breast side down. After that cut the bird alongside the backbone and proceed from tail to head side and push a little harder for opening it up. After cutting the bird open it up by lying it down exposing the chest side and push the bone with the heel of your hand until you hear a crack sound.
FAQ's
Can I spatchcock the turkey ahead of time?
Yes, you can spatchcock turkey a day before cooking it.
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