Say goodbye to worries about unevenly cooked meat or extended cooking times. Join us on this culinary journey, and we’ll guide you through the steps of creating a delicious and beautifully roasted Thanksgiving centerpiece, specifically crafted for novice cooks. Get ready to impress your guests with a flavorful and hassle-free Thanksgiving feast!
This Turkey recipe for beginners is simple to cook and done in under two hours. For those venturing into the realm of Thanksgiving cooking for the first time, our Turkey recipe for beginners is here to make the process a breeze. Featuring the simplicity of spatchcocking – the art of removing the backbone and flattening the bird – this method ensures a stress-free and perfectly cooked turkey.
benefits of Spatchcocking your turkey
The primary purpose of spatchcocking a turkey or any other bird is to achieve more even cooking. Additionally, it helps to reduce cooking time and improve the quality of the final dish.
The benefits include shorter roasting times, a higher likelihood of moist and tender meat, and the opportunity to achieve crispy skin. Spatchcocking is particularly popular for holiday meals like Thanksgiving because it allows people to serve a perfectly cooked turkey without the hassle of dealing with unevenly cooked meat or excessively long cooking times.
Roast Spatchcock Turkey Recipe
What is the difference between traditional and Spatchcock turkey?
#happythanksgiving2023
What is the difference between traditional and Spatchcock turkey?
Why do people spatchcock turkeys?
What is the difference between splayed and spatchcock turkeys?
What is the purpose of spatchcock?
in addition to answering the above questions, we will give you a very simple turkey recipe for you and your loved ones to enjoy this Thanksgiving 2023
Spatchcocking is a method of preparing poultry, including turkeys, by removing the backbone and flattening the bird to create a more even thickness.
This method is sometimes called “butterflying.” Here are the key differences between a traditional turkey and a spatchcocked turkey, as well as the reasons why people choose to spatchcock their turkeys:
Turkey recipe for beginners
1. Shape and Cooking Time:
Traditional Turkey:
A whole turkey is cooked in its natural, intact shape. The legs and breasts are of different thicknesses, which can lead to uneven cooking. Traditional roasting requires longer cooking times to ensure the thickest parts are fully cooked, potentially leading to overcooked breast meat.
Spatchcocked Turkey:
Spatchcocking involves removing the backbone and flattening the turkey, resulting in a more uniform thickness throughout. This allows the turkey to cook more evenly and at a faster rate than a whole turkey.
2. Faster Cooking:
Because of the even thickness and the flattened shape, spatchcocked turkeys cook faster than whole turkeys, reducing the overall cooking time. This can be advantageous, especially if you want to save time in the kitchen.
3. Crispy Skin:
The flat shape of a spatchcocked turkey allows for more even exposure of the skin to heat, which can result in crispier, more evenly browned skin compared to a whole turkey.
4. Even Cooking:
A traditional turkey often suffers from overcooked breast meat or undercooked dark meat.
With a spatchcocked turkey, the entire bird cooks more evenly, and you’re less likely to end up with dry, overcooked breast meat or undercooked thigh meat.
The terms “splayed” and “spatchcock” are often used interchangeably to describe the same method of preparing poultry; in both cases, the process involves removing the backbone and flattening the bird. Both terms essentially refer to the same cooking technique.
how to cook a turkey for beginners
This is how to make the best Thanksgiving turkey in under 2 hours
Simple Spatchcock Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe 2023
Course: HomeCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy8
servings30
minutes40
minutes300
kcalThe terms “splayed” and “spatchcock” are often used interchangeably to describe the same method of preparing poultry; in both cases, the process involves removing the backbone and flattening the bird. Both terms essentially refer to the same cooking technique.
Ingredients
1 Medium or big-size turkey
salt
baking powder
3 sprigs of fresh rosemary chopped
3 sticks of unsalted butter
1 branch of fresh sage leaves (chop all the leaves) or 1 tablespoon of dry sage herbs
5 cloves garlic chopped or crushed
barbecue rub (you will eyeball it)
olive oil
Directions
- Prep the turkey for roasting using the Spatchcock method
How do you prepare a turkey before cooking? - spatchcock the turkey by removing the backbone use a very sharp knife to cut down the inside of the spine around the backbone
- with a heavy-duty kitchen shear, cut, and remove the backbone. it has to be heavy-duty to cut those thicker turkey bones This will allow for even cooking.
- Next, you want to attack that breastbone. Take your knife again and make a cut down the center of the breastbone
- Then flip the turkey over, like CPR, press down, Flatten it out by applying pressure using your two hands just like a chiropractor applies pressure on your spine until you hear cracks
- once you hear that cracking, give it a few presses and spread it open. the exposed legs will cook faster, the breast will cook slower while staying juicy.
- Finally, separate the skin from the flesh by using your hand for when we add the compound butter later. The turkey is now ready for seasoning.
- For the dry brine
- mix together salt and baking powder which will help make the turkey crispy. (eyeball it depending on the size of your turkey. use your eyes to measure. Maybe one tablespoon of salt with 3 tablespoons of baking powder.
- Seasoning the turkey
- Season all sides of the turkey with black pepper and salt and put in the fridge overnight. on the next day, mix the compound butter below
- For the compound butter
- in a transparent bowl, mix together 3 sticks of unsalted butter (add or reduce the butter as per your personal preference or size of turkey), the freshly chopped rosemary, chopped sage, crushed garlic, and the barbecue rub.
- How to prepare the turkey before cooking/roasting in the oven
- It’s the next day, take your turkey from the fridge. you will notice how dry the skin is which is perfect.
- Insert the compound butter under the turkey skin and also rub some all over the turkey. this is going to bring out the unreal flavor
- rub the turkey with a thin layer of olive oil.
- Finally, place the turkey in a 450-degree oven.
- using a meat thermostat, once the inner temperature of the breast hits 150°F, remove your turkey from the oven and let it stand for 15 mins before serving.HAPPY THANKSGIVING. Serve your turkey on a large tray and garnish the tray with vegetables of your choosing
Notes
- Note that if your turkey is bigger, you will still need to use a meat thermostat, once the inner temperature of the breast hits 150°F.
- You will only have to increase the cooking duration by a few minutes to make it more crispy
- but just check the internal temperature of the turkey breast and once it hits 150°F, then your turkey is good.