Looks yummy! I'm glad it worked out for you. :)

Thanks MGmum
Next year we should invite you to an American Thanksgiving.
The picture was taken after turkey was reposing for 30 minutes. It looked better fresh out of the oven while still puffy. It almost looked like a magazine picture.

It was actually slightly overdone at 1.5 hours - amazing!

I baked at 425 for 30 minutes and then convection roast 325 for the rest of the time

YUM!

We also had success with this method. Cooked an 18 lb bird in 2 1/2 hours. I think it was actually done sooner, but I got tied up with something else for a few minutes, and when I checked on it, it was more than done. Everyone liked it, and while not super moist, it was not dried out at all. Better than the last few I've cooked the usual way. Will definitely do it again. The only casualty was my kitchen shears, broke the handle. I need a good pair of poultry shears or a cleaver next time.

Regarding your comment about poultry shears, I used to have Messermeister shears that I bought in 2006 or something. I lost them in my last move, and when I went to buy them again, I was surprised they are no longer made in Germany, but are now made in China. Also, it seems recent reviews on Amazon aren't as good as the older reviews were. So for this Thanksgiving, I looked at Wusthof shears. You have to look carefully - turns out some of the Wusthof shears, like the popular 5558, are now made in China (the number now has a "1" after it, i.e. 5558-1). I ended up with the Wusthof Grand Prix shears, still made in Germany. They worked well, sharp, and cut through the turkey bones easily. Still not as heavy duty as my old shears were, but I guess that is impossible to find these days. The Wusthof shears do not come apart for cleaning, but I actually wanted that, cause in my experience, the ones that come apart for cleaning sometimes come apart when you don't want them to.

I also looked at the Kershaw Shears, made in Japan. They get great reviews too, and I like that they have the "bone notch" which is very helpful in cutting poultry bones. I just ended up with the Wusthof because it doesn't come apart which I like better, but that's personal choice. Also the Wusthof Grand Prix shears come with a lifetime guaranty.

Wusthof Grand Prix Kitchen Shears

Kershaw Taskmaster Shears

My daughter and I also did this...I'm not sure how big the bird was (between 14-16lbs) and we cooked ours for 3 hours at 275. We used a V-rack inverted (upside down) to hold our butterflied turkey (I had the butcher do this for us). Turned out wonderful. But we forgot to take a good picture!

Glad others gave it a try as well. I wish the picture was better - it looked better than the picture.

My brother did a video during the spatchcocking - It was quite graphic when my niece's boyfriend pressed down the breast bone.

Mrs N - I will check out the shears - I will look to see what brand my friend loaned me. It did have the notch and they are probably 30+ years old.

Old Bat - did you try it as well?

Another spatchcocked bird. 16lb-er took 85 minutes in 440F oven. So moist, even left overs tonight were moist. Would definitely do another turkey this way. Used seriouseats.com recipe.

I spatchcocked ours this year, too. I always do the turkey on the smoker, but the wings and drumsticks are usually inedible by the time the rest of the bird is done. It came out much more even this year. I think we have a new tradition!

Christy and mush - pretty!
Christy - did your puppy enjoy the bird as well? In any case, puppy is guarding the turkey.

we spatchcocked the turkey this year too!
13 lb turkey took an hour & a half to cook.
must have been good...not much left over.
LOL!

I've been interested in this method but cannot imagine its easy to "break" the bird. Video anyone? I'm not sure I have the strength to do it.

Mush creek, any smoker tips? Temp, timing, size of bird? Dh likes to smoke the turkey, but I'm always trying to talk him into just doing a breast because it's easier to do evenly. Perhaps spatchcocking is the answer.

Breezy - I am not sure I could have cracked the ribs on my own.
I will try to send you a video. It is graphic but you can hear and see the results.
Serious eats has a video of the whole process. I linked it below.

Hope you had a non eventful thanksgiving - for those newbies - breezy tried to clean her oven a couple days before thanksgiving a few years ago with almost disastrous results. GW saved the day. I think it might have been Dodge that saved the day but not sure.

Here is a link that might be useful: Spatchcock

Hey gem, it looks deep golden and glorious. You done good, girl.
We did an 8lb. Breast at 400 for a bit over 1.5 hours and it was perfect. Best ever. But no spatchcocking. Have a great holiday everyone. And rest those tootsies,

Thanks A2. I will check out the link....and do it when the kids aren't around. :)

My turkey day was uneventful except for some minor family drama. No oven mishaps. Yes, it was a Dodge who suggested the fix that unstuck the door. We later had the door alignment adjusted so that it would not stick again during self-clean. You know, though, that those ovens were my first set. I'm on the second Wolfs, which also have chipped enamel, and am now waiting for the new M series to be released so I can swap for those. Looks like you enjoyed yours. Good to be around your family after your traveling.

Breezy - no recent traveling other than bicycling. I only worked 5 days all summer.
We had part of our family here for turkey day. My SIL hurt her knee so couldn't help but my niece and her boyfriend were a lot of help. He is 6'4" and did the CPR on turkey as you will see in the video I send you.
The link is fine to watch. It is the home video that is graphic.
Hope your kids and husband are doing well

On our Wolf - I had an error code yesterday. I turned it off and back on and it went away. Unfortunately, I didn't write is down but I think it might ha e been the MDL error. Service mode will show the last 5 faults but I have to figure out how to go into service mode.

Westsider - thanks! Next time you can try spatchcocking and bet it will be faster and better

I just had some leftovers(ok -last night) and still moist and tender!

Alas, puppy (nicked named Swedish Chef b/c she's kind of dopey like the Muppet character) did not get any turkey - upset tummy from somewhere.

Our turkey was still partially frozen when we spatchcocked it. It made the back easier to cut out but DH had do to do some strong man handling to get the breast flattened out. It was great to have our new deep single bowl sink to do this in! Although I've butterflied many chickens, I found the seriouseats info helpful as well.

I will definitely spatchcock next time. I sort of did it this time but the butcher did it for me. A huge bird but I only wanted to use the breast and legs so that is how it all ended up for me. It turned out wonderfully and everyone said it was really delicious because it was not dried out and it was very moist even the next day. It browned so nicely on the outside and the inside was moist and juicy. If you have a local butcher or even your grocer may do it for you so you don't have to do the unappealing part of spatchcocking.

I also wish I had taken a picture. It looked so pretty on the pewter oval platter. It sliced so easily as well. All went well.

A2 - Yes we did, and both DH and I agree we'll do it again this way! We had a 14 pound fresh turkey, on whom I did the back bone removal surgery. The trick then (while it's still on it's breast) is to use a knife to score down the long oblong bone in the center of the breast. Flip bird, push down as in CPR and snap! (It took me a while to remember to score the bird, you can picture me jumping up and down for a while, pushing as hard as I could, trying to snap the breastbone...).

We used Bon Appetit's recipe for this, which involved an aniseed/kosher salt/orange zest, rosemary/thyme/pepper rub for almost a day, prior to cooking. Fabulous flavor, moist turkey even though we way overcooked it (to 190+). Which I never mind, because I want my poultry to be cooked thoroughly!

Only issue was the gravy. I used a large, rimmed baking sheet, with the turkey directly on top of the vegetables. The veggies never caramelized, so even though I'd premade my lovely turkey stock, the usual, magnificent flavors weren't there when I finished the gravy. Next time, I need a tray which is larger and something to raise the turkey/chicken up.

Please send me your video, I'd love to see it (and catch a few peeks of your lovely kitchen!). No turkey pictures but DH snapped a dessert picture ... not that anyone wanted dessert by this time. Waving to my old buddy

Oldbat2be - What a lovely photo! We had snow for Thanksgiving too!

I always smoke poultry at 325 to 350. You need a high enough temperature to crisp the skin. Our 14 lb. turkey this year took about 3 hours, mostly because it was very windy and cold, so I couldn't get the smoker as hot as I usually do.

I place a drip pan on a separate rack under the bird, with about 1/2" of water in the pan. We save the drippings for an incredible gravy that picks up the smokiness. I also do pans of stuffing on the smoker for about the last hour.

Mushcreek, thanks for the smoker information!

I spatchcocked a 20 pounder this year. Smoked it over pecan and hickory at 375 on the charcoal smoker.

For those looking at the shears for larger birds, I found a great set. The Stanley fat max wire snips at your favorite home improvement store. No problems at all with bones, and they have a very comfortable padded handle for about $14.

I tend to have dedicated tools for cooking, my 500,000 btu propane torch works exceptionally well for charring peppers for salsa and chili! Technically it was sold as a weed burner...

Ismellbbq, thanks for the smoker info. Lol on the blow torch for cooking.

A2--only 5 days all summer!? Wow. Is the slow down permanent? Maybe an actual retirement? :) Sorry I can't help you with searching for error codes. I know my Miele tech can do that on my DW. Lucky that you aren't getting porcelain flakes.

OB2B--is that you in the photo?? Wow!! So not how I pictured you in my head. Funny how we get those images based on our own imaginations, isn't it? The view out your window there is lovely, and the chandy echoes the icy coldness of the exterior. Beautiful.

Breezy and Oldbat - I sent a video to you.
Breezy - I am trying to be retired. Lots of offers but have turned them all down so far. The hardest one to turn down was in PA near DM but too long. 5-10 months!

This post was edited by a2gemini on Tue, Dec 2, 14 at 15:32

ismel - great idea to go to a hardware store to snag the bone cutters!
Zowie - on the torch!
I just went to a cooking class at our local oil and vinegar store and Chef Andy recommended a hardware store torch to caramelize things - He said the kitchen ones were worthless.
Guess I better add those items to my Christmas list!

I tried to edit post above - but it was popping up with the HTML code so just asking another question.
Ismel - do you know which model you bought. I went to Stanley and quite a few to pick from.
Thanks
A2gemini

A2, the snips I have are the Stanley FMHT73571, technically they call them tin snips rather than wire snips. They are the ten inch model, actually light duty for metal work but more than heavy enough for cooking!

Perfect. We might have tin snips in the basement. If not, I will have DH pluck a pair for my stocking.
Thanks.

Thanks for the rec on the tin snips. Cheaper than poultry shears and undoubtedly stronger.
Going on my list, too!

Weird - it re-posted my response from a few days ago. Not sure how that happened.

This post was edited by a2gemini on Fri, Dec 5, 14 at 21:36

I'm resurrecting this, as my very first whole turkey venture was today and I spatchcocked it. Also used some hardware snips for the backbone and so glad for that tip!

This is the way to get a full-proof bird. I was paranoid about going over 150 for the breast because my oven probe has been wacky, lately, and it gave me the done signal much quicker than expected. Double checked using DH's Christmas present (Thermapen) and it was perfect. My neighbors couldn't get over how moist is it was and how crispy the skin. Frankly, neither could I!

It was a 12 lb Jennie-O from Thanksgiving sales. Even though it's enhanced, I gave it a light salt/baking powder dusting before letting it dry out in the fridge for 24 hrs to ensure a crisp skin (very important to my kids!). The sucker cooked in less than an hour.

I made 1 side and gravy yesterday, 3 sides and the turkey today, and I'm exhausted! Thank goodness it wasn't for a big crowd.

Happy holiday and goodnight. Spatchcock forever!

Thanks for resurrecting this discussion, alex9179. I've never heard of spatchcocking. I may have to give this a whirl sometime.

The use of tinsnips is a brilliant idea.

Just an FYI if this helps anyone: I never have a dry bird because I cook it in a way that many consider backwards. I poke bits of herbed butter under the skin and then literally baste the raw bird with more herb butter, then cook it for the first 30 minutes or so at 450. This crisps the skin and seems to seal it so the meat doesn't dry out. I don't do any further basting. Just turn the oven down when it's good and brown. Then cook the rest of the way at 350. This also gives you great tasting, crispy skin to munch on.

Funkycamper, I had considered a compound butter under the skin but one of my guests is sensitive to dairy and feels butter contributes to upset. I had a couple of dishes with butter/dairy already! It didn't need anything, though, not even gravy but we used it anyway because it tasted so good! Now that I've had success, I won't mind spending money on a heritage or un-enhanced bird.

I think you're guaranteed tender meat if you cook to temp. I roasted at 425 convection per the seriouseats recipe.

Funky and Alex
Just saw a chicken spatchcock recipe in a newspaper while visiting DM.
I also don't baste anymore per an article a few years back. I deviated from seriouseats and started at high temp for first half hour and then turned down the oven for the remaining time.

Don't know if it will work on a turkey, but for chicken and duck, I have a gardening pruner I keep in my kitchen drawer for heavy-duty cutting. Cheap and REALLY effective. And a spare pair of needlenose pliers, for those fish pinbones and hard-to-pull-off liquid foil seals!

a2gemini, I also cook on high heat the first half-hour, then turn down. Maybe I wasn't clear but I put the herbed butter inside Tom's skin and then do a quick baste with some melted butter prior to putting Tom in the oven. After that, I don't do anymore basting. I probably don't have to do that one basting since there are the buttered skin pockets but it only takes a few seconds and just feels like the right thing to do.

What did you read about basting that made you stop doing it entirely? Just curious.

Funky- sorry- I do put olive oil on the bird and this year, i skid garlic under the skin. i also use my own rub on the outside which varies depending on my mood
After it goes in the oven, no more basting
The article was in a BA mag and said to leave the oven door closed. They found no difference in the basted vs not basted turkey but took longer to cook the basted one due to opening the oven and loss of heat.
They recommended olive oil for even browning so switched but might try your butter under the skin trick next year since SC takes a lot less time!

I'm in the "keep the oven door closed" camp, as well.

I wish I had taken a pic. The skin was golden and crunchy without the additional fat...not that I'm opposed! I'll be experimenting in the future. This was my base-line turkey ;)

Molly Stevens, Zuni method, Kenji all advocate a pre salt/drying period in the fridge before roasting. I've never been disappointed with the skin or crust on any of the meats using this method, not to mention the delicious and tender meat!

Using the carcass and last of the turkey for soup today. Perfect day for it, cold and rainy.

I've never tried the pre-salt/drying method. I may have to pick up a small bird and try that out sometime. Also am going to try spatchcocking with a smaller bird as well. That whole concept just fascinates me.

I agree with not opening the door. That's why I only do it before inserting in the oven. The door stays closed until it's time to check if done.