Look at vIdeos for spatchcock. Add extra step of cutting breast bone.

I have cut up a turkey. It isn’t hard; it isn’t easy. Mostly, it takes some strength. I used a chef’s knife and kitchen scissors. I may have used a mallet (a/k/a a hammer wrapped in a clean dish towel)

I'd spatchcock it all the way too--then you get the dark and light meat for each holiday.

I have some huge deadly finger-losing Oxo poultry shears for turkey spatchcocking. They help a lot.

If you have a huge sink, you can do it in there. It's not tidy work. :)

As someone who has never attempted to cook a turkey in my life….I find this post equal parts terrifying and borderline violent. 😳😂

So what a pity you did not have their meat department use their meat saw to cut your turkey in half. That is how it is normally done. You would have to thaw and refreeze to cut your turkey in half with the tools a normal family home would have. It can be done with care but....The absolutely best turkey I ever ate was one I bought and had cut in half. But that was while it was frozen. Refreezing has its dangers. Be aware of that but it can be done.

Yes. I have done this several times. It all started when one time I was at the farmers' market and I wanted a turkey breast and the farmer said, 'I dont have a breast, but I have a half a turkey" I has become my favorite way to cook turkey, so I started spatchcocking them, and then one year, my husband picked up the turkey and they said we have 10 lbs or 24 pounds, he figured bigger was better. LOL There were 5 people and one is 90. Half went in the freezer uncooked. I buy fresh turkeys so I never worry about freezing the half I dont want to cook.

Watch a video. Take your time. It does require good poultry shears, a good knife and a bit of strength. You got this!

Thanks for the tips!

Patriciae - Trader Joe's doesn't have a traditional meat department where they cut and package meats, so that wasn't an option.

Now I'm off to look for poultry shears online.

I've done it with my big chefs knife and some cheap dollar store scissors. As mentioned, best to do it in the sink for ease of clean up. Good luck, it's not difficult.

Poultry shears are your friend

You'll be surprised how easy it is if you have a really sharp heavy knife and/or poultry shears. Just cut along the side of the backbone (as close as you can get, don't try to cut through the center of the backbone) and then smash down on the breastbone (from the skin side) with your hand until it cracks and again cut as close as possible to one side of the breast bone.

Poultry shears are on their way!

Fortunately, I have a giant sink.

I put a muslin or cotton (not terry) big square kitchen towel in the sink (opened and covering as much of the sink as possible) and it keeps the turkey from sliding around too much.
eta: I think one time I actually used a bath towel (I bleach mine) for more padding and to cover more of the sink.

I use my pruning shears all the time to cut chickens up. I keep one pair in the kitchen but you can always wash it well with dishwasher soap. We always buy whole chickens and cut in half, quarters and pieces - even cutting the breasts into two pieces. We do this with non-frozen chickens and should work for the frozen ones - if not ........ gotta a saws-all?

Cutting one in half that is semi-thawed is a piece of cake. No problem at all. The bones and cartilage of poultry these days is so soft. A perfectly ordinary pair of heavy scissors would do it. The other option is boning out the breast with leg on each side. You dont have to split bones. Just slice down the ridge of the breast bone and scrape the meat away from the breast bone. When you hit the thigh joint just pull it out of the socket by pivoting it backwards and cut any tendon and skin.

Be sure if you're partially thawing the bird to divide it, do so in the refrigerator. As long as it stays at fridge temperature or lower you can refreeze it, though the quality may suffer a little.

I forgot to add that I think you'll actually love the way the 1/2 turkey comes out. Evenly cooked, and so fast. I havent gone back, if I am cooking a whole turkey, I spatchcock it.

I would have DH take it out to the shop and use the band saw!! LOL How about cooking it as usual and freezing the half you don't eat...keep it for Christmas?

A question, if you thaw it to cut it are you going to refreeze one half of it?

eta: I’m guessing its already frozen.

I would think a band saw would work. I would take a reciprocating saw to it if there were a way to clamp the two sides.

The turkey is not frozen.

The videos make it look easy. You need a good quality shear.

“The turkey is not frozen”

Another question, is the plan to cut it and freeze both halves?

I know nothing about already brined turkeys. I did have a fresh turkey go bad because I didn’t cook it within a few days after purchasing.

Not to freak out Nini even more, but if cooked appearances aren't that important, you can snip the last joints of the wings off at this point as well as the entire spine and use them to make gravy ahead of time or to turkey-up some stuffing/dressing cooked on the side.

I'm a little grossed out now.

A neighbor would cook a large turkey for Thanksgiving, then cut it in half. She would freeze half, stuffing and all, and save it for Christmas. Made that holiday easier.

Although the package says that it can keep in the refrigerator until November 29th, I will freeze both halves. Usually I buy two brined turkeys from Trader Joe's and freeze both.

I've been roasting halves for the past 8 or so yrs, I wouldn't go back to roasting an intact bird

The faster cook time is also a plus

I like to do the backbone removal on a half sheet tray

I usually roast both halves and freeze the other well wrapped in plastic and foil

This recipe inspired me to try this method -

BTW - I used a combo of dried herbs as I had them on hand

https://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/recipes-cookbooks/recipes/a684/tyler-florence-turkey-recipe/