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Has anyone ever cooked their turkey this way? If so, I'd like to know how it turned out. I'd hate to waste my expensive organic turkey on a method that I've never tried, but I've also been known to undercook and overcook my turkey.. so there's that.. I'm not a very good cook. There are plenty of Youtube vids on it but mostly by regular people.
For those like me who never heard of this method.. From what I've read you cut away the entire backbone from the turkey.. lay the turkey down, skin side up, press on it so the bones break and the turkey lays flatter on the pan and cooks more evenly. It's also supposed to take a lot less time to cook.
spatchcock is pretty much cracked down the middle and butterflied...
many folks have had s.c. chicken..... now you cant grill a whole chicken but if you spatchcock it you can grill it ….or you can always cut all the way thru and cook both halves
I don't see the draw for having a spatchcock thanksgiving turkey …..if cooking time was short ..then maybe it will cook much quicker …
I like to stuff my thanksgiving turkeys you cant do it when spatch-cocked
ive bought 8 turkeys the last few days they are .39lb in local supermarkets time to stock up.
if I was to cook a spatchcock turkey I would cook in a large backing pan....then carve the pieces in the kitchen place on a platter …. this cooking method will not change the flavor of the bird
Time is a factor mainly because I need my oven for other things. I planned on carving it before it hit the table anyway as I'm trying to make this T'day as easy on myself as possible.
Have you ever butterflied a turkey and how difficult is it to cut through that backbone? They make it look so easy online but I have a feeling they probably have better knives and shears than I do.
Here you go. Food52 is a good site that gives good directions. I haven't done a turkey, but have spatchcocked a large chicken, a capon, and the method works beautifully.
It just doesn't seem to make much sense to me. The breast is so thick and the rest of it is going to cook so much quicker.
You need the fat from the dark meat to baste the white meat. A big thick, low fat chunk of meat directly on the grill is going to dry out as it cooks.
Are you cooking it on the grill? When I do a turkey on the grill, it goes into a disposable aluminum turkey pan, breast side down. Cover with foil and cook until nearly done.
Then uncover, turn the turkey over so it is breast side up, put some wet smoker wood onto the fire and finish the turkey off, uncovered to brown and take in some smoke. Your turkey will be moist and flavorful and the pan will contain the drippings to be made into gravy.
I went from plain spatchcocking to a variation. Remove legs and wings, toss wingtips and the back into a stewpot. Toss the liver completely - I like liver, but turkey liver is too much even for me. Put neck and gizzard in stewpot. Slice breast and tenders from keelbone, toss keelbone and ribs in pot.
The good stuff goes in a deep broiler pan with a little chicken broth or water, covered in foil, and basically poached at 325/350 until done. If you are a crisp skin fanatic, deal with that on its own -deep fry, whatever.
The overemphasis on presentation of a whole bird denies the realities of cooking something that large properly. After six slices, it is going to look strange anyway, so why not go for a succulent, moist, easy and safe method of cooking? Spray tan a rubber chicken for the traditionalists.
It just doesn't seem to make much sense to me. The breast is so thick and the rest of it is going to cook so much quicker.
You need the fat from the dark meat to baste the white meat. A big thick, low fat chunk of meat directly on the grill is going to dry out as it cooks.
Are you cooking it on the grill? When I do a turkey on the grill, it goes into a disposable aluminum turkey pan, breast side down. Cover with foil and cook until nearly done.
Then uncover, turn the turkey over so it is breast side up, put some wet smoker wood onto the fire and finish the turkey off, uncovered to brown and take in some smoke. Your turkey will be moist and flavorful and the pan will contain the drippings to be made into gravy.
There was a pictorial somewhere (I thought it was on Food52, but can't find it now) showing why it works that convinced me to try spatchcocking. Remember, the breast meat cooks faster and dries out faster than the dark meat does, besides the fact that it takes longer to get the thigh meat done than any other part of the bird, so you want it to cook faster so that the breast isn't dried out. With spatchcocking, everything ends up cooking to the proper doneness at the same time.
Here's a pictorial on how to spatchcock a chicken for the OP. Same anatomy.
Almost. I've cut out the backbone and laid the turkey over an upside down v rack. The backbone goes in the pot with the neck and stuff for broth for the gravy people.
The turkey cooks faster this way but the stuffing has to be cooked outside the bird.
To me it makes more sense just to cut it up like chicken. I like to cut into 5 pieces. Whole breast, two wings and two leg quarters. You could cut it up even more. This takes more space to cook however as does the spatchcock method. It does cook much quicker though. I never ever stuff the bird, always cook stuffing separately.
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I'm not a very good cook. There are plenty of Youtube vids on it but mostly by regular people. 
