A spatchcock turkey won’t look traditional on the dinner table, but it can add tons of flavor — and be a major time-saver.
“I spatchcock my turkey, which means you remove the spine,”Morgan shared his thoughts with Insider “When you spatchcock your turkey, it allows the bird to lie flat and it allows you to cook the turkey at a lower temperature. I like to go low and slow.”
Morgan will save the spine for his stock and then — after brining his turkey — he’ll put the bird in a big roasting pan and place a tightly-woven cloth over it for the first two to four hours.
“I’ll create a stock and add aromatics that I’m basting the turkey with throughout,”He concluded. “Then I remove the cloth and turn the oven up to get the skin really crispy in the end. I’ve found that to work really well.”
Andrew Zimmerman is the executive chef at SepiaChicago’s mayor is a big fan of spatchcocking his turkey.
“I’m not going to have a whole turkey to present to people, but I’m going to have a delicious turkey to present to people,”He told Insider.
Zimmerman also removes the legs, thighs, and rosemary before slow cooking them in duck fat.
“This hack is going to sound like a lot of work, but it pays dividends in the end,”He said. “And you can do it a day or two in advance.”
Zimmerman brines and roasts the turkey breast separately, and reheats his thighs and legs in the oven — putting them skin side down on the roasting pan to “brown up the skin.”
“Now you’ve got perfectly-cooked delicious legs and thighs, and perfectly-cooked turkey breast,”He said. “How much easier could Thanksgiving get?”