This Spatchcock Turkey with Dry brine offers a life-changing, reliable, easy, and foolproof method to achieve the crispiest, juiciest turkey in the least amount of time. Read on to learn all the tips and tricks to pull it off with ease. At first glance, the instructions may appear long and complicated for this spatchcocked turkey. I assure you it is all very simple - I have just included a lot of tips to ensure you have fabulous results with your turkey.
Prep Time30 minutesmins
Cook Time1 hourhr30 minutesmins
Total Time2 hourshrs
Servings: 8to 10
Ingredients
1 12-14poundfresh turkeynatural, organic, or free-range
For the dry brine
3tablespoonsKosher salt (or 1 tbsp per 5 pounds)I use Diamond Crystal (*see notes)
¼cupchopped fresh herb leaves and tender stemsI used thyme, rosemary, and sage (optional)
To Roast the Turkey
6Tablespoonsmelted unsalted butter or unrefined olive oil
freshly cracked black pepper to taste
2cupswater, or chicken stock plus more if needed
Instructions
Spatchcock The Turkey: If you can order a spatchcocked turkey from a butcher, do it! Be sure to ask for the backbone that was removed to use it to make stock. **See recipe notes for directions to spatchcock it yourself.
Dry Brine The Turkey: Set a wire baking rack inside a large baking sheet (***see recipe notes if you don't have a large baking sheet, or can't fit one in your fridge). In a small bowl, combine the kosher salt and fresh herbs, if using. Place the turkey skin side up on the wire rack and pat dry the turkey inside and out with paper towels. Sprinkle the salt mixture evenly all over the outside and the underside of the turkey. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 1-3 days. 12-24 hours before you plan on roasting the bird, remove the plastic wrap and leave uncovered in the fridge.
Prepare the turkey for roasting: Take turkey out of the fridge 60-90 minutes before you plan to start roast it. Preheat the oven to 450° degrees F 30 minutes before roasting the trukey (a large oven will take about 25-30 minutes to preheat). Once the turkey has come to room temperature, and the oven is preheated, tuck the wing tips under the breast and make sure the legs are spread out. Brush the turkey all over with the melted butter. Sprinkle with freshly cracked black pepper to taste.
Roast: Place the turkey in the oven and pour 2 cups of water, or broth, in the pan. Roast at 450° F for 30 minutes, then lower the temperature to 400°. Carefully rotate the pan, and add a bit more water if necesary. Roast until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the thigh reaches 165 degrees and the breast 155 degrees. A 14-pound turkey will take about 90-95 minutes. A 12-pound turkey may only need 80-85 minutes so start checking early. If the turkey is browning too qucikly, just cover loosely with foil. Add more water or broth if the pan drippings are burning.
Rest the turkey. Remove the turkey from the oven, transfer it to a cutting board, and tent with foil.Allow it to rest for 30 minutes (a bit longer is okay) before carving. Do not rush the resting period, this step is crucial for a juicy, perfectly cooked turkey. Strain the pan drippings to make gravy, if desired.
Carve and serve! Serve with a make ahead gravy (recipe in notes) and favourite sides.
Notes
*The larger the grains in Kosher salt the harder they are to control when applying to your food. Diamond crystal kosher salt has smaller granules than other kosher salts and therefore is less salty. If using a different brand with larger granules, such as Morton, reduce the amount of salt by 1/2 a teaspoon per 5 pounds. **Spatchcock the turkey:
Remove the neck and giblets from inside the turkey. Place the turkey, breast-side down on a large cutting board and cut down each side of the backbone, cutting all the way through to remove the backbone completely. Use a pair of poultry shears or sharp kitchen shears which will make this an easier task.
Cut a small incision on the cartilage that is between the two breast bone. Now flip the turkey breast-side up and press hard on the breast to break the rib cage bone to flatten the breast even further. This short video is very helpful.
Place the flattened turkey, breast side-up on a large sheet pan to apply dry brine.
Save the turkey back and giblets to make gravy. You can make the gravy a day or two ahead from roasting the turkey.
***If you can't fit a large baking sheet in the fridge, place the turkey in a large bowl. A spatchcocked turkey will roast best on a shallow baking sheet, if you don't have one, use the shallowest baking pan you have and fill it with chopped vegetables such as carrots, onions and celery. Place the turkey on top of the vegetables. A few more turkey roasting tips:
Depending on how hot your oven runs, and how big or small your turkey is, you may need more or less roasting time. Start checking the temperature after 75 minutes to gauge how much longer the turkey needs to roast.
A spatchcocked turkey is best cooked at a high temperature. If your oven is really hot (mine isn't) you can lower the temperature to 375 degrees after 30 minutes.
If roasting two turkeys at once, set the oven to convection cooking, if possible. But be sure to reduce all temperatures by 25 degrees for convection.
OPTIONAL TURKEY GRAVYPour all the pan juices from the turkey, including the fat, into a gravy separator or large measuring cup. Allow the fat to separate from the juices, you will use both.Ingredients:6 tablespoons of fat from the pan drippings (reserve the juices)6 Tablespoons all-purpose flour or 2 ½ Tablespoons arrowroot3-4 Tablespoons unsalted butter (if necessary to supplement pan drippings)4 cups chicken or turkey stockSea salt and freshly ground black pepper to tasteMethod:
Warm 6 tablespoons of fat (add butter if necessary) in a medium-sized pot over medium heat.
Whisk in the flour and cook until lightly golden, about 2-3 minutes.
Slowly whisk in 4 cups of the turkey broth and all the reserved pan juices. Continue to whisk until smooth. Simmer until thickened, whisking occasionally about 5-10 minutes.
Season to taste with salt and pepper. Store in the fridge, tightly covered, for up to 4 days. Reheat over low heat until warm, whisking occasionally.