Tips for the Best Spatchcock Turkey
Spatchcocking your turkey is definitely the way to go! You’ll get a beautifully browned, juicy turkey in about half the time it takes to roast a traditional whole bird. I’ve tried quite a few recipes over the years, and this is one I keep coming back to.
The injection marinade is what really takes this turkey to the next level, making it incredibly tender, juicy, and delicious. I’ve cooked it both on the BBQ and in the oven, and it turns out wonderfully either way, with no brining required!
Want to cook it on the BBQ? Soak a few cedar planks in water, then place the turkey on top and cook over medium heat. You may want to wrap the ends of the legs in foil to prevent them from getting too dark. No flipping required! The cedar planks add a lovely smoky flavour that makes this turkey extra special.
A little warning about the butter injection: If you’d prefer not to give your kitchen a lovely buttery coating, make sure you mix the melted butter with tepid or cool water before adding it to your injector. Apparently, using hot water creates a spectacular reaction that sends the contents bursting out of the shaker and coats everything within a 10-foot radius in butter.
Just saying!
Start with a fresh turkey. Trust me, it makes a difference! I find fresh turkeys much easier to work with since there’s no need to plan ahead for defrosting. I also prefer them over Butterball turkeys, as I find they leave far too much grease in the bottom of the pan. If you don’t have a local butcher, check your grocery store. I’ve found some lovely fresh turkeys there, too.
My Favourite Homemade Turkey Gravy
For a flavourful gravy, I like to braise the turkey neck and any other giblets I want to use in a covered casserole dish with chicken stock, onion, a bay leaf, peppercorns, and a few garlic cloves. Bake at 350°F for about an hour.
Once the turkey is cooked, pour the drippings from the roasting pan into a saucepan and add the liquid from the braised neck. This makes a wonderful flavourful base for your gravy.
Next, add some potato water (if you’re making mashed potatoes), ground sage, salt and pepper, garlic powder, oregano, Worcestershire sauce, and additional chicken stock as needed. I love using Superior Touch Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base for extra flavour. Thicken the gravy to your preferred consistency with a flour slurry.
And here’s another reason I prefer using a fresh turkey rather than a Butterball: you generally won’t have to deal with nearly as much excess fat in the drippings. A little fat adds wonderful flavour to gravy, but a whole lot of it? Well, that’s another story!
Enjoy your beautifully browned turkey and all that delicious homemade gravy!
Pairs really well with my stuffing!
Turkey Rub
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons fine sage
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon basil
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Clubhouse Rotisserie Mix
- 1 teaspoon Clubhouse Herb & Pepper Mix
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
Instructions
- Mix and rub onto bird.
Turkey Injection
Ingredients
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 4 tablespoons melted butter
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon fine sage powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon finely ground pepper
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Combine everything in a gravy shaker, shake to combine. Inject into breast, legs, lower thigh. Whatever I don't use, I pour into the bottom of the roaster.
Spatchcocked Turkey
Ingredients
- Turkey rub
- Turkey injection
- 15 lb turkey
- Heavy duty pair of shears
- 2 packets poultry seasoning herbs sage, thyme, oregano, etc.
Instructions
- When you spatchcock a turkey, you're butterflying it. Take the turkey and flip breast side down. Cut along each side of the backbone from the tailbone to the neck.
- While the turkey is still breast side down, take a cleaver and give the inside of the "V" of the breastbone a really good whack or two. Enough to make it "snapable". Flip over breast side up, pull the sides out flat and flatten. (Its going to seem like you're giving the bird some heavy duty CPR.)
- Line a large cooking tray with heavy-duty foil, and then place a cooking rack on top of it, Lay the whole herbs on the rack, then the flattened turkey on the herbs, breast side up. Tuck the wings in and snug up the legs a bit so it fits on the rack nicely
- Insert a thermometre into the breast meat, setting it to go off at 155°F or the thigh at 165°F.
- Bake at 425°F for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F for the remaining period of time.