Spatchcocked Turkey

This is the juiciest, most tender, yet crispiest whole bird I’ve ever made, and for chicken or other small bird, is roasted in an hour or less, and for a turkey, just around an hour and a half. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

Fresh whole chicken or turkey
1/4-1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tablespoon Herbes de Provence or your favorite herb blend
(savory, marjoram, rosemary, thyme, and oregano mix, or dried Italian seasoning)
1-2 tablespoons flaked salt, divided

Equipment to gather

Roasting rack or wire rack that fits a rimmed baking pan
Sharp kitchen or poultry shears
Instant-read meat thermometer

DIRECTIONS

Remove heart, gizzards, etc. from chicken cavity. Remove neck meat from top hole. Set all these aside, and wash chicken and pat dry with paper towels.

Flip the bird (literally!) over onto a cutting board or pan breast-side down and legs pointing toward you. With a very sharp knife or kitchen shears, cut along the backbone from the leg opening up to the neck and then down the other side and remove the bone (save the spine and any skin/tissue for a broth or other use).

Turn the bird over on its back and spread it out much as possible. Find the cartilage on the back of the breastbone and snip a little cut into it with your shears. Using the palms of your hands, press down hard in the middle near the breast bone (like you’re giving it CPR) so the bird is flattened out and the legs point inward. This is a spatchcocked bird.

Using your fingers, find the outside edge of where the breast muscle meets the skin and separate the skin from the breast and slide your fingers underneath to form a pocket, being careful not to tear the skin (push down onto the muscle with your fingertips, as opposed to trying to lift the skin, and the skin will come up more easily). Continue moving your fingers all around the breast until all of the skin is loose but still attached at the edges of the muscle with space in between the skin and muscle. Repeat this step on the thighs and the drumsticks.

Sprinkle the bird with all but 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and pat it all around on all the exposed parts as well as tucking and spreading it under all the skin as best you can reach, then turn the bird over and sprinkle salt on the underside. Place on a wire rack and cover loosely with plastic wrap or a bag and let sit in the fridge a few hours or overnight – this not only tenderizes the meat, but will draw out excess moisture from the skin and result in the crispiest skin possible.

Remove the bird from the fridge and pat off any remaining liquid. Preheat oven to 425 F.

In a small bowl, whip the butter and herbs together with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Using your fingers, scoop herbed butter and insert into the breast skin pockets. Once all the butter is in each pocket, begin massaging the skin from the outside to spread the butter evenly around and mash it in well). Do this for both breasts, and both thighs and spreading the butter down into the legs, using about 1/4 of the butter for each breast and thigh section.

With the legs pointing toward you, tuck each wing tip behind its nearest breast to keep wing tips from burning. Place the chicken, breast side-up, on a roasting rack inserted into a roasting pan (or heavy wire rack in a heavy, rimmed baking sheet). Make sure all the skin is pulled back to where it belongs.

Sprinkle the chicken with the remaining salt and a little pepper.

Roast 40-50 minutes for a chicken or 80-90 minutes for a turkey

Or until internal temperature gauge is as follows:
– 165F at the thickest part of thigh (and away from any bone)

– 150F at breast

If the breasts are done and crispy but the legs need more time, simply cover the bird breasts with some foil and return to the oven until done.

Let the meat rest 5-10 minutes before carving.