This Method Will Cut Your Turkey Cooking Time in Half

Turkey is my favourite part of Thanksgiving: it delivers rich flavours and leftovers for days. I still sometimes love to roast a whole bird for the “oohs” and “aahs” it elicits as it appears on the table. But if it’s just our family—or if I’ll be carving up the turkey in advance—spatchcocking is my go-to method for quick, even cooking.

I love spatchcocking because it optimizes the cooking process, heating the turkey more quickly and evenly compared to roasting it whole. It’s an easy, efficient technique that yields a bird brimming with flavourful juices and boasting perfectly crisp, golden skin—and it’s way easier to pull off than you might think. Here’s the lowdown.

Spatchcocking a bird—whether chicken, turkey or otherwise—involves removing the backbone and then pressing the body flat against the roasting pan. This is also sometimes called butterflying. The technique offers several advantages. First, flattening the turkey ensures that all of its parts are exposed uniformly to heat. This prevents the common problem of the breast meat overcooking by the time the thigh meat is up to the standard safe temperature of 165F.

Next, it cooks the turkey a heck of a lot faster. A spatchcocked turkey has a much shallower depth, which reduces cooking time to 1 1/2 hours. Put on your turkey pants while you’re preheating the oven: Dinner’s almost ready. Finally, a flattened bird has a much larger surface area of skin directly under the oven’s element.

This maximizes the Maillard reaction, resulting in the crispiest turkey skin you’ve ever tasted. (Best part, am I right?) Flattening a large turkey can be challenging, but these tips will make it easier:

Use a sturdy surface. Work on a large, solid cutting board with a damp towel placed underneath it so it won’t slip. This gives you better control and reduces the risk of accidents.

Invest in sharp shears. High-quality, sharp kitchen shears will cut through bones far more easily than dull ones.

Find the backbone. Place the turkey breast-side down and locate the backbone. Cut the turkey along one side of the backbone from tail to neck, and then repeat on the other side. Removing the backbone allows you to flatten the bird.

Take it one rib at a time. I like to cut at a downward angle (to cut through one little rib bone at a time) instead of trying to cut straight (across several ribs at once, which takes much more force).

Put your back into it. After removing the backbone, flip the turkey breast-side up. Use both hands to press down firmly on the breastbone until it cracks and the turkey is lying almost flat. You want the wings and legs to be splayed out with their undersides level with the rest of the bird and the overall height significantly reduced. For large turkeys especially, you need to leverage your body weight. You’ll want to position yourself right overtop of it, like you’re giving it CPR. I like to place a dry paper towel on top of the bird to prevent my hands from slipping.

Ready to get started? Get our step-by-step recipe for spatchcocked turkey.