A friend told me he tests dictionaries with the word “spatchcock.”
I use “numinous.”
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I know what you mean. No offense to moms, but the recipe blogs that are combo mommy blogs are even more insufferable to me as they prattle on for pages about their demon seed when all I want is the recipe.
I’m a big fan. There’s no way to stop it on your phone, but I generally use my computer when looking at recipes.
It doesn’t work 100 percent of the time, but enough to make me happy.
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but then you don’t get the drumsticks.
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Another turkey disaster. How can people be so careless?
Deep-frying turkey explodes, sparks blaze:
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All the more for you then!
The turkey burgers were good. In texture and taste (with condiments) much like a beef burger. Maybe a little bland due to the turkey being so lean, but that’s okay the first time around. Mom approves!
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So far the most fantastical part of that show is that the Mandalorian is able to find free childcare everywhere he goes.
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Damn. Great tip. Our bird turned out 
perfect, but I’ll try this next time. At the least, it should make carving easier. I’ll admit the wing “armpits” gave me a hard time and didn’t make it onto the serving platter.
The dry brine was miraculous, though. It took up a whole lot of fridge space, but that meant there was plenty of cleared fridge for leftovers afterward.
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If you are a meat-eater, turkey is one of the cheapest meats today, right after the Thanksgiving holiday. Assuming you have freezer space, you can buy next year’s bird today for pennies. You can get a sub 20 pounder for $5 if you look around. It’s not really that big. Could even be broken down into parts, bagged, and frozen separately.
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Guy who roasts lots of birds here:
- Spatchcocking is a great technique if you have the room, for a 16lb turkey I did not.
- The 4 day dry-brine seems very excessive. I’ve tried 2-3 day dry brines and didn’t notice much of a difference vs. over night. I’d recommend 1 tablespoon of kosher salt for ever 5lbs of meat. You also don’t need to add it to the inside (or bottom if spatchcocked), the point of the brine is to pull out moisture (water) and add salt. This helps tenderize the meat and dry the skin. Adding salt to the bottom of the bird is a waste of time (and salt).
- Adding the turkey directly to the oven rack seems like a great idea until you have to clean your oven. A baking sheet is less messy and works great.
- He didn’t do this, but pulling the skin away from the meat, and adding a compound butter underneath really helps with ■■■■■ breasts (lol, why is m-o-i-s-t censored? It’s not sexual I would hope…)
Here’s what I did this year that was really good:
- Dry brine night before (just kosher salt)
- Finely chop sage, thyme, and garlic and mash it into a stick of butter to create a compound butter.
- Dry the turkey with paper towel, shove the compound butter under the skin.
- Place on a roasting pan, cover with aluminum foil, and cook at 275 until internal thighs reach 165 internal temp.
- Raise oven to 450, apply glaze of your choice, and cook until glaze has set. (I did a cranberry, apple cider, molasses, & ginger glaze I found in an old cooks illustrated magazine).
A note about spatchcocking & extra "parts"
For food prep I spatchcock a whole roaster chickens from the super market every sunday, and put the backbones, neck, and wings in a gallon freezer bag to use later for chicken stock. Once I’ve accumulated ~4 backbones & necks I make a big stock, reduce it down a lot and freeze into large whiskey cubes.
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Serious Eats only calls for a 12-24 hr dry brine, too. But Kenji adds baking soda. Easiest turkey ever.
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I’ve also taken to transcribing recipes from most sites so they fit nicely on one sheet of paper.
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