Spatchcock Turkey 2024

Spatchcock turkey is a great way to prepare a turkey for the Holidays. Spatchcocking a turkey helps the turkey cook more evenly than a traditional turkey, it cooks quicker than an upright turkey since the breast is closer to the cooking grate and it presents beautifully on the table. 

You can prepare this recipe as as a traditional turkey as well if you do not want to spatchcock.

This turkey recipe utilizes a wet brine to impart serious moisture and amazing flavor while creating a gorgeous final product with a beautiful color. If dry brining is your preference, we have a Dry Brine Turkey Recipe as well. 

We use a light mayonnaise slather on the turkey to assist with moisture retention and a beautiful final color. Don't worry, you won't taste the mayo in the final product. 

Pro Tip: I prefer 12-13 lb turkeys. They cook quicker and taste better. If you feel like you need over 20 lbs of turkey, buy 2 smaller turkeys.

Meat Church How To YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/_uCOiZmRROE

Click here to get a Meat Church Turkey Combo which includes a Bird Baptism Brine + one of our top poultry seasonings.

We have 20+ turkey recipes: https://www.meatchurch.com/blogs/recipes/tagged/turkey

Ingredients

• 1 12-13 lb turkey
• Meat Church Hickory (sub Holy Voodoo Rub, Honey Hog, The Gospel, Texas Sugar, Hail Mary or Holy Gospel)
• 2 T mayonnaise for a binder (sub olive oil)

Brine

• 1 gallon water
• 1 package Meat Church Bird Bath Poultry Brine

Tools

• Poultry shears or chef knife for spatchcocking
• Food safe container large enough to brine the turkey
• Instant Read Thermometer

Brine
Thoroughly mix entire contents of the package with 4 cups of water in a medium stock pot. Bring nearly to a boil to dissolve the salt & sugar. 

Remove from the heat and add 8 - 12 cups of ice water to completely cool the liquid. 

Place the turkey in a food safe container. Fill the container with the brine mixture making sure to completely submerge the turkey. Add more water if necessary. Refrigerate and brine overnight or at least an hour per pound.

Remove the turkey from brine, rinse thoroughly and pat dry.

Spatchcock the turkey
The spatchcock can be done before or after the brine.

Using a pair of poultry shears, cut along each side of the back bone of the turkey to remove it as seen in this video. Set the backbone aside to make gravy aside to make gravy, stock or turkey noodle soup with this recipe. 

Press the turkey flat. 

Prepare your smoker
Prepare smoker at a temperature of 275 degrees F. I recommend a medium smoking wood or pellet such as pecan, hickory or a fruit wood for this cook. In this video we used a Traeger Ironwood with their turkey pellets which is a blend of hickory and maple. 

Prepare the turkey
Lightly slather the entire turkey with mayonaise. This adds fat and moisture to poultry and also helps with browning.

Season the underside of the turkey with Hickory. Flip the turkey over. 

Work your hands under the skin separating it from the breast meat being careful not to puncture the skin. Lightly season the breast underneath the skin. 

Pull the skin back over the breast. Season the skin very evenly all over making sure to get underneath the legs and wings. 

Allow to adhere for at least 15 minutes. 

Smoke the turkey
Place the turkey in the smoker. Smoke the turkey until you reach 160 in the breast.

Baste periodically with clarified or melted butter every 45 minutes or so. 

Pro Tip: You should not expect "really crispy skin" with this method at this temp. Therefore, increase the temp during the cook if you like. The higher you cook temp, the "crispier" your skin will be. Be careful though, when you cook at a higher temp, you are more likely to pop the skin which could affect your presentation. Leverage some light duty aluminum foil throughout you cook to wrap any wing tips, drums or areas appearing to be getting too dark or crispy.

A 12 lb turkey will take approximately 3 hours to cook. However, budget longer so your turkey is ready for the big day on time. You can also allow turkeys to rest much longer than other meats which gives you some cushion in your timing.

Finishing the turkey
Using an instant read thermometer, pull the turkey when the internal temperature reaches at least 160 in the thickest part of the breast. It will continue to carryover cook a few degrees. 

Let the turkey rest at least 30 minutes depending on size. Gordon Ramsey suggests you let the turkey rest for as long as you cook it. I'll leave that decision up to you as I have not been able to wait 3 hours yet.

Carve, serve and enjoy the amazing meal with your family!