I never thought about butterflying a turkey but now am considering doing it soon, as we love turkey. I love the suggestion to lift the turkey
off the bottom of the pan if you have a V-rack that, when inverted, still fits in your roasting pan, to just put the butterflied turkey on top of that!
Butterflied Turkey with Cranberry-Molasses Glaze
Makes 10 to 12 servings. Cook's Illustrated, Nov. 2010
See Why This Recipe Works, Fashioning a Makeshift Roasting Rack,
How to Butterfly a Turkey, and Secrets to Perfect Glazed Turkey (at bottom)
Turkey:
12- to 14-pound turkey, giblets and neck removed and reserved for
another use
2 Tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons kosher salt (see Headnote)
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 large onions, peeled and halved
Glaze:
3 cups apple cider
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 cup light or mild molasses
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 Tablespoon grated fresh ginger
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
Headnote: Table salt is not recommended for this recipe because it’s too fine.
If you have a V-rack that, when inverted, still fits into your roasting pan, place the turkey on that rather than on the onions.
1. For the Turkey: Following illustrations in step by step below, butterfly turkey. Using fingers or handle of wooden spoon, carefully separate skin from thighs and breast. Using skewer, poke 15 to 20 holes in fat deposits on breast halves and thighs. Rub bone side of turkey evenly with 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Flip turkey skin side up and rub 1 Tablespoon salt evenly under skin. Tuck wings under turkey. Push legs up to rest on lower portion of breast and tie legs together with kitchen twine. Combine remaining Tablespoon salt, remaining teaspoon pepper, and baking powder in small bowl. Pat skin side of turkey dry with paper towels. Sprinkle surface of turkey with baking powder mixture and rub in mixture with hands, coating skin evenly. Transfer turkey to large roasting pan, skin side up. Place 1 onion half under each breast and thigh to elevate turkey off bottom of roasting pan. Allow turkey to stand at room temperature 1 hour.
2. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 275°F. Roast turkey until instant-read thermometer registers 160°F when inserted in thickest part of breast and 170°F to 175°F in thickest part of thigh, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Remove roasting pan from oven and allow turkey to rest in pan for at least 30 minutes or up to 1-1/2 hours. Thirty minutes before returning turkey to oven, increase oven temperature to 450°F.
3. For the Glaze: While turkey rests, bring cider, cranberries, molasses, vinegar, mustard, and ginger to boil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced to 1-1/2 cups, about 30 minutes. Strain mixture through fine-mesh strainer into 2-cup liquid measuring cup, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard solids (you should have about 1-1/4 cups glaze). Transfer 1/2 cup glaze to small saucepan and set aside.
4. Brush turkey with one-third of glaze in measuring cup, transfer to oven, and roast 7 minutes. Brush on half of remaining glaze in measuring cup and roast additional 7 minutes. Brush on remaining glaze in measuring cup and roast until skin is evenly browned and crispy, 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer turkey to cutting board and let rest 20 minutes.
5. While turkey rests, remove onions from roasting pan and discard. Strain liquid from pan through fine-mesh strainer into fat separator (you should have about 2 cups liquid). Allow liquid to settle 5 minutes, then pour into saucepan with reserved glaze, discarding any remaining fat. Bring mixture to boil over medium-high heat and cook until slightly syrupy, about 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat and whisk in butter. Carve turkey and serve, passing sauce separately.
Why This Recipe Works
We crisped the skin in our butterflied turkey recipe by poking holes in the bird’s fat deposits and promoted browning by rubbing salt and baking powder over the skin. We seasoned the turkey's meat with salt and then air-dried the bird for 1 hour. Roasting the turkey in a low oven, with a blast of high heat at the very end, gave the turkey evenly cooked meat and a nicely browned exterior. Molasses, which we thinned with apple cider and cider vinegar and thickened with cranberries, served as a flavorful glaze. Finally, butterflying the turkey gave us an even plane to which the glaze stayed adhered.
Fashioning a Makeshift Roasting Rack
Our butterflied turkey fits in a large roasting pan but needs to be elevated to brown properly. You can easily raise it by placing 4 onion halves cut side down in the pan.
Place 1 onion half under each breast and thigh to elevate the turkey off the bottom of the pan.
How To Butterfly a Turkey
1. Using kitchen shears, cut through the bones on either side of the backbone, staying as close as possible to the backbone, then remove and discard it.
2. Flip the turkey over and press down firmly with the heels of your hands to flatten the breastbone.
Secrets to Perfect Glazed Turkey
1. STAB FAT: Poking holes in fatty deposits speeds up fat-rendering, leading to crispier skin.
2. SEASON: Spreading salt and pepper under the skin on bone side seasons meat through and through.
3. DRY RUB: A mixture of baking powder, salt, and pepper rubbed on skin before roasting encourages browning and aids goal of dehydrating it.
4. AIR DRY: Resting turkey at room temperature an hour before roasting lets salting do its job on meat and further wicks away moisture from skin.
5. ROAST LOW AND SLOW: Cooking bird at 275°F creates moist, tender meat and allows maximum fat to render from skin.
6. WAIT TO GLAZE: Waiting to apply glaze (3 coats) until turkey is fully cooked allows skin to crisp up first. Cranking heat to 450°F thickens and concentrates glaze.
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Thank you so much Michelle. Tina is my guardian angel.
