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 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.
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/YKy1jejU16M
Click here to get a Meat Church Turkey Combo which includes a Bird Baptism Brine and our Honey Hog Seasoning
We have 20+ turkey recipes: https://www.meatchurch.com/blogs/recipes/tagged/turkey
Ingredients
- 1 12-13 lb turkey
- Meat Church Honey hog (sub Gospel, Holy Gospel, Hickory, Texas Sugar, Hail Mary, Garlic and Herb, Hot Honey Hog)
- 16 Mesh black pepper
- 2 T mayonnaise for a binder (sub olive oil)
- 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
- Thermoworks 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 backbone 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 Timberline with Traeger X Meatchurch pellets which are a mix of oak and hickory.
Prepare the turkey
- Season the underside of the turkey with Honey hog. Flip the turkey over. Season lightly and evenly with 16 mesh black pepper. Season the skin side evenly and liberally with Honey Hog 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 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 2 hours and 45 minutes 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!
