How To Spatchcock A Turkey And Cook It Super Fast

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Thanksgiving is one of those occasions when home cooks love to one-up each other with their best kitchen magic tricks.

Well, you’ll be upped no more once you learn how to spatchcock, a gluttonous verb for splitting open and flattening a turkey (or other game bird) so that it emerges from the grill or oven evenly cooked, juicy, crispy and deliciously enviable.

First you cut out the backbone and push down on the bird like you’re giving it CPR. When you do it right, you’ll hear and feel the bones crack under you.

Once flattened, your spatchcock (which Oxford surmises is related to “dispatching a cock”) is complete.

“Because the turkey is butterflied, there’s more surface available for even browning, and the high cooking temperature means crackly, crispy skin,” explains Bon Appetit. Watch how to do it in the video above.