Spatchcocking means “to split and flatten” and is a technique for cooking a turkey. Learn how to make spatchcock smoked turkey on the grill this Thanksgiving!
½cupBBQ Dry Rubmore or less depending on the size of your bird. we used Dizzy Dust All-Purpose BBQ Seasoning by Dizzy Pig. Use your favorite dry rub
For the Beer Butter Glaze:
1stick of unsalted butter
12ouncebeersuch as a Belgian or Pilsner- can use apple juice
1tablespoonkosher salt
1 ½tablespoonWorcestershire sauce
1tablespoonsoy sauce
1teaspoonCholula
¼cuphoneyor maple syrup
2teaspoonsonion powder
1clovegarlicminced
1sage leaffresh (or ½ teaspoon dried)
Instructions
Spatchcock the Turkey
Remove the turkey from the packaging, remove the neck and giblet bag, rinse, and pat dry with paper towels.
Place the turkey breast-side down on a clean work surface. Use kitchen shears to cut from the tail along both sides of the backbone. Remove the backbone and discard (or save it to make broth). Make two small cuts on each side of the breastbone.
Turn the chicken over so that it is skin-side up. Use your hands to flatten the turkey. Press down firmly to crack the breast. The turkey should now lay flat on the surface.
Season The Turkey
Once you have the turkey where it will lay flat, sprinkle the bone side with the bbq dry rub. It's best to season the skin side once the turkey is situated on the grill grate.
Set Up The Charcoal Grill or Smoker
Prepare the grill for indirect cooking and heat to 275-300 degrees F using charcoal and fruitwood chunks such as cherry, apple, or maple.
Smoke The Turkey
Place the turkey on the grill breast side up over indirect heat tucking the wings and arranging the legs, so the bird lays flat on the grill rack.
Once the turkey is situated dust the turkey with a nice even layer of the BBQ dry rub.
Smoke the turkey for about 1 ½ hours, only opening the chamber to add more wood chunks or charcoal.
Once you get the color bark you like (outer rubbed skin), stop adding wood but continue to monitor the heat, adding charcoal as needed to maintain the heat. The longer you add wood, the darker the turkey will be. We stopped adding wood after approximately 2-2 ½ hours.
Make the Beer-Butter Glaze
In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in the beer, salt, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, hot sauce, honey onion powder, garlic powder, and sage leaf. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Brush the Turkey With Glaze
When the turkey reaches approximately 145 degrees, brush it with the glaze. Baste the turkey every 30 minutes and continue to smoke the turkey until the juices run clear and the internal temperature of the thickest part of the breast reaches 165 degrees when read with an instant-read thermometer. The inner thigh should read between 175-180 degrees F.
Rest, Carve and Serve
Transfer the spatchcocked turkey to a large cutting board and let it rest tented with aluminum foil for 20-30 minutes before carving and serving. Cut into serving pieces and serve warm.
Notes
Don’t discard the backbone and neck from the turkey. Use them to make broth for soup!
You may need to snip the inside breastbone to help crack the breast, so the turkey lays flat.
You can change up the flavor of your turkey by using a different rub, brining the turkey (although it doesn’t need it), or changing what you baste it with.
Use a probe thermometer to help monitor the internal temp of your turkey while it cooks. With Thermoworks Smoke, you can monitor both the ambient temperature of the grill grate as well the temperature of the bird.
Foil-Wrapped Bricks: For even more time savings and even cooking, you can use foiled-covered bricks, which flatten the turkey even more. The bricks help even out the heat. The dark meat and white meat get ready at about the same time. We have used bricks with spatchcock chicken, but not in our test recipes for spatchcock turkey.
Resting is key! Like other smoked meats, rest the turkey after removing it from the hot grill to retain moisture.
We do not recommend a drip pan underneath the bird to catch the drippings. Ours caught some drippings, but there was a lot of rub and smut from the grill captured on the Weber grill too.
Use butcher’s twine to help tie back wings if needed.
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