Spatchcocking Your Turkey on a Gas Grill for Juicy, Flavorful Results

Why Spatchcock?

Since the advantages of butterflying a turkey have been laid out in-depth, Ill keep this pretty brief. The long and short of it is that by removing the backbone of the turkey, pushing the breasts flat, and splaying out the legs and thighs, you can create a more ideal shape for cooking a whole bird. The even height created by butterflying makes for more even and faster cooking in return.

So I went about the process of butterflying my 14-pound turkey and then rested it on a wire rack set in a baking sheet. I seasoned the turkey liberally with salt and pepper and let it dry brine in the fridge overnight—I like taking out this insurance policy, knowing that Ill get moist results even if I accidentally slightly overcook my bird.

The extra bonus of spatchcocking the turkey is getting the backbone to use in a rich stock, which is easily turned into a white wine and mustard gravy.

How to Grill a Butterflied Turkey

When it came time to grill my beautiful beast, I lit up a full chimney of charcoal. After the coals were covered with gray ash, I spread them out in a crescent moon shape along one side of the charcoal grate. While I let my covered grill warm up, I considered putting a foil tray with stock and vegetables on the cool side of the grill to collect the turkey drippings, but then decided against it. In the past, these dripping collected ash and gained a smoke flavor a little too harsh to be usable for gravy. I could have jury-rigged a solution that let drippings into the pan while keeping most ash out, but I had already made a really delicious gravy by using the backbone and neck and just dropped the idea to focus more on getting a perfectly cooked bird this time around.

Once sufficiently warmed, I added one chunk of apple wood to the fire; everything was a go for turkey liftoff. As I sat with the giant bird, considering the perilous transfer to the grill, I decided to make life easy on myself and just put the entire wire rack on the grill, which worked great, allowing me to move the bird around without danger of it falling apart or tearing the skin.

I situated the turkey so its legs and thighs were closest to the fire, with the majority of the breast meat as far away from the heat as possible. With the crescent moon arrangement of coals, this meant the legs and thighs were all well surrounded by fire without being directly on top of it.

I monitored my turkey pretty constantly after the first 45 minutes to ensure my suspicions would play out. My goal was to keep the breast meat cooking at a slower rate than the legs and thighs, and I found that throughout the cook, this proved true. About an hour in, the breasts were registering a solid 10°F below the thigh meat. At this point, I added half a chimney of new coals to keep the bird roasting at a medium-high temperature—around 425°F (220°C), give or take 25°F (5°C).

Another 30 minutes in and that new batch of coals helped the legs and thighs cook even faster. They were now just above 165°F (74°C), while the breast meat was at my ideal 150°F (66°C). In just 1 1/2 hours, I had this turkey done to perfection, temperature-wise at least.

I let it rest for 20 minutes at room temperature and began carving. After separating the legs and thighs, I cut the breasts away from the bone and sliced them up, exposing glistening meat that even had my white-meat dissing self eagerly awaiting the chance to eat it. I sliced up the thighs next, which had gotten a nice rosy hue around the edges of the meat from the smoke theyd picked up.

Every piece of meat from this bird was moist and flavorful. The breasts had a delicate kiss of smoke and were juicy enough that they didnt need any enhancement, although gravy never ceases to be a requirement for me. The dark meat was smokier, which worked with the relatively more intensely flavored meat (and made for the most delicious parts of bird in my opinion). Ive cooked a lot of turkeys over the years, and this was the first that required absolutely no Band-Aids like bacon, injections, herbs, rubs, etc. to cover up deficiencies.

This is a bird thats absolutely perfect in its simplicity.

Easy Spatchcocked Turkey on a Grill: A Tutorial Twist on a Thanksgiving Classic

FAQ

How long to grill spatchcock turkey on a gas grill?

Instructions. Place turkey directly on the grill grates breast side up and cook for 2 to 2.5 hours or until internal temperature of turkey reaches 165°F.

How long does it take to spatchcock a 20 lb turkey?

15 pound spatchcock turkey for 60 to 90 minutes. 20 pound spatchcock turkey for 80 to 120 minutes. 25 pound spatchcock turkey for 100 to 150 minutes.Nov 1, 2019

Can I cook a turkey on my gas grill?

Can I Cook My Turkey on a Gas Grill? Absolutely! I prefer a charcoal grill for the flavors that come from lump charcoal and wood. But, if you have a gas grill you can still get some great flavors by using a smoke tube.

Is it worth spatchcocking a turkey?

Spatchcocking turkey cooks more evenly and more quickly than non-butterflied versions, for stunningly crisp skin and perfectly cooked white and dark meat.