Cooking a whole turkey can be intimidating, especially when you’re preparing a large bird for a big holiday gathering. Many home cooks wonder if it’s possible to cut a turkey in half before cooking to make the process easier and the results more consistent. The good news is, yes, you can absolutely cut a turkey in half! This method, sometimes called “spatchcocking,” offers several advantages over roasting a whole bird.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explain everything you need to know about cutting a turkey in half to cook it, including:
The Benefits of Cutting a Turkey in Half
Cutting a turkey in half before cooking provides a few key benefits
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Faster cooking time – Halving the turkey significantly reduces the overall cooking time With the bird flattened out, there is increased surface area for the heat to penetrate and cook the meat more quickly and evenly
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More even cooking – It can be challenging to cook a whole turkey so that both the white and dark meat reach the proper internal temperature at the same time. Cutting it in half promotes more even cooking.
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Better flavor – Seasonings and marinades can penetrate deeper into a halved turkey, infusing more flavor throughout.
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Easier to handle – A smaller halved turkey is easier to maneuver in the oven and on the grill compared to wrestling with a large whole bird.
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Simpler carving – Carving a halved turkey is much more straightforward than carving around a whole bird.
How to Cut a Turkey in Half
Cutting a turkey in half takes some knife skills, but it’s very manageable with the right tools and techniques. Here are step-by-step instructions:
What You’ll Need:
- Sharp chef’s knife
- Kitchen shears
- Cutting board
- Towels
Steps:
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Remove the giblets and neck from the turkey cavities. Pat the outside dry.
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Place the turkey breast-side up on a cutting board. Pull the legs away from the body so they are flat.
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Using a sharp chef’s knife or kitchen shears, cut along one side of the backbone from the tail to the neck cavity.
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Repeat on the other side of the backbone to completely remove it.
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Flip the turkey over so it is breast-side down. Using your hands or the heel of your hand, press firmly on the breastbone to flatten the bird.
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Turn the turkey back over. Feel for the breastbone’s center ridge and use a knife to carefully slice the turkey in half down the middle.
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Optional: Remove the breastbone for easier carving later.
How to Cook a Halved Turkey
Once your turkey is spatchcocked, it’s time to cook it. Here are some top cooking methods:
Roasting: Roast at 450°F for about 60-75 minutes until the thighs reach 165°F. Baste with olive oil or melted butter.
Grilling: Grill over medium heat for 30-40 minutes, turning occasionally, until 165°F.
Smoking: Smoke at 225-250°F for 2.5-3 hours until fully cooked. Watch the temperature.
Air Frying: Air fry turkey pieces at 400°F for 15-25 minutes until crispy and cooked through.
No matter how you choose to cook your halved turkey, always rely on a meat thermometer to ensure it reaches a safe minimum internal temperature of 165°F.
Handling and Serving Halved Turkey
A few final tips for handling and serving your masterpiece:
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Let the cooked turkey rest for at least 15 minutes before carving. This allows the juices to redistribute.
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Carve each half separately just as you would a whole turkey. Slice the breast meat and then remove the leg portions.
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Get creative with leftovers! Enjoy halved turkey on sandwiches, in salads, tacos, casseroles, and more.
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Store cooked turkey in the fridge for 3-4 days or freezer for 4-6 months.
FAQs
Is it safe to cut a raw turkey in half?
Yes, it is completely safe as long as you follow proper food safety guidelines. Use clean, sanitized tools and preparation surfaces, and wash hands thoroughly.
What size turkey is best to halve?
Turkeys in the 12-18 lb range work very well halved. Whole birds smaller than 10 lbs are not worth the effort.
How much time does halving a turkey save?
You can expect the cooking time to be reduced by about 30-40% when the turkey is spatchcocked. A 15 lb whole turkey may take 3 hours but only 1.5-2 hours when halved.
Can I stuff a halved turkey?
Stuffing a spatchcocked turkey is not recommended, as it requires folding the bird back together which negates the benefits of butterflying. Cook stuffing separately.
Is cutting a turkey in half difficult?
It does take some skill to halve a turkey properly, but with the right tools and patience it is very manageable. Watch tutorials to build confidence if you’re unsure.
The Takeaway
While cutting a whole turkey down to size may seem unconventional, spatchcocking has some outstanding benefits for cooks. With reduced cooking times, more flavor, and easier handling, it’s a great option for your holiday bird. Follow the proper technique and employ a meat thermometer for flawless results every time. Your guests will be impressed with your skills!
An Unconventional Approach for Perfect Turkey: Pretend It’s a Chicken
One thing that always strikes me about turkey recipes is their assumption that there will be at least some compromise. Generally this means the breast will be overcooked in order to get the legs to reach a proper temperature. People try all sorts of things to mitigate this, like brining and putting ice packs on the breast prior to cooking or tinfoil over it at the start. More ambitious chefs may spatchcock the turkey, which makes it lie flat and cook more evenly.
But these are at best imprecise interventions, at worst cosmetic charms that have little actual impact on the finished bird. Quite simply, the shape of a turkey works against any and every effort to have it all finish cooking at once. But there is a much more straightforward approach: cut the turkey into pieces. Once the turkey is separated into breast, legs, and wings, nothing could be easier than pulling out each cut as it finishes roasting and not a moment before or after.
The first and best objection to this is that cutting apart a turkey takes effort. True, so far as it goes. While a few minutes with a good chef’s knife will separate a whole chicken into individual cuts, a turkey is made of considerably sterner stuff.
A spatchcocked turkey or chicken is only half cut apart, with just the back removed. As noted, this lets it lie flatter, and cook more evenly, since it moves the legs from an insulated position tucked in close to the body to the outer edges, where they are exposed to more heat. But removing the back is the hardest part, far more difficult than cutting off the legs or wings, which require a little patience but no particular skill, strength, or special tools.
Enter the halfcocked turkey.
A halfcocked turkey is the inverse of a spatchcock. Don’t bother cutting out the back. Simply remove the legs and the wings and nothing else. You might need to get clever with some balls of aluminum foil to keep the breast section propped upright in the roasting pan, or you can flip it from one side to the other occasionally during cooking, but otherwise cooking is very straightforward.
(Update 10/13/2024: Though I mostly stand by what Ive written above, Ive since cut up a few more turkeys, and removing the back really isnt so difficult, and its nice to have the breast portion balance itself and fit in the oven more easily. Watch this video for clear instructions, and simply cut off the legs and wings rather than leaving them attached. Not that you DO NOT need to remove the keel, which is the thin bone that separate the two sections of the breast. Its hard to do, and theres no point.)
I’ve already pointed out the benefit to this approach. As each piece reaches its target temperature, remove it to a platter. The breast won’t dry out, the thighs won’t be undercooked. After everything is ready and rested, simply carve, briefly warm back up if necessary, and serve.
The Other, More Dubious Objection
Some people like to bring the whole turkey to the table, its skin burnished to a glossy chestnut. I blame Dickens, with his description of roast goose, for cementing the idea in so many impressionable young minds that a whole fowl must be paraded before the guests prior to being carved and served. (Thinking about it, Dickens also bears some responsibility for muddying the waters when it comes to proper stuffing, though I suppose we must give him some leeway as a product of his time.)
I simply ask whether observing this ritual justifies a poorly cooked turkey, particularly if you intend to take a pragmatic approach to carving, which does not involve using a ceremonial fork and dull, silver-handled knife, to mangle a dried out, rapidly cooling turkey while a line of impatient guests look on. If you instead follow an easy series of steps guaranteed to efficiently get the most meat possible off the turkey, you should do so in the kitchen, with the goal of a beautifully arranged platter, ready to serve the moment all the trimmings have hit the table.