SMOKED Spatchcock Turkey!! | How To

it's a beautiful turkey   what's up you guys it's susie from heygrilhey.com  welcome to my backyard today we are testing   a turkey for todd tested a turkey for todd  that's right we're doing a spatchcock turkey   nothing but salt pepper some butter a little bit  of olive oil and we're gonna turn out a beautiful   smoked spatchcock turkey not a ton of gimmicks  or tricks it's all about flavor let's do it we're starting with a 15 pound spatchcocked turkey  that's probably the only technical term you'll   need to know to make this turkey on your smoker i  do have a full video tutorial teaching you how to   do it all you need is kitchen shears and a little  bit of gumption and you too can spatchcock a   turkey it essentially just means butterflied we've  cut out the backbone we've laid the turkey flat   it's going to give us more surface area for smoke  for seasoning and all of that yummy flavor to get   into the turkey meat but it's also going to give  us a nice even cook so the thighs and the breasts   are going to cook at the same time very juicy very  moist now i said this wasn't a gimmicky turkey i   know we spatchcocked it but other than that we're  keeping the prep incredibly simple there are a   million recipes for turkey out there and they  include everything from wet brining dry brining   purchasing from the store and raw air chills  all of the things that you can do with turkey   and while i think those methods are awesome i do  have an amazing recipe for a brined turkey that   i i think is just out of this world so if you  want to step into that zone go for it but like   i said in the intro this is todd's turkey todd  loves turkey turn the camera around to yourself   explain what to the people what you want people  okay look sometimes susie over seasons with turkey   i'll say it and for my taste i just want to taste  some smoked turkey i don't want to taste all the   other stuff i just want smoked turkey that's it  that is that is that what you want me to say yes   makes me sound like a jerk but no i don't think  so i'm not trying to be a jerk i just want smoked   turkey i think that's fair smoked paprika onion  powder turkey that's fair smoked turkey all right   give it back to me send it back all right so  that's the inspiration for today's turkey and   he's right normally i would put on my turkey rub  or i would season this liberally with chicken   seasoning or i would make a compound herb butter  to put under the skin but since this turkey is   for todd and a lot of people i think at home  that face the same conundrum of i don't want   to brine this three days in advance i don't want  to deal with all the stuff maybe the grocery store   is out of fresh herbs i don't know uh you can  make an absolutely delicious turkey in a very   very simple way and so like i said all we have is  a 15-pound turkey straight from the grocery store   this is pre-brined meaning it's been injected with  a saline solution they're typically up to about 10   saline solution the giblets the backbone have  been removed and this thing is prepped and   ready to start seasoning so that's what we're  gonna do your turkeys are delicious by the way   i do make delicious turkeys but todd likes  simple he loves simple flavors and i like to feed   people what makes them happy so i can do a  very simple beautiful smoked turkey today   you're welcome so we have our smoker running 275  degrees 275 means that the skin won't get dry and   rubbery it'll hopefully get golden brown and  delicious and we are running today almond wood   which is a new wood flavor that we've been using  recently i've really enjoyed it i think it will be   a beautiful compliment to this bird if you don't  have almond wood at home you can use your favorite   smoking wood i think pecan is lovely with turkey i  think maple is lovely with turkey any of the fruit   woods will complement turkey exceptionally well  so that's how we're going to get started and then   let's season it yeah yep okey-dokey i'm going to  start by flipping the bird over breast side down   this is one of the benefits  of spatchcock turkey is   when you are cooking a whole turkey you don't  really have the opportunity to address the   interior cavity like you do when it's spatchcocked  so i'm gonna drizzle this with my olive oil rub that all over   and then season simply per todd's request with  kosher salt and coarse ground black pepper just salt and pepper todd this is the choice  you made if you don't want to do salt and   pepper you can still follow this same method  and please use my turkey rub or my chicken   seasoning they're both very good okay thank you  psa from susie okay okay flip the turkey over   sure those legs stay turned out and then we're  into this butter game so i got a whole stick   of softened butter and butter i feel is very  important when you're doing turkey because turkey   can be very lean especially in the breasts and it  can get dry so having this butter up against our   turkey breast will keep it moist as it cooks  slowly additionally having this layer of fat   underneath the skin will keep the  skin from getting rubbery and leathery   it'll help all of that golden brown deliciousness  happen on top of the skin and give us some great   color so we want softened butter i'm just even  softening it up a little bit more in my hands   and then we're going to put this in under  the skin right up against the turkey breast   just use your finger go in under the  skin and create a little butter pocket it's not a tumor okay and then i'm going to do the same a  couple tablespoons on top of each of the thighs   just go in with your skin this is  where the spatchcocking part is   nice is because you get access  to this thigh meat right here once you have your butter under  the skin just use your hands   to kind of spread it out into a nice even butter  layer give your turkey a little butter massage i'm going to do something here that is not easy  for me to do i'm going to admit that you're right   sometimes i think you know for the sake of being  cutting edge or exciting or doing something   different we forget to pay homage to the classics  and sometimes we lose the flavor of what makes the   meat great in the first place and so i'm actually  really excited about this turkey i'm excited   to do a turkey that is very simply seasoned i  really am thrilled to be able to taste the meat   and the butter and the salt and the pepper and  the smoke it's fun to try new things but i also   think it's fun to stick to the classics and do  what's good because it's good is that fair okay   we got our buttered turkey i'm gonna hit  the top with olive oil it's gonna help the   seasoning stick but it's also gonna add the  fat that we need on the outside of the skin   to get that golden brown delicious color and we're going to season the top just like   we did the bottom with kosher  salt and coarse black pepper i already like this just making sure  i don't have any gaps in my seasoning   it's evenly seasoned all the way across the top  it's a beautiful turkey this is going directly   on the grill grates of our 275 degree smoker if  you are one that likes to save the drippings for   gravy what have you you can place this bird on  a flat cooling rack much like you would use to   cool cookies when they're done baking set that  on top of the cookie sheet the rimmed cookie   sheet and then put that onto the grill grates the  cookie sheet will catch any of the drippings that   come off from the butter or the turkey and the  cooling rack will keep it elevated enough that   you should get some good smoke flow around the  entire turkey i will say you will definitely get   more smoke if you just go directly on the  grill grates let's go pretty turkey friend now this turkey is going to work great  on any smoker that you can run at 275   i feel like it's perfect for the pellet smoker  because it'll maintain temps really easily for me   if i have other stuff going on you know watching  kids or if you're making thanksgiving you have   a bunch of other stuff happening inside  this can just roll one thing i will say   uh i made sure that none of the turkey was hanging  over the edges of my drip tray because turkeys we   have the butter on there we have the olive oil  on there the skin's gonna be dripping we don't   want any of that fat to drip down the sides of our  cooker that could cause a flare-up it's no bueno   so i made sure that every piece of my turkey is  inside the drip tray nothing's gonna be dripping   off the sides and i will say 275 a 15 pound turkey  i'm estimating this will take about four hours we   are going to be using an internal thermometer  to monitor the temperatures we're looking for   an internal temperature of 165 degrees fahrenheit  that's the fda recommended temp for poultry and   we're looking for that in the thickest part of the  breast so we'll come back and check it a couple   times during the cook show you how the color is  progressing all right you guys we're about two   and a half hours into our turkey smoke and i told  you i'd give you an update mid cook so come take   a quick peek we'll do a quick temperature  check and then let it keep cooking come on look at that oh that looks nice stick this into the breast right here   looking at 140 feeling good and i think we're  going to be done probably in about four hours   total might be a little less so i'm gonna  keep an eye on it but looking and smelling   beautiful so far thank you oh i was talking  about the turkey talking about the turkey sorry so good out here we are almost  exactly four hours into our 15 pounds   spatchcock turkey smoke and you guys  it's done okay it's done come see skin looks beautiful and soft this isn't a  crispy skin bird but it's a soft edible skin   all right first hemps we're at 165 in the thickest  part of the breast that means it's going to be   juicy and totally cooked all the way through  and the thighs i'm seeing 175 which is higher   than 165 but that's where i want it to be there  are actually some tendons and connective tissues   in the thighs that start to break down at  those higher temperatures so that means   you're going to have really moist succulent  turkey because there's more fat in the thighs   but it's going to be really tender also and now  i just have to get this turkey from here to here   this is where if you are cooking this on a cookie  sheet you might have an advantage this is going to   be fine the thing we got to watch out for here  is the lake falling off is the leg falling off   test it easy oh it's juicy oh i did it i  should have helped i'm sorry you wanted   to watch me drop it no that looks so  pretty you're coming in here we go okay i just stole some of the crunchy  smokey's skin it was real good come here okay let's talk about carving a spatchcock turkey  i like to start with the thighs and the legs   be amazed at the simplicity so  you just take this right off and then you can simply separate the leg from the thigh you act like you've done this before i  have dispatched a few turkeys in my day   leave the legs whole for the happy little  carnivores we always have a few in our household   that go for the legs first and then as far as  the thighs go you can either serve the thigh as   is i'm just going to eat this as this happens  okay don't worry about it it's going to be fine   so delicious or my dad always liked to  pull the thighs so take the skin off   cut the thighs into pieces and then pull the  dark meat so i think that's what i'm going   to do i'm going to take this beautiful  buttery skin right here and set it aside   pretty little pile of dark meat turkey there we go   got our beautiful pulled thigh meat and i have  been bunching on it it's very delicious now   you take our yummy buttery turkey skin  cut those into little slices and then   you mix your beautifully rendered smoky slightly  crispy also like bite through tender turkey skin   in with your pulled dark meat that's the next  level yum onto the turkey breast and the wings   i'm actually going to take the wings off first  so i'm going to unhook the wing detach the flat i know some people love to eat these turkey tips  and because we tucked it they're not too dark to   eat but they're nice and smoky and beautiful so  make a little turkey wing pile look at that unreal   pop the little drums drum off drumette is it's  still a drumette on a turkey this thing is massive   this is like the same size  as the chicken drumstick that's part of the wing yeah this is the  this is the little drummy on the wing   there's some great meat on there don't  sleep on the wings people let's get into   the breast meat take your knife run  it down just along the center line   until you can't anymore and then you're  going to turn your knife about 90 degrees and just start carving along this bottom portion  to get that turkey breast off of the breastbone perfect and you might notice some pink along the edges  of the breastbone here that's from the smoke my   friends that is not an undercooked turkey smoke  causes a chemical reaction where it will change   meat its color so it's a little bit pink that's  why we use a really accurate internal thermometer   then we don't have to worry we don't have to  guess if our turkey's done we're not going   solely by sight we have an accurate  thermometer telling us our meat is at   the right temperature it's safe to eat and the  little bit of pink that we see is from smoke   now that we've got our turkey breast separated  from the bone makes for very easy slicing   just run your knife down and you can slice these  pieces as thick or as thin as you like you can go   a little bit thicker here because the turkey is  so tender and so moist you don't have to do those   razor paper thin slices that you need to cover  with gravy however if you did want to slice this   thinner for sandwiches totally doable and the  beautiful thing about this is every single piece   of turkey breast has a portion of skin on the top  all right i'm gonna finish cutting this todd come   in you can have a little piece we'll do a taste  test um but anyway hold on come here come here repeat on the other side this concludes your  carving instructions because todd and i want to   taste test this we had little pieces of the thigh  but i think the real true test of a good turkey   is the breast can it be flavorful can it be moist  and juicy i say yes come here so it's not brined   this is well it's pretty bright from the store  we didn't add anything to it you guys this is   salt pepper butter and smoke okay i'm gonna give  the camera to todd because taste test todd and   honestly since i smoked this turkey for him his  real review is the most important thing to me yeah is that what you wanted you can taste  the smoke taste the turkey is todd happy   with todd's turkey salt and pepper is  so good salt and pepper almond wood   smoke juicy look at all the moisture on this  cutting board you guys this is a juicy turkey   we got this probably some of the best turkey  breasts i've ever had really yeah awesome   absolutely awesome that is a perfect way  to do a thanksgiving turkey for your family   without the fuss without the excessive fancy  unnecessary the juice the judge i love the judge   todd likes it simple if you're a tot you  would freaking love this spatchcock turkey   and i recommend that you give it a try if you  do snap a photo share it online use the hashtag   #heygrillhey that way todd and i can cheer you  on on your journey to becoming a backyard bbq hero

Channel: Hey Grill Hey

Views: 53,719

Rating: 4.9432178 out of 5

Keywords: spatchcock turkey, pellet grill, thanksgiving turkey, smoked turkey, turkey recipe, how to, how to smoke a turkey, smoked spatchcock turkey, smoked turkey recipe, best smoked turkey, camp chef, pellet smoker, holiday recipes, bbq turkey, how to cook turkey, smoking turkey, best spatchcock turkey, juicy turkey, perfect turkey

Id: 2b0n-Ys6Vkw

Length: 19min 47sec (1187 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 05 2020