Grilled Butterflied Turkey The Best Recipes

SPATCHCOCKED GRILLED TURKEY

Steps:

• Note: If you would rather use an oven instead of a grill, process is the same except have the rack with the turkey sitting over a sheet tray lined with foil.
• Unpackage the turkey and set the neck aside but discard the giblet package or use it for some other recipe. Rinse the turkey under cold water inside and out and set aside.
• Place all brine ingredients (except ice water) in a pot larger than 2 gallons and bring to a boil and boil for five minutes.
• Add one gallon of ice water and set aside to cool. I take an additional step by placing the pot full of brine in a sink full of cold water to bring the temperature down even faster.
• Using a very sharp knife and a pair of kitchen shears, remove the backbone. To do this, place the turkey gently on a cutting board, breast down and run the sharp knife along both sides of the backbone as deep as you can, cutting through a few rib bones. Use the kitchen shears to cut through the remaining connections including the more difficult bones at the end. Set the backbone aside with the neck.
• Take the sharp knife and make a small cut into the cartilage in the center that holds the two breasts together and then using a little pressure, press the left and right breasts down until it splits in the center and the bird now lays flat. The cartilage is the white triangle piece connected to the keel bone which is the bone that separates the two breasts.
• In a food safe bag laid out in a roasting pan (or you can skip the bag), place in turkey and cover with the brine and seal the bag. (We had a little brine leftover which we discarded but that will depend on the size of your roasting pan. Just make sure the turkey is covered with brine).
• Place in refrigerator overnight and up to 12 hours.
• Place the back and neck in a large sauce pan with some onion, celery, carrot, parsley, salt, bay leaf and black pepper corns and cover with water. Bring to boil and simmer for two hours. Use this liquid when making gravy the next day since there will be no pan drippings if cooking on a grill.
• 3 hours before serving, heat grill by placing left and right burners on medium high and center burner off. If using charcoal, move hot coals to left and right and leave none in center.
• Remove turkey from brine and discard brine then place turkey on a paper towel lined counter or cutting board and pat the entire top dry.
• Pull off a 3-foot-long sheet of foil and crumble in a bunch and place inside the arch of a V-Rack (the kind of rack that comes with most roasting pans. If you don't have one, just use foil). Place this V-Rack with arch up and foil down on a sheet tray and drape turkey over it so that the breast portion is over the foil part, skin up. Basically, what we are doing is letting the dark meat cook longer than the white meat by defusing the heat under the breasts. This process works extremely well.
• Oil the entire top of the turkey with a brush and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Insert a probe thermometer into the thickest part of the breast and set temperature to alarm at 160 degrees.
• Lift the entire rack and turkey onto the center of the grill and close the lid. If your grill has a temperature gage or if you are doing this in the oven, adjust temperature to 425 degrees F and cook uncovered for 30 minutes (but lid to grill on). After 30 minutes, the turkey should be nice and browned, or close to it.
• After 30 minutes, lower temperature to 325 degrees F, loosely cover with a large piece of foil and cook for about 90 minutes, (with grill lid closed), or until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F.
• Remove to a sheet tray, keep loosely covered with foil and let rest 30 minutes (no less) before carving.

SUNNY'S BUTTERFLIED GRILLED TURKEY WITH LEMON PEPPER GLAZE

Steps:

• For the brine: Combine the sage, thyme, lemon, salt, peppercorns and 1 1/2 gallons water in a large pot over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer and cook until the salt is dissolved and the water is fragrant. Turn off the heat and let cool completely.
• Place the turkey in a roasting bag, large plastic bag or bowl large enough to fit it with still more space to give. Pour in the brining liquid and seal or cover. If there's not enough room for all of the liquid in the brine, be sure to at least include the herbs, lemon and peppercorns. Refrigerate at least overnight or up to 3 days. When ready to cook, remove from the refrigerator and discard all of the brining liquid and solids.
• For the turkey: Pat the turkey dry with paper towels. Place the turkey cavity-side down on a wire rack resting in a roasting/baking dish and allow to sit on the countertop for about 2 hours to come to room temperature.
• Using kitchen shears or a knife, cut the backbone of the turkey out and break the breastbone to open up and flatten the bird by gently pressing down with the skin-side up. Flip over and pat dry. Using your finger, gently release the skin from the muscle of the turkey and insert the butter pieces between the skin and meat all over the bird. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle the skin with salt and pepper.
• Preheat the grill to 400 degrees F.
• Place the turkey over direct heat skin-side down. Lower the heat to 350 degrees F and close the lid of the grill. Cook until the turkey releases from the grates and reveals grill marks, about 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the glaze: Heat the olive oil and black pepper together in a large nonstick pan over medium heat. Steep over medium heat until the oil smells and tastes like pepper, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the honey, Worcestershire sauce, lemon zest and lemon juice to the same pan. Raise the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture begins to simmer and slightly reduce. Remove from the heat and rest until it tightens a bit, about 2 minutes.
• Flip the turkey and glaze the skin with the lemon pepper glaze. Close the lid of the grill and continue to cook, glazing every 30 minutes, until an internal-read thermometer inserted in the thigh reads 160 degrees F, 1 to 2 hours. Remove the turkey form the grill and let rest at room temperature tented with aluminum foil for 30 minutes before carving.

GRILLED BUTTERFLIED TURKEY BREAST

Steps:

• Slice turkey breast in half crosswise without cutting all the way through. Open like a book. Set aside.
• In bowl, whisk together cilantro, marmalade, soy sauce, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.
• Place turkey breast in a re-sealable plastic bag; pour marinade over turkey. Seal bag and turn to coat evenly. Allow to marinate in refrigerator for at least one hour and up to 2 days.
• Arrange on a greased preheated grill over medium high heat. Grill, turning once, until golden and cooked all the way through, about 20 minutes. Transfer to cutting board. Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve immediately or serve cold.
• Oven Directions:.
• To prepare the turkey in the oven, arrange marinated turkey on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet and roast in a 400 F (200 C) oven until turkey is cooked through and marinade is thick and bubbling, about 25 minutes.

SUNNY'S BUTTERFLIED ROAST TURKEY WITH EASY ORANGE SPICE RUB

Steps:

• For the brine: Combine the salt, peppercorns, thyme, sage, orange and 1 1/2 gallons water in a large pot over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer and cook until the salt is dissolved and the water is fragrant. Turn off the heat and let cool completely.
• For the turkey: To brine the turkey, place the turkey in a roasting bag, large plastic bag or bowl large enough to fit it with still more space for the brine. Pour in the brining liquid and seal or cover. If there's not enough room for all of the liquid in the brine, be sure to at least include the herbs, orange and peppercorns. Refrigerate at least overnight and up to 3 days.
• When ready to cook, remove the turkey from the brine and discard all of the brining liquid and solids. Pat the turkey dry with paper towels.
• To butterfly the turkey, using kitchen shears or a knife, cut out the backbone of the turkey. Break the breastbone to open up and flatten the bird by gently pressing down with the skin-side up. Flip over and pat dry. Using your finger, gently release the skin from the muscle of the turkey and insert the butter pieces between the skin and meat all over the bird.
• For the rub: In a medium bowl, mix together the cumin, paprika, chili powder, orange zest, a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the rub in a small bowl and set aside.
• Drizzle the turkey with olive oil and sprinkle with the rub. Gently rub into the skin. Place the turkey cavity-side down on a rack in a roasting pan and allow to sit on the countertop for about 2 hours to come to room temperature.
• For the glaze: To the reserved 1 tablespoon of rub, stir in the honey and orange juice until smooth. Set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Add 1 to 2 inches of water to the bottom of the roasting pan. Place the turkey in the oven, lower the heat to 350 degrees F and roast for 30 minutes. Remove the turkey from the oven and brush the glaze over the skin. Return to the oven and continue to roast, glazing every 30 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thigh reads 160 degrees F, 1 to 2 hours.
• Let the turkey rest at room temperature before carving, tented with aluminum foil, until it comes up to 165 degrees F, about 30 minutes. Plate the turkey and garnish with orange slices and sage and thyme sprigs.

GRILLED SPATCHCOCKED TURKEY RECIPE

Steps:

• Pat turkey dry with paper towels and season liberally all over with salt and black pepper. Tuck wing tips behind back. Place turkey on wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet and refrigerate 8 to 24 hours.
• Light one chimney full of charcoal. When all the charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and arrange the coals in a crescent moon shape on one side of the charcoal grate. Set cooking grate in place, cover grill and allow to preheat for 5 minutes. Clean and oil the grilling grate. Place wood chunk(s) directly on top of hot coals. Remove rack with turkey from sheet pan and place on grill, with turkey legs and thighs placed closer to the coals. Cover, situating top vent over cool side of grill, and cook until an instant-read thermometer registers between 165-170°F (74°C-77°C) in thickest part of the thigh and between 145-150°F (63°C-66°C) in thickest part of the breast, about 90 minutes, replenishing coals after an hour if needed.
• Remove rack with turkey from grill and place over a cutting board. Let rest at room temperature for 20 minutes, then remove wire rack and carve turkey. Serve immediately with gravy.

GRILLED BUTTERFLIED TURKEY - THE BEST

Steps:

• Prep time incl. butterflying - about 1 hour Cook time +/- 90 minS til skin is brown N0T a "brine" recipe, but marinated overnight Prep night before: Chop garlic small (or mince large), if you use the pre-peeled, you'll need the whole pint container Mix mustard + oil so that they're both well incorporated into a loose paste Chop sage, thyme + parsley so you have a nicely sized pile -you can't have too much =it's ok to chop stems if they're not woody These next steps you will repeat on both sides - you might need help to flip it over Lay turkey out flat - skin side down, sprinkle liberally w/ kosher salt (I like the level of saltiness in kosher salt + it seems more organic but you can use table salt if you like) Brush mustard oil mix on EVERY SURFACE Sprinkle chopped garlic liberally Sprinkle herbs liberally - if you need to - you can sprinkle dried thyme + sage as well) Sprinkle whole thing w/ juice of a lemon, sprinkle w/ black pepper Flip over, to skin side up + REPEAT Roll the turkey up on itself, put it in a bag, seal + leave in frig over night Thanksgiving - Using kettle/Weber type grill - adjust for gas • Make sure you have enough coals to fill grill bottom w/a solid base, in a Weber, open the UNDERNEATH holes + fire up the coals til they're red hot ( gas grill heat to 350 + maintain) • Make sure no flames shoot up • Lay turkey flat on grill, SKIN SIDE UP (all parts intact) + cover the grill. YOU WILL NOT FLIP IT -Skin will be perfect • Open cover holes slightly - there will be smoke coming out the top for the entire cooking time. Not sure if you can open holes on a gas grill - but if you can, you should • Cook it until the skin is evenly browned +/- 90 mins