Categories: Poultry- Turkey
Ingredients
- 1 turkey or turkey breast
- Olive oil or melted butter
- kosher salt and ground black pepper
Directions
- Heat oven to 450 degrees.
- Lay turkey breast side down on a work surface. Using poultry shears, remove backbone by cutting along both sides beginning at the tail end. It will take some fore to curt through some of the bone; be sure to have the bird on a steady work surface.
- Set backbone and any giblets aside for stock or gravy. Open up the turkey and use the tip of a knife to score alongside the keel bone (the dark oblong bone in the middle of the breast). This makes it easier to flatten to bird.
- Cut away any large pieces of fat and excess skin. Remove only the skin that is not covering flesh.
- Turn breast side up. Using the heel of your hands, press firmly down on the breast. You should feel and hear a crack as the breast bone breaks.
- If working with a whole bird, pull the thighs outward so the turkey lies flat, with the wings facing inward. tuck the wing tips under to secure.
- Place the turkey on a sturdy rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle turkey with olive oil or melted butter. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.
- Roast, rotating sheet halfway through, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the bird reaches 165 degrees, 1 to 2 hours, depending on size of turkey. Let stand 20 to 30 minutes before carving.