THE TRICK TO QUICK TURKEY

TURKEY IS MY FAVOURITE PART OF THANKSGIVING: IT DELIVERS RICH, SAVOURY FLAVOURS AND LEFTOVERS FOR DAYS.

- Jennifer Pallian

I still sometimes love to roast a whole bird for the "oohs" and "aahs" it elicits as it appears on the table. But if it's just our family-or if I'll be carving up the turkey in advance spatchcocking is my go-to method for quick, even cooking.

I love spatchcocking because it optimizes the cooking process, heating the turkey more quickly and evenly compared to roasting it whole. It's an easy, efficient technique that yields a bird brimming with flavourful juices and boasting perfectly crisp, golden skin-and it's way easier to pull off than you might think. Here's the lowdown.

Spatchcocking a bird-whether chicken, turkey or otherwise-involves removing the backbone and then pressing the body flat against the roasting pan. This is also sometimes called butterflying.

The technique offers several advantages. First, flattening the turkey ensures that all of its parts are exposed uniformly to heat. This prevents the common problem of the breast meat overcooking by the time the thigh meat is up to the standard safe temperature of 165F.