Spatchcock turkey cooks in about 80 minutes at 450°F

A spatchcocked 12- to 14-pound turkey roasts in about 70 to 90 minutes at 450°F, which works out to roughly 6 to 7 minutes per pound. Start checking at 60 minutes, and pull it when the breast reads 160°F and the thighs read 175°F, then rest it 20 to 30 minutes.

That's a fraction of the 3 to 4 hours a whole bird takes at 325°F. The time drops because flattening the turkey puts every part of it the same distance from the heat.

The thermometer decides when it's done, not the chart.

Why the usual turkey chart fails here

Most people overcook a spatchcocked turkey for one reason. They look up a roasting chart, and those charts assume a whole bird at 325°F, around 13 to 15 minutes per pound. Use that number on a flat turkey at high heat and you'll have dry breast meat an hour before the timer goes off.

In a restaurant kitchen, nobody roasts a whole turkey. We broke birds down so the breasts and legs could cook on their own schedules, because white meat is done at a lower temperature than dark. Spatchcocking is the home version of that idea. The thighs sit on the outside edge of the pan where it's hottest, the breast sits in the middle, and the two finish close together while the bird still goes to the table whole.

Related: Spatchcock Chicken: 30% Faster With Crispier Skin

Spatchcock turkey times by weight

These are starting points at 450°F in a conventional oven with the bird on a rack over a rimmed sheet pan. Start probing at the low end of each range.

At 400°F, add about 15 to 20 minutes to each range. With a convection fan on, check 10 to 15 minutes earlier. On a grill set up for indirect heat at 400 to 450°F, the same ranges hold, but lid-lifting and wind make the clock less reliable, so trust the probe even more.

The last time I roasted a 12-pound spatchcocked turkey at 450°F, the breast hit 160°F at 74 minutes and the thighs were already at 178°F.

How to roast it

1. Cut out the backbone. Set the turkey breast side down and cut along both sides of the spine with heavy poultry shears. Turkey bone is much thicker than chicken, so if your shears struggle, finish the cut with a chef's knife pressed down with your palm. Save the backbone for gravy stock.
2. Flatten it. Flip the bird breast side up, splay the legs outward and press hard on the breastbone with both hands until it cracks and the bird lies flat. Tuck the wingtips behind the breast so they don't burn.
3. Dry brine a day or two ahead. Weigh out about 3 grams of salt per pound of turkey, 36 to 42 grams for a 12- to 14-pound bird, and rub it over both sides. Leave it uncovered on a rack in the fridge for 24 to 48 hours so the skin dries out. See dry brine versus wet brine for why this beats a bucket of salt water.
4. Heat the oven to 450°F. Put a rack in the middle position and give the oven a full 20 minutes so the walls are hot, not just the air.
5. Set it on a rack over vegetables. Scatter a pound of chopped onion, carrot and celery in the sheet pan, set a wire rack on top and lay the turkey on it with the legs facing the back corners of the oven. The vegetables keep the drippings from scorching.
6. Roast and rotate once. Turn the pan 180 degrees about halfway through. If the skin is browning too fast near the end, lay a loose sheet of foil over the darkest spots.
7. Probe two places. Check the thickest part of the breast near the bone and the thickest part of the thigh without touching bone. Pull the turkey when the breast reads 160°F and the thighs read 175°F.
8. Rest it uncovered. Give it 20 to 30 minutes on a cutting board. Covering it tight steams the skin you just spent two days drying.

When do you pull it?

The USDA sets 165°F as the safe minimum for all poultry, measured in the thickest part of the breast, thigh and wing. A breast pulled at 160°F keeps climbing during the rest, but confirm it reaches 165°F before you carve. If it hasn't, it goes back in the oven for 5 minutes. Thighs are safe at 165°F too. I take them to 175°F because the connective tissue softens and the meat stops being chewy.

This method stops working well above about 16 pounds. A half sheet pan is 18 by 13 inches, and a bigger flattened turkey hangs off the edges, drips onto the oven floor and cooks unevenly. For an 18- to 22-pound bird, break it into breast and legs and roast them on separate pans.

Related: Meat Resting Times: The Chart Pitmasters Actually Use

I buy a 12- to 14-pound turkey every year on purpose, put it in the oven 2 hours before dinner, and start probing at the hour mark. If I need to feed more people, I roast two small birds instead of one big one.