I followed this recipe and increased the cooking time for a 16 pound turkey. It was perfect. In fact, I am rating it as I prepare it a second time.

We tried this for the first time this year with a 22 pounder. We brined the bird first and rubbed a citrus rub on and under the skin. We used a roasting pan instead of a sheet pan because of the amount of juice the turkey exudes from the brine. Instead of a rack we placed the bird on diced citrus and celery and onions. BEST TURKEY EVER!!!

I've been doing this for year everyone would come to my house and I am in nursing and usually had to work so this 100 times better than cooking for four or five hours. Now my daughter wants to make it but she brines does that change cooking times Martha?

This is the only way I will cook a turkey. I also have the original magazine article and it totally changed my turkey game. It is true that if the bird is very large you would need an enormous pan, but this is the best way to get all the parts cooked evenly. And, if you get your turkey from a store with a butcher, they will do the spatchcocking for you. Just make sure they put all the parts in the package if you want to do some make ahead gravy a couple of days before.

This is a magnificent way to cook a Turkey! I have the original pages from the magazine of this and have used this process for over 10 years. The turkey is the most flavorful, moist and cooks perfectly at a fast rate! everything is cooked evenly. i think it is about 10 minutes per pound, ie a 13 pound turkey cooks in an hour and 10 minutes! You may be spending more time preparing your sides before putting the Turkey in to cook!

Actually, the turkey came out as well as the other reviewers say. I am giving a 1-star review solely because there is a huge food safety no-no in this instructions. I am a public health physician retired from the food safety agency of the USDA where I dealt with poultry safety every day. Please heed this advice: NEVER RINSE POULTRY. Salmonella is an ever-present reality in poultry, despite the best measures of growers and processors. Always assume every bird carries Salmonella on its surfaces and in any included fluid. Rinsing in a sink is wholly inadequate to significantly reduce the levels of bacteria, but the one thing rinsing reliably accomplishes is to generate spray coming off the bird. The danger comes not just from the visible spatter, but also from fine droplets, borne on the air beyond the visible spray, each containing more than enough Salmonella to contaminate other foods, the sink, countertop, nearby dishes, dishtowels, cutting boards, cooking implements, etc.. One recommendation that I was pleased to see was 100% correct was to check for doneness by ensuring an internal temperature of 165F. I still occasionally see checking by cutting into the meat to check the color, seeing that "the juices run clear," or often in British recipes, "cooking until piping hot." If cooked to 165F, as determined by a tip-sensitive thermometer, any bacteria on the bird will be dead. Always trust your oven to kill the Salmonella and leave the poultry unrinsed.

Make it even better, 2016. Lay whole carrots, quartered large onion, celery stalks, and a cut in half sweet potato in bottom of roasting pan. Oil the pan lightly first. Then add a small amount of liquid to just coat the bottom to keep pan from burning.Lay the Turkey right on top before putting in oven to roast. When done, put roasted veggies in food processor or blender then pour thru strainer adding to the broth for gravy. Sweet potato will be a natural thickener. No flour needed in gravy.

Make it even better, 2016. Lay whole carrots, quartered large onion, celery stalks, and a cut in half sweet potato in bottom of roasting pan. Oil the pan lightly first. Then add a small amount of liquid to just coat the bottom to keep pan from burning.Lay the Turkey right on top before putting in oven to roast. When done, put roasted veggies in food processor or blender then pour thru strainer adding to the broth for gravy. Sweet potato will be a natural thickener. No flour needed in gravy.

To Karen16, I'm sorry that happened to your house. I did a lot of research on spatchcocking prior to roasting mine, and I found that the fat on the pan can sometimes smoke up. An easy solution I utilized was placing the turkey on a bed of onions, which not only flavored the meat and pan juices wonderfully, but it kept the pan moist enough to avoid smoking. Hope you give it another chance sometime!

I made this last year, and the drippings smoked in the pan, but I liked how fast it cooked, and wanted to try again this year. After reading the reviews today, I put the turkey on a bed of onions (2 large, sliced 1/4 "), set the oven to 450, and it turned out perfect. My 16lb butterball cooked in 1 hour - skin crisp and perfectly browned, and I didn't even baste. The meat is tender and flavorful. I will always roast a turkey this way.