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Instead of roasting a whole turkey this year, consider making a deconstructed turkey. It cooks up faster, and every piece turns out juicy and moist. Cooking a turkey is a bit tricky. Most of us only cook a whole turkey once a year, and it takes so much longer than the chickens we’re used to roasting. Not to mention the pressure of serving a perfectly cooked bird to your entire family! A deconstructed turkey has been broken down into its individual pieces: breast, legs and wings. You can cook them all together in a roasting pan as we describe below or use different cooking methods for each part.
Why Deconstruct a Turkey Instead of Cooking It Whole? There are two major benefits to cooking a deconstructed turkey. For starters, it takes about half the amount of time to cook. Air can circulate more easily around the individual turkey pieces, reducing the cook time significantly.
This method also allows you to easily remove the pieces from the oven as they finish cooking, ensuring the whole bird is juicy and moist. Don’t worry about the pieces getting cold as they sit, either. F oven to crisp up the skin and reheat any meat that may have chilled. The first thing you’ll want to pick up for a deconstructed turkey is a pair of poultry shears. You’ll also want a sturdy roasting pan with a rack or a baking sheet lined with an oven-safe rack.
To ensure your turkey cooks perfectly, you’ll definitely want to have a good thermometer. You can use an instant-read meat thermometer to temp the turkey when you think it’s finished, but we prefer using a probe thermometer. If you have a great local butcher near you, they can probably take care of this step for you, selling you a ready-to-roast deconstructed turkey. But it’s not too hard to do it at home, so don’t be afraid to tackle it! It would be extremely difficult to do this process on a half-frozen turkey!