Sure I have recipes for whole turkey but to be honest, I never cook it that way. When Thanksgiving comes, I've begun to simplify things, and I can no longer justify cooking the turkey on the bone. And there are 7 reasons why I think breaking down the turkey before you cook it is better than the alternative.
Reason #1 is that it gives you the carcass before you cook the turkey, allowing you to use it to make stock for gravy. Reason
#2 is that you can salt both the skin side and meat side and allow it time for the salt to penetrate all the way into the meat, actually seasoning the turkey and doing so without introducing more water like a wet brine.
#3 is that it fits so much better in an already stressed refrigerator on thanksgiving eve. Instead of fighting a huge turkey, often one that is being brined, into an already full fridge is one of my biggest problems, this method only requires a thin sheet tray that will easily fit in the fridge.
#4 is it takes up less space in the oven so you can also cook or reheat other items for the meal so everything can cook at once, rather than staggering everything to make room for a huge turkey that requires the entire oven to cook. Which leads into reason
#5 which is that, broken down into pieces, the turkey will cook in so much less time, the breasts will cook in about 30 minutes, the legs about 50 minutes,
which is the 6th reason this method is better, you can cook the breast and the dark meat perfect, the way they are supposed to be cooked.
And of course the 7th reason is since we carve it already, we don't have to fuss too much once it's cooked. Just slice up the breast which will be juicy, break up the dark meat and get it on a platter. Once you make turkey this way, you may never cook it any other way again.
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