Black Magic Blackened Turkey

Break down the turkey: Remove the neck and giblets from the cavities and pat the turkey dry. Set it breast side up on a cutting board, legs toward you.

Use a sharp boning knife, chef's knife, or kitchen shears. Remove the leg quarters without the spine: pull one leg away from the body and slice through the skin between the thigh and breast.

Press the leg down and back until the hip joint pops, then cut through the joint, keeping the blade tight against the backbone so the oyster comes away with the thigh.

Repeat on the other side. Or, to take the spine with the leg quarters, skip step 2: using kitchen shears, cut through the ribs along both sides of the backbone from the tail end to the neck, then lift the back away with both leg quarters still attached. Remove the wings: pull each wing away from the crown, find the shoulder joint with the tip of the knife, and cut straight through it.

Cut off the tail. What remains is the breast crown on the bone. Set the neck, tail, and wings aside for smoking or other uses, and sanitize the board and tools.

Season: Combine the Black Magic, brown sugar, and kosher salt in a small bowl and mix until evenly combined, with no clumps of sugar.

Slice the butter into 32 pats, 1 tbsp each. Starting at the cavity end, work your fingers under the breast skin to loosen it without tearing. Slide 8 pats under the skin on each breast and tuck a generous amount of the seasoning mix under the skin on both breasts, then coat the outside of the crown generously.

Repeat on the leg quarters: loosen the skin over each thigh and drumstick, slide 4 pats under the skin of each quarter, tuck seasoning mix underneath, then coat the outside generously. Reserve the remaining 8 pats.

Roast: Preheat the oven to 325°F (163°C). Place the crown in one roasting pan and the leg quarters in the other. Cover each pan tightly with aluminum foil.

Roast covered for 1.5 hours.

Remove the foil and top the crown and leg quarters with the reserved butter, 4 pats each. Continue roasting uncovered for 30 minutes to 1 hour, basting with the pan juices every 15 minutes so the brown sugar doesn't scorch, until the skin is crisp and deeply blackened.

Pull the leg quarters when the deepest part of the thigh reads 170°F (77°C), and the crown when the thickest part of the breast reads 160°F (71°C). Probe away from the bone. Rest both uncovered at room temperature for 30 minutes, then slice and serve.