Shoving a bunch of butter under the skin of your turkey is a fantastic way to ensure it’s moist and flavourful, but it does require that you get your hands a little messy.
If you want to spend less time separating skin from flesh, get your hands on an air mattress pump.
Though it doesn’t completely negate the need to do a little hands-on (or really, “hands-in”) work, using an air pump does make the task a lot easier and it does help to separate the areas that even the tiniest, most childlike hands might not be able to reach.
Just take a (clean) air mattress (or other electric) pump, make a little opening between the skin and meat with your fingers, and insert the (very clean) tip of the pump in that opening. Flip the switch, and watch the turkey skin balloon in a slightly creepy but sort of delightful manner.
You may still encounter a little connective tissue in your butter shoving efforts, but I think you’ll find — as I did — that this will be the loosest turkey skin you’ve ever worked with. (I know that sounds disgusting, but it’s a good thing in this case.)
Plus, all that airflow helps dry the skin out, meaning it will crisp up easier and buttery, crispy skin is a very good thing. (Just remember to fully sterilise your air pump after; wiping it down with a dilute bleach solution should do the trick.)
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