The turkey is nearly done, but then what? If you’re not sure how to properly carve a turkey, don’t “learn” while the family is watching, check out this simple tutorial!
How to Properly Carve a Turkey
I have to admit, for years I carved turkeys just like mom and grandma used to do, slicing down the side of the breast, trying to figure out how we were going to divide it up between 12-15, even 20 people without slicing the breast too thin and short-changing someone.
Then, after the meal, some poor soul was stuck “picking over” the carcass of the bird so we could make sandwiches and soup. Well folks, those days are OVER.
Once you’ve removed the roasted turkey from the oven, it should be allowed to rest for a minimum of 30 minutes in order to allow the juices to evenly distribute back into the meat. (This is a perfect time to bake the yeast rolls or biscuits!)
Begin Carving:
1 Remove the string.
2 Place the turkey on a carving board.
3 Using a sharp knife, remove the legs and thighs.
4 To remove the legs, carefully cut through the skin that connects the breast and the drumstick.
5 Remove the drumsticks.
6 Remove the wishbone- cut down along the sides of the wishbone, grasp it firmly and pull it out.
7 Remove turkey breasts- slice down along the bone, removing the breast in one large chunk, set it aside.
8 Remove the wings.
9 Slice the thigh meat.
10 Slice the breast meat. Lay the breast meat cut side down, cut into slices at an angle (which helps the meat retain the juice.
The best part about using this method to carve the turkey is that there is virtually no waste left on the carcass and no need to spend 30 or 40 minutes picking over the bones in order to salvage meat for sandwiches and leftovers.
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One cool technique for carving a turkey is the “Butterflying” method. To do this, start at the neck of the turkey and cut through one side of the ribcage, separating it from the main breast meat. After that, use your knife to slice along both sides of the backbone, which will loosen up the body and legs. Cut down into each side until you reach the thighbone and hip joint. Finally, separate each leg from the body by cutting through these joints. This will provide you with two large pieces of white meat and two drumsticks or wings!