How To Carve A Turkey

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How To Carve A Turkey

"You want a leg or a breast?"

-- Grace Kelly
to Cary Grant in the picnic scene
from Alfred Hitchcock's "To Catch a Thief " (1955)

There you are, knife in hand and all eyes on you. You are center stage, it's show time, with all the starving kids and Aunt Martha watching. Turkey carving is a skill you only get to practice once or twice a year, and that makes it all the more difficult. But once you get it done right, your only responsibilities for the rest of the day involve eating and sitting in front of the TV.

So relax. Carving the Thanksgiving turkey is easy when you break it down into 10 steps.

Before you get started, though, you need to stake out your carving area. Doing the job in the privacy of the kitchen will save you face if the job is less than perfect, but a dining-room performance in front of the whole family is a lot more impressive.

Turkey

Once you're set up, here's how to get the job done.

1. Get your tools in order. Some swear by the electric knife, but a long-bladed sharp knife does perfectly well and actually provides better handling. Do not use a serrated blade to cut; it will tear the meat.

It's best to use two knives, one for slicing (10 inches) and a short-bladed one (4 to 6 inches) for trimming and separating joints. Also have a warm serving platter ready, and a pair of kitchen scissors.

A carving fork can be used to arrange and serve the turkey, but it can pierce and even tear the turkey slices. You'll have more control if you grip the bird with your hand, using a clean potholder or napkin to protect your fingers. This may appear a little barbaric, especially if you choose to carve at the table, but use your judgment knowing your audience.

2. Before you even grab hold of the knife, let the roast turkey cool at least 20 to 30 minutes after coming out of the oven. This allows the juices to settle back into the meat, to make it firmer and juicier, plus it will give Aunt Betty plenty of time to make her Bourbon cranberry sauce.

3. After it cools, transfer the turkey to a cutting board. Position the turkey so its neck is to your left, if you're right handed With the scissors, cut through the trussing, taking care to remove all the string or sometimes the bird is held together with wire.

4. If there is stuffing in the cavity of the bird, slice open the neck cavity with an oval incision, then scoop out the stuffing using a long-handled spoon and transfer it to a serving bowl.

5. Remove the drumsticks and thighs, cutting free the entire leg as one piece. Hold the outward end of the drumstick securely, and use the long knife to cut through the skin between the thigh and body of turkey on each side of the joint. Pull the leg out, away from the body, and back. Often the joint connecting leg to the hip will snap free. If not, press the turkey leg down to expose the hip joint, poke the short bladed knife into the joint and cut and twist to sever the tendon.

6. Place the drumstick/thigh piece on a separate cutting board and separate the drumstick from thigh at the joints. Apply pressure at the joint with the knifepoint, twist the knife and cut through to sever the drumstick. Repeat with the other leg.

7. Both thighs and drumsticks may be individually sliced or you can serve the drumstick whole. If you want to slice the drumstick, hold it by the end, tilting it at an angle with the meaty part down, then slice down toward the table.

To slice the thighs, turn them skin side down, cut lengthwise along the bone, then slide the knife around the bone to release it, keeping the thigh intact, cut thighs lengthwise into about ½ inch thick slices and arrange the slices on the serving platter.

8. Now it's time to slice the breast. Insert a fork into the wing or use your hands at the wing to steady the turkey. Wings are left in place to give you something to hold onto to help stabilize the bird.

Place the long knife horizontally at the bottom curve of the bird's breast, just above the wing and cut toward the rib cage, to the breastbone.

This cut is the stopping point for each breast slice you cut, and is called a "guide cut" or "base cut". It allows slices to separate neatly, since all slices will stop at his horizontal cut.

Then cut vertically through the breast meat from the top, angling the knife down parallel to the carcass, until the knife reaches the base cut that you made above the wing. Create even, thin slices of ¼ to ½ inches and arrange them on the serving platter.

Here’s an alternative method that may be easier if not as dramatic. This approach recommends removing the turkey breast whole and carving it crosswise.

Since this technique requires the use of a separate cutting board it may best be accomplished in the privacy of the kitchen.

Just above the wing joint, make a long horizontal cut as far into the rib cage as you can. Then, cut closely down along the keel bone (center of breast) to free the entire breast from the bird. Repeat on the other side.

Take care to keep breast sections whole, and avoid tearing the skin.

Place breast sections skin up on a cutting surface and cut ¼ to ½ inch thick slices, crosswise, through the meat.

Keep the slices in place. Use a wide spatula to place the breast half on the serving platter.

9. Remove the wings by pushing the wing down to expose the joint, poke the short-bladed knife tip into the joint, and cut and twist it to sever.

10. Don't forget the "Oysters" of meat from the hollows in the backbone.

And as you place the knife and fork back on the platter to thunderous applause, you can be thankful that you've done your duty, a job well done until next year.

Then go eat!!

-- Andy Gilchrist

Also see the article Turkey Cooking Tips

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A LITTLE TURKEY DAY HISTORY ....

After the first feast in 1621, Thanksgiving was not celebrated again until 1863. Thanksgiving, the holiday, was the inspiration of Sarah Josepha Hale (1788-1879), an author best know for her poem "Mary had a Little Lamb" and editor of a popular women's magazine. Ms. Hale chose the last Thursday in November, because George Washington had proclaimed it a National Thanksgiving Day in 1789 in honor of the new U.S. Constitution.

It took her 17 years of an aggressive letter-writing campaign to finally win the support of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln declared that Thanksgiving would be celebrated on Thursday, Nov. 26, that year. In 1941 an Act of Congress provided that Thanksgiving will be "officially" celebrated every fourth Thursday of November.

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