This Thanksgiving, Americans will cook and consume over 40 million turkeys, yet very few of them will be carved in a stress- and mess-free manner, that doesn't also waste waste your carefully prepared bird. So we asked Jeffrey Elliot, Chef and Director of Culinary Relations of Zwilling J.A. Henckels, and co-author of The Complete Book of Knife Skills: The Essential Guide to Use Techniques and Care, to show us, step-by-step, the best way to carve a Thanksgiving turkey.
1
Place the turkey on the cutting board or a platter, breast side up, with the legs facing away from you. Steady it with the carving fork in your guide hand.
2
Cut through the skin that connects one leg to the carcass, cutting as close to the leg as possible.
3
Set down the knife and pull the leg away from the bird until the ball joint that connects it to the carcass pops out of the socket. (If the turkey is too hot to handle, use a clean, dry towel to protect your hands.)
Advertisement
4
Cut straight through the joint with the knife. The leg will now pull easily away from the carcass.
5
Lay the leg on the board, with the knee facing you, and feel for the joint connecting the drumstick bone and the thigh bone.
6
Advertisement
7
Rotate the drumstick and continue cutting straight down along the bone until all the meat is removed from the bone.
8
9
Hold the knife blade parallel to the board and slip it underneath the bone. Cut along the length of the bone to free it from the meat. Pull the bone away from the meat.
Advertisement
10
11
12
Advertisement
13
Cut all the way through the joint, through any meat and skin, and remove the wing from the carcass.
14
Rotate the turkey so that the other wing is facing your guide hand. Repeat previous steps to remove it.
15
Advertisement
16
Let the knife blade ride the rib cage straight down to the socket where the wing was attached.
17
18
Lay the breast half on the cutting board, skin side up, and bias-cut it into serving-size slices.
Advertisement
19
Steady the turkey carcass with the carving fork and repeat steps 15-18 with the other side of the breast.
Jeffrey Elliot is The Executive Chef and Director of Culinary Relations of ZWILLING J.A. HENCKELS and along with James P. DeWan is the author of the Zwilling J.A. Henckels Complete Book of Knife Skills: The Essential Guide to Use Techniques and Care.