How To Carve A Turkey

Rest the turkey - Allow the turkey to rest for a minimum of 15 minutes. Resting the bird allows the juices to redistribute back into the meat.

Carving Station - Place a large cutting board on a flat surface. For added stability place a moistened paper towel under the cutting board. Have a sharp chef knife and a serving platter at the ready. I am not a fan of cerated electric knives. I feel they shred the meat more than cut it.

Remove the leg, thigh and wings - Slice down and around the skin that connects the breast and the leg or drumstick until you hit bone. Pull the leg away and down until the joint pops out. Use the tip of your knife to slice through the connecting tendon if it does not release on its own.

Remove the thigh - Run the knife between the thigh and the back bone to slice through and remove the leg piece. Transfer to your serving platter.

Cut off the wings - Pull the wing back and slice through the joint and tendon. Slice the rest of the wing away from the turkey.

Remove the turkey breasts - To remove the turkey breasts in once piece, slice through the skin along the breastbone from the neck joint and the wishbone first. Then using a slicing motion slice through the breast meat, along the rib bone, removing as much meat as possible. Follow these detailed instructions on how to carve a turkey breast.

Repeat on the other side.

Slice the meat - To carve the turkey breast slice against the grain in ½" slices, sliding the chef kinfe under the sliced breast and lift as one piece, transferring to a serving platter.