Turkey Carving Basics

Cooking your bird to juicy perfection is only half the battle! Amateurs hack at their turkeys like barbarians, but real Thanksgiving professionals know that even the tenderest meat tastes better when it’s delivered to the table in a photo-worthy presentation. Take your turkey carving game to the next level by following these easy pointers.

After you pull your turkey out of the oven, tent it with a layer of tin foil and let it sit on your stovetop for about 20 minutes, so that the juices stay in the meat and don’t end up lost on your cutting board.

Your carving skills are only as good as your tools! A dull blade will tear your breast meat rather than cut it, so be sure to use a long slicing knife that’s been freshly sharpened. An electric knife can be useful, if you have one on hand, but isn’t strictly necessary (you can pick one up for as little as $20).

After you’ve cut away the string, remove each leg, using your knife to carefully slice the skin and sever the joint. Use the same techniques to remove the wings, which often look best if you put them onto the platter intact. Feel for the joint between the thigh and drumstick and then cut straight down with your knife to separate the two. You can leave the meat on the drumsticks if it’s family tradition for Uncle Lou to gnaw at the bone like a caveman, or you can remove it by holding the drumstick vertically, with the meaty end down, and slicing down along the bone. For the thigh, cut along each side of the bone until you can pull it out, leaving meat intact, which you can then slice. The juicy dark meat should drop off the bone with little effort–this is the easy part!

Here’s where that electric knife can come in handy. You’ve got two worthy options here: either start from the side of the breast and carve off slices, starting small and working towards the center, or remove each whole breast and slice it on the cutting board (the latter is our favorite because it lets each piece have more skin attached). To remove each breast, cut down from the center of the turkey along the breast bone, hugging the bone as close as possible with the knife and using your free hand to peel the breast away from the bone as you cut. You should be able to get each breast off mostly intact, after which you can lay them on the cutting board and slice them up (always cutting across the grain).

You went through all the work to carve your bird the right way, so now’s your chance to show off your skills! Arrange your slices to show off the beautiful golden skin, and position your intact drumsticks and wings around the perimeter of the platter. We guarantee your guests will be impressed.