How to Carve a Turkey

Go ahead and parade the whole bird around the room and take a few bows, but do the carving in the kitchen, not at the dining table. It can be messy. You will need a sharp knife (not serrated), a cutting board with gutters to catch the ample juices, and a serving platter.

Start with the dark meat. Take a paper towel and grab the top of a drumstick and bend it until the joint between it and the thigh is visible. Flex it back and forth until you have a good clear shot at the knee from behind. Sever the meat around the joint and then cut between the ball and socket to remove the leg (Picture 1).

You can serve the drumstick whole for cavemen like me, or you can stand it on the meaty end and slice downward, removing the meat (2).

Now pull out those pieces of stiff tendon with your fingers (3).

Hold the thigh and bend it back to find the hip. Cut through the ball joint, removing the thigh (4).

 

You can serve the thigh whole, but then the choicest pieces of dark meat will go to only two guests. If you have more people who want thigh meat, you need to remove the bone so you can slice the meat. To do this, flip the thigh skin side down and run the knife around the bone and under it until you can lift it out. Then turn the thigh skin side up and cut it into slices across the grain.

Grab a wing, bend it back to locate the shoulder joint, and cut through the tendons holding together the ball and socket (5).

Now for the breasts. Don’t slice them while they are still on the bird. That is cutting with the grain and makes the meat stringy when you chew. Instead, remove each breast lobe and slice it across the grain. Here’s how: In the middle of the two lobes is the breastbone, sometimes called the keel bone. Cut down along one side of the breastbone with long strokes until the knife hits the rib cage (6).

Tilt the knife and work along the rib cage with long strokes. Toward the front, the knife will slide along the wishbone. Slice until the breast falls away in one ­teardrop-shaped hunk.

Lay each breast skin side up on a cutting board and slice it across the grain in slices at least ¼ inch thick (7). I like thicker slices, especially if the meat is tender. If you’re not careful, the skin will slip and you won’t get neat slices with skin on each slice of meat. Place the knife on the center of the breast near its handle. Place the thumb and forefinger of your free hand on either side of the knife, pressing down on the skin gently. In one gentle, steady stroke, with slight downward pressure, draw the knife toward yourself across the skin, cutting down through it and into the meat. Don’t use a sawing motion, or the skin will move around. When you have the meat cut, reassemble it into a breast in order to keep it warm and wet.

Flip the carcass over so the backbone is facing up. Run your fingers along the sides of the backbone. Near the joints where the wings were attached, right under each shoulder blade, you’ll find a tender, juicy blob of meat, about the size and shape of the meat from an oyster, hence the nickname, turkey oysters. Pop them out with your fingers. They are some of the best meat on the bird. Give yourself a reward.

Now pour a little gravy over the meat on the platter, enough to moisten but not drown it, and serve.