We’ve got step-by-step photographs and videos on how to carve a roasted turkey, whether it’s a traditional, fully intact bird, or spatchcocked.Published: January 11 2020
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So you’ve followed one of our turkey recipes and have the golden beast in front of you. Now what? For many folks, the hardest part of cooking a turkey is carving and serving it. Depending on how you roasted the bird, the carving instructions will be a little different.
Here’s how to carve a traditional bird.
And here are instructions on how to carve a spatchcocked turkey.
How to Carve a Traditional Roast Turkey
How to Carve a Traditional Roast TurkeyPlay Video
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To carve a turkey, you’ll need to start with a turkey. There’s one step that takes place before you roast it, so start with it raw.
Pull back the skin flap around the neck, and you’ll locate the wishbone—the small, Y-shaped bone that runs along the top of both breast halves.
Make the first incision along the outside edge of one branch of the Y.
Then repeat that cut on the other side of the same branch, and repeat those two cuts on the other side. Finally, make a small horizontal incision at the very top of the bone, where the two branches meet.
Grab the top of the bone with your finger, and pry it forward. It should come away with little effort. If it’s stuck, use the tip of a sharp boning knife to cut through stubborn spots.
With the wishbone removed, it’s going to be a lot easier to carve your turkey later. Now your turkey is ready to roast. Check out the turkey recipes and techniques page in our Thanksgiving guide for all the recipes you need.
Roasted and ready? All right, Señor Gobbles. Time for your surgery.
Start by cutting the skin between the leg and the breast with a sharp chef’s knife or boning knife, using a clean kitchen towel to hold the turkey in place with your free hand.
Once the skin is cut, pull the entire leg away from the body. It should separate quite easily, displaying the socket joint where the thigh meets the hip. Cut through this joint with the tip of your knife, and the leg should be completely free. Just slice through the skin to release it.
Isn’t it frightening how easy it is to remove a limb? You now have a whole leg in front of you, alongside a disabled turkey.
Locate the joint between the drumstick and the thigh by moving them back and forth and feeling with your fingertip. Slice through this joint.
Repeat with the other leg.
Flip one thigh over, and cut along one side of the thigh bone to release a large chunk of meat.
Repeat with the other side of the thigh bone.
Slice the thigh meat into half-inch pieces, and transfer to a warm platter. Repeat with the other thigh. Add the drumsticks to the platter.
Locate the wing joint by articulating it, then slice through with a sharp chef’s knife. Repeat with the other wing, then separate the drumettes from the flats, and transfer all four wing pieces to the platter.
Slice into the breast on one side of the breastbone with a sharp boning knife.
Continue slicing, following the contour of the breastbone with the tip of the knife to remove as much meat as possible.
As you continue to work, the breast meat should begin to pull away from the bone. Help it along with the side of your knife until it’s completely separated.
Once the breast falls away from the bone, cut through the bottom edge to completely separate it.
Repeat with the other side. You should now have all of the meat removed. Save the carcass for soup, if desired.
Slice the breast meat with a sharp knife at a bias. Transfer to the warm platter.
And here’s your turkey, ready to present to the table.
How to Carve a Spatchcocked Turkey
The process for carving a spatchcocked turkey is remarkably similar, with a few small tweaks to accommodate its butterflied profile. Here’s a video to break it all down.How to Carve a Spatchcocked TurkeyPlay Video
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Crisp-Skinned Spatchcocked (Butterflied) Roast Turkey With Gravy Recipe
Spatchcocking turkey cooks more evenly and more quickly than non-butterflied versions, for stunningly crisp skin and perfectly cooked white and dark meat. Bonus: this recipe makes a flavorful gravy from the pan drippings along the way.Published: November 6, 2012Last Updated: November 4, 2019Knife Skills: How to Spatchcock a TurkeyPlay Video
Spatchcocking is a method of removing the turkey’s backbone to flatten its body prior to putting in the oven. This flatter shape ensures that the meat cooks more evenly and more quickly, allowing the legs to reach a safe temperature without overcooking the breast. The result is hands-down the easiest, most reliable route to a juicy, moist turkey with incredibly crisp skin. It may not look like a traditional Thanksgiving centerpiece, but your tastebuds will certainly thank you.
For best results, we recommend dry-brining your turkey by following the instructions here. If dry-brining, you can omit any additional salt added to the turkey in step two.
Why It Works
- Removing the backbone makes it easy to flatten the turkey into a single plane, promoting even cooking in the oven, which ensures the light meat and the dark meat reach their optimal cooked temperatures at the same time.
- Since the skin of a spatchcocked bird is all on top, it all crisps up beautifully, giving you more crispy skin than a conventionally cooked bird.
- The removed backbone can be used to give your gravy an extra dimension of turkey flavor
Read more: How to Cook a Spatchcocked Turkey: The Fastest, Easiest Thanksgiving Turkey
- YIELD:Serves 10 to 12
- ACTIVE TIME:20 minutes
- TOTAL TIME:2 hours
- RATED:
Ingredients
- 3 large onions, roughly chopped (about 1 1/2 quarts)
- 3 large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped (about 1 quart)
- 4 stalks celery, roughly chopped (about 1 quart
- 12 thyme sprigs
- 1 whole turkey (12 to 14 pounds total), butterflied according to these instructions, backbone, neck, and giblets reserved
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 quarts low-sodium homemade or store-bought chicken or turkey broth
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 4 tablespoons flour
Directions
- 1.Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 450°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet or broiler pan with aluminum foil. Scatter 2/3rds of onions, carrots, celery and thyme sprigs across bottom of pan. Place slotted broiler rack or wire rack directly on top of vegetables.
- 2.Pat turkey dry with paper towels and rub on all surfaces with 1 tablespoon oil. Season liberally on all surfaces with salt and black pepper (if using a brined, salted, or Kosher turkey, omit salting step, see note). Tuck wing tips behind back. Place turkey on top of rack, arranging so that it does not overlap the edges, pressing down on the breast bone to flatten the breasts slightly.
- 3.Transfer turkey to oven and roast, rotating occasionally, until an instant read thermometer inserted into the deepest part of the breast registers 150°F, and the thighs register at least 165°F, about 80 minutes.
- 4.While turkey roasts, make the gravy. Roughly chop the neck, backbone, and giblets. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a 3 quart saucepan over high heat until shimmering. Add chopped turkey parts and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add remaining onions, carrots, and celery and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables start to soften and brown in spots, another 5 minutes. Add chicken stock, remaining thyme, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil and reduce to a bare simmer. Allow to cook 45 minutes, then strain through a fine mesh strainer into a 2 quart liquid measuring cup and discard solids. Skim off any fat from the surface of the broth.
- 5.Melt butter over medium-high heat in a 2 quart saucepan. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly until flour is golden brown, about 3 minutes. Whisking constantly, add broth in a thin, steady stream until it it all incorporated. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until reduced to about 1 quart, about 20 minutes longer. Season to taste with salt and pepper, cover, and keep gravy warm.
- 6.When turkey is cooked, remove from oven and transfer rack to a new baking sheet. Allow to rest at room temperature for 20 minutes before carving. Carefully pour any collected juices from out of the roasting pan through a fine-mesh strainer into a liquid measuring cup. Skim off excess fat and dicard. Whisk juices into gravy.
- 7.Carve turkey and serve with gravy
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