The moment has come. You’ve roasted a perfectly golden and juicy turkey, all the sides are hot and ready, and now it’s time to carve. It might be tempting to start hacking at the breast with a huge carving knife, but that can leave you with stringy pieces of meat, lots left on the bird and—worst case scenario—a nasty cut or two.
Luckily, our resident knife guy Matt Card has the turkey-carving tips to ensure you serve up tender slices of meat without any mishaps. (You can watch him in action in the video above.)
Here’s the right way to carve a turkey, from setting up your space and choosing your knife to removing each and every part of the bird in the right order–and there is a right order..
Choose the right knife for your hand and keep it sharp
A paring knife is (obviously) far too small for turkey carving, but it’s also possible to overdo it in the other direction. In our opinion, this is no time for the big guns (read: a 10-inch Western-style chef’s knife). The longer the blade, the farther the tip is from your “control point”—where you pinch the blade with your thumb and forefinger. We prefer a 7-inch knife like the Bunka. It has a super sharp, flat, Japanese-style blade for even slicing and a pointed tip to feel around for joints.
Once you’ve chosen a knife that feels good in your hand, you’ll want to make sure it’s sharp. Dull knives don’t cut, they tear, resulting in ripped skin and jagged pieces of meat. They’re also wildly unsafe, as they require more pressure to wield and are likely to go careening towards your hand. Hone and sharpen your knives as needed before turkey day.
It’s worth noting that honing and sharpening are two different things. Honing realigns the tiny metal “teeth” on the blade’s edge—no matter how thin and smooth that edge appears, those teeth are there. Honing makes sure those teeth are facing the right direction for more precise cuts that require less force. Sharpening is a completely different action that actually removes tiny shavings of metal from the blade, giving it new teeth.
Stabilize your cutting board
Beyond a sharp knife, you’ll also want a big, stable cutting board. If it’s not large enough to comfortably fit your knife, it’s not fit for a carrot, much less a turkey. Give yourself some room.
You also want a cutting board with some give. Much like whacking your knife against a rock, a hard board will wreck your blade. It’s also likelier to send your turkey slipping around away from that blade. Our favorite soft board is the Hasegawa, the “Cadillac of cutting boards”: plastic-coated, non-slip, antimicrobial, and spacious. It also helps to give the board something to stick to, so it doesn’t jostle or slide as you carve. Damp paper towels and silicone baking mats work fine, but for a bigger job, we highly recommend a Flex slip mat.
What we don’t recommend, however, is carving at the table. Reaching over wine glasses to slice meat off a big ol’ bird is a recipe for disaster. Do your carving in the kitchen, on a large countertop or butcher block, so you have plenty of room to maneuver safely—and don’t spill any wine.
Start with the legs
One of my pet peeves is stock photos of people incorrectly carving turkey. They almost always depict someone slicing the breast meat directly off the carcass, legs still attached, usually going with the grain instead of against it. Don’t do that. Remove the legs before you even think about touching the white meat.
Start by cutting through any kitchen twine that’s holding the legs together. Next, position the bird so the breast is facing up and the cavity is facing you. Using the tip of your knife, make clean, small cuts through the skin in the crease where the legs meet the breast. Gently pull the leg away to create tension as needed.
Once you’re through the skin, you should be able to see where the thigh connects to the body. Pull the leg away from the body with your hands or a pair of kitchen tongs—not a carving fork, which will poke holes in your meat. Slice through the meat on the inside of the thigh, then gently pull the leg away from the rest of body, until you hear or feel the joint pop. This should not take a lot of force. Move the leg to the side of the cutting board, then cut through the joint—not the bone—that connects the drumstick and thigh. A sharp knife will slide right through cooked cartilage. Repeat on the other side.
Remove the wings (or leave them on)
If someone at your table wants a wing, now is the time to remove them, but you can also leave them attached. They don’t get in the way during carving, and they’re packed with collagen, making them a prized addition to the stock you’ll inevitably make with the turkey carcass.
If you do want to remove them, start by pulling one wing away from the body and slicing through the skin and muscle in the “wingpit.” (You know, like an armpit, but for birds.) Pop the joint using your hands, then slip your knife tip in between the bones to slice through the connective tissue and cartilage. Pull it off and repeat on the other side.
On to the main event
Slicing the breast meat right off the bird—making cuts that run parallel to the breast bone—is the wrong way to do it. You’ll be slicing with the grain, leaving the muscle fibers in long, chewy strings. Instead, you want to remove each lobe of meat on each side of the breast bone, then cut against the grain for the most tender bite possible.
Start by making small incisions through the skin with the sharp tip of your knife, following the curve of the breast bone and loosening the meat. Use your (clean) hands to carefully separate the meat from the breast plate, following its curve with your knife as needed until you can pull the breast off in one piece. Go slowly, feeling for the curve of the plate as you work. Transfer to a cutting board and slice perpendicular to the grain, using the full length of your blade for clean slices.
Repeat on the other side, plate, and serve.
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