Poultry: Carving and Serving a Turkey

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[Instructor] Carving and serving a turkey.

To begin carving it's essential that your knife be sharp

otherwise it will just shred the turkey meat.

Place the breast side up with the drumsticks facing you

and cut off and remove all string.

Begin by removing the legs.

The key in removing the legs

and wings from the turkey carcass,

is to run your knife along the carcass

until you find the places where the bones meet.

By cutting between the joints and not through bones,

you can disconnect the bones without much fuss.

After removing a thigh repeat on the other side.

Again just try to find that joint

and it'll pop right off.

Next remove the wings.

Run your knife along the carcass

until you find the places where the bones meet.

Pulling back can often help you find that little joint.

Poultry shears can be helpful in removing the wings

and getting through that little joint.

Again, by cutting between the joints

and not through the bones,

you can disconnect the wings easily.

Once these are removed,

run the knife along one side of the breastbone of the turkey

while holding the turkey down firmly with a carving fork.

Remove the breast by cutting off at a diagonal.

Just follow the shape of the bird to do this

and then repeat on the other side.

Cutting the breast last ensures that

it will stay moist longer.

Once the breast is removed,

save the carcass for making soup.

And now that you've removed all the meat from the carcass,

you'll separate the wings into two pieces,

again finding that joint by pulling back on the wing

and doing the same thing with the drumsticks.

Separating them from the thigh,

finding that joint.

We keep the drumsticks whole.

For carving the breast,

slice diagonally against the grain of the meat.

This'll keep the breast nice and tender.

When serving the turkey,

the garnish is really important.

Experiment with different ones.

In the fall add gourds or pumpkins.

In the summertime add citrus fruit and flowers.

Just make sure that you use edible garnishes.

Here we've added a few kale leaves,

some orchids and some beautiful fruit.

Now there's a platter

that will make your guests ooh and ahh.

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