HOW TO CARVE A WHOLE ROASTED TURKEY

HOW TO CARVE A WHOLE ROASTED TURKEY image

I saw this method of carving a whole turkey many years ago on a PBS Channel & was fascinated @ how simple & easy it was to do. I vowed that I would try it for the next time I made turkey & this is what the finished product looked like. That was at least 20 years or more ago, & to this day I still carve our turkey the same way. My turkey came out of the oven a nice golden honey Brown caramel color, & was so moist & tasty. This picture is a very old one & only what my serving platter looked like after I had finished carving it off the carcass. I will take step pictures when I make my next.

Provided by Rose Mary Mogan @cookinginillinois

Categories Turkey

Number Of Ingredients 1

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Ingredients

1 large turkey cooked

Steps:

Allow Turkey to rest after coming out of the oven or off the grill, at least 15 to 20 minutes. Follow directions on package for Roasting turkey.
Then using a very sharp knife cut along side the inside of the turkey leg, down to the bottom of the thigh where you can separate and disjoint the leg from the bottom side of the turkey.
Now look for a small indention between the drumstick(leg) and the thigh portion and cut between the two to separate the two pieces.
Once the leg and thigh has been separated, place the leg at the top of a large platter. Then proceed to cut the dark meat from the thigh and removing the bone, slice into nice uniform pieces if possible, or you may want to use two separate platters, one for the white meat and one for the dark meat if the platter is not large enough. I had a VERY LARGE platter so a second platter was not needed.
Next go along the inside of the wing, remove the tip portion, then cut between the larger portion of the wing and the longer more slender part of the wings, and place at the opposite end of the platter. Repeat these steps on the other side of the turkey.
Once both legs and the wings have been removed from both sides you are free to carve the breast meat. THE FIRST THING YOU NEED TO DO IS REMOVE THE WISH BONE IN THE FRONT OF THE TURKEY TO MAKE IT EASIER TO CARVE ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE BREAST.
Once the wishbone has been removed, you can slide the tip of the knife along side the center bone in the turkey cutting along side the curvature of the breast bone carefully pulling the breast meat away as you carve until you reach the base of the turkey near the back, At this point you should have one half of the breast meat in one piece. Repeat for the other side of the turkey.
Now with each half laying flat on a carving board, cut the breast meat at an angle until you have sliced all of the breast meat. NOTE: AN ELECTRIC KNIFE MAY BE VERY HELPFUL IN SLICING THE BREAST PORTION OF THE TURKEY IF YOU LIKE. Then position each slice back in place as you sliced it, and arrange in same order on platter. Garnish with Parsley and fresh fruits if desired as I have done here.