How to Carve a Turkey: 6 Tips for Carving Turkey

Carving up a turkey is a simple task when you have the right tools. Here are the three main things you will need to carve a turkey.

1. 1. A sharp knife. A sharpened chef’s knife should be plenty to do the job, though you can also use a boning or carving knife.
2. 2. A carving board. The juices of your turkey will ooze out as you carve it, and you want to catch as much of it as possible for the gravy. Use a cutting board with a carve-out to catch the juices, or place a large roasting pan beneath your cutting board to help catch all the liquids that seep out of your turkey.
3. 3. A serving tray. As you carve your turkey, you’ll need to separate the carved pieces of meat for the rest of the turkey as you go. Have a serving platter ready to place for your carved turkey pieces; ready two serving trays if you want to separate white meat and dark meat from each other.

There are a few different ways people prefer to carve their turkeys, but every method involves working through the bird in a sequence of sections. Here is a step-by-step guide of how to carve a turkey.

1. 1. Remove the legs. The turkey legs are the first pieces you should cut off of your bird. Gently pull the leg towards you and cut into the connective tissue around the leg and thigh joint. Do not cut into the joint of the leg, just pierce the tissue around it so that the leg and thigh pop off of the bird. Repeat on the other side.
2. 2. Separate the leg from the thigh. Lay the drumstick on the cutting board, skin-side down. Peel back the leg section from the thigh, where there should be a natural separation between the turkey joints. Cut away the thigh meat from the drumstick. Next, use your knife to separate the meat from the thigh bone. This will enable you to slice the tender, dark thigh meat into individual pieces.
3. 3. Slice the entire breast. The keel bone, or breast bone, runs down the center of the whole breast, providing an easy divider for you to slice the turkey breast in two. Pick one side of the breastbone and start cutting along the keel bone, pulling away the breast meat with your other hand. Place the chunk of breast meat skin-side up on your cutting board and slice into the thickness of your choosing.
4. 4. Cut away the wings. The wings can stabilize your turkey as you cut it, so you should remove them from your bird last. Once you’re ready to remove the wings, simply pull them away from the body, using your knife to cut through the joint and separate them cleanly.

Though carving a turkey may seem ambitious at first, it gets easier with the right know-how and practice. Here are some tips for carving a turkey.

1. 1. Let the turkey sit. Letting the turkey rest for 15 to 30 minutes after cooking before you cut it allows its juices to settle inside of the meat and make it more flavorful. Cutting your turkey while it’s still hot may squeeze the moisture out of the bird, resulting in a dry turkey.
2. 2. Keep your knife sharp. Working with a sharp knife will make it easier to cut through the turkey’s skin. It will also allow you to make clean, individual turkey slices that easily fall away from each other.
3. 3. Cut against the grain. Cut against (or across) the natural lay of the muscle fibers in the meat to ensure tender (and not chewy) pieces of turkey.
4. 4. Avoid flipping the turkey. If you’re carving your turkey correctly, you shouldn’t have to flip the meat around. Carve each section at a time, keeping the meat flat against your cutting board. The breast side should be facing up and the legs and wings should be flat on your cutting board.
5. 5. Take out the wishbone. Removing the wishbone—the thin v-shaped bone in the breast meat at the base of the turkey’s neck— is optional during the turkey carving process, but it makes it much easier to carve your turkey breast. Turn the turkey so that the neck is facing toward you and look for the upside-down “V”-shaped bone. Use the tip of your knife to cut along the bone and loosen it from the meat, then pull it out with your fingers.
6. 6. Save your bones for stock. Save the bones and carcass of your turkey after carving the bird. You can use these to make flavorful turkey stock.

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