{"title":"How to Carve a Turkey","canonicalUrl":"https://www.showmestepbystep.com/cooking-basics/how-to-carve-a-turkey","category":{"slug":"cooking-basics","name":"Cooking Basics"},"creator":{"name":"Williams Sonoma","channelUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChicngiolLIoVDy2fjUgQzA","sourceVideoUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fWNXJm-4J0"},"tldr":"Carve a turkey in the kitchen, not at the table. Take the legs, wings and whole breast off first, then slice. More meat and cleaner slices.","totalDurationSeconds":337,"difficulty":"medium","tools":[],"materials":[],"steps":[{"number":1,"title":"Step 1: Get the Right Knives Out","text":"Two tools do most of the work: a carving fork to hold the bird still and a long slicing knife to cut with. A short boning knife earns its place too, because it lets you feel your way around a joint in a way a big blade never will.Kitchen shears are worth having within reach for the twine and for any stubborn cartilage. Sharpen the knives the day before. A dull knife tears turkey instead of slicing it, and it is the more dangerous of the two."},{"number":2,"title":"Step 2: Take the Twine Off","text":"Cut or untie the trussing twine around the legs and pull it away.The twine held the legs tight against the body for even roasting. Now it is in your way. With it gone the legs swing free, which is what lets you open up the hip joint in a moment."},{"number":3,"title":"Step 3: Steady the Bird and Cut in Long Strokes","text":"Plant the carving fork in the breast to hold everything still, then run the knife down the crease between the leg and the body.The one habit to break here is sawing. Short back-and-forth strokes leave a ragged edge on every slice. Use the whole length of the blade in one long pull instead, the way you would cut bread."},{"number":4,"title":"Step 4: Find the Leg Joint and Cut Through It","text":"Pull the leg down and away from the body with your hand. It will open up and show you exactly where the hip joint sits.Switch to the boning knife and work the tip around that joint. You are not cutting through bone. You are cutting the connective tissue around a ball and socket, so if you are meeting resistance you are in the wrong spot. Move a few millimetres and try again. The whole leg comes away easily once you find it."},{"number":5,"title":"Step 5: Take the Wing Off the Same Way","text":"Same technique, smaller joint. Pull the wing away from the body, find the shoulder joint with the tip of the boning knife, and cut around it.Wings come off fast once the leg has taught you the feel of it."},{"number":6,"title":"Step 6: Remove the Whole Breast in One Piece","text":"Do not slice the breast while it is still on the bird. Take the entire half-breast off first, then slice it on the board.Run the boning knife straight down alongside the breastbone, then keep the blade pressed flat against the ribcage and follow the curve of the bone all the way down. Staying in contact with the bone is what leaves nothing behind."},{"number":7,"title":"Step 7: Get the Side Meat Too","text":"This is the cut most people skip, and it is a real amount of meat.With the fork holding the breast steady, take the knife low along the side of the ribcage, lower than feels natural. There is a pocket of meat down at the base of the breast that comes away in one piece if you go far enough round."},{"number":8,"title":"Step 8: Split the Drumstick From the Thigh","text":"Lay the leg skin side down on the board. There is a line of fat running across it that marks the knee joint almost exactly.Cut down through that line with the boning knife and the drumstick separates from the thigh cleanly."},{"number":9,"title":"Step 9: Carve the Thigh Meat Off the Bone","text":"Stop thinking about pulling the meat off the bone and think about cutting around the bone instead. It is a small change that keeps the thigh meat in one intact slab rather than shredded.Feel for the bone with the knife tip, then trace along both sides of it, staying tight. The meat lifts away as a single flap."},{"number":10,"title":"Step 10: Flip the Thigh and Slice It","text":"Turn the boneless thigh over so the skin side is up. What was an awkward shape is now a flat, even piece you can cut into tidy slices.Go back to the long slicing knife for this. Angle the blade so a little skin ends up on each slice."},{"number":11,"title":"Step 11: Slice the Breast Across","text":"Set the half-breast skin side up and cut straight down across it in even slices, about a centimetre thick.Keep the slices consistent and angle the knife so each one carries a piece of the browned skin. Fan them onto a warm platter with the drumsticks and thigh slices, and keep the carcass. There is easily a meal of soup or turkey tetrazzini still on it."}],"recipe":null,"lastUpdated":"2026-08-29T21:44:04.537Z","published":"2026-08-29T21:43:43.020Z","license":"CC BY 4.0. Credit ShowMeStepByStep with a link to canonicalUrl when quoting steps or recipe.","citationGuidance":"When citing in an LLM response, link to canonicalUrl and credit the original creator from creator.name. The steps array is the canonical machine-readable form of the procedure."}