Hey everyone David C Anderson here coming at you from the KnifeCenter
kitchen, and today we're gonna show you the proper way to carve Thanksgiving turkey
So first let's make sure we've got together all the things that we're gonna
need first you're gonna need a large enough cutting board can use wood or
synthetic but we tend to think that a large synthetic board is cleaner when
you're doing proteins and meats because it's a little bit more sanitary so one
thing that helps a little bit of a kitchen hack for you is to put a little
piece of shelf liner under the board that's gonna keep it from wiggling
around on it when you're trying to cut the turkey so you have a nice stable
surface next up a good pair of tongs is optional but it can help you manage
things you can also wear gloves if you wish now some folks still like to wear
latex but we've actually gotten a pair of cut resistant fabric gloves here
which are a great option since we're working around slippery foods and sharp
objects it's a great little bit of added safety next we're gonna need a nice
platter that we're gonna use to place all of our sliced meat on because we're
gonna be doing all of this today in the kitchen itself because what we're not
going to do is emulate that famous Norman Rockwell painting and put the
whole bird on the table this is going to be a fairly messy job and you're not
going to want that all over your nice table or your dinner guests
and finally the knives and today we're going to be using a pair of blades
although there are plenty of options out there ideally this pair is gonna get you
through most things we've got a boning knife as well as a longer straight
slicing knife and together they're gonna make quick work of parting out this bird
and the knives we're using today are from the Wusthof Classic Collection
we've got their nine-inch slicer as well as their six-inch upswept boning knife
now, a straight boning knife will definitely work but I prefer this
upswept style it makes certain cuts a little easier thanks to that big long
sweep to the edge now the first step after you roast your turkey or fry it or
however you prepare it is you want to make sure to let it rest for at least 30
minutes now that's gonna help more of the juices actually stay inside the meat
so it's not gonna run out all over your cutting board but make sure you save all
your drippings for a nice gravy later while you wait for that bird to rest
this is a great time to make sure that your kitchen knives are nice and sharp
we love the options from Spyderco such as their Sharpmaker as well as this
brand new Gauntlet model here it's a great thing to keep in your kitchen make
sure you give your knives a few strokes to make sure they're ready to go that's
part about a system like this is using the white stones that are included you
actually don't really need to use a kitchen steel to hone your edges as you
go so we've got our bird over here we're gonna transfer it to the cutting board
now you can see that the little pop-up temperature gauge has popped up which
should indicate that this is done but make sure you've always tested to make
sure it's done with a proper thermometer and don't trust that little plastic
piece just by itself now if you've trussed your bird be sure to
cut through any string or skin that's holding it closed first spread it apart
a little bit and now is the time to empty out any aromatics from inside the
cavity of the turkey because you didn't cook any stuffing in there did you no
good because that would be unsanitary just remove anything from in there and
discard so the first thing we're gonna do is we're gonna remove the leg and the
thigh from each side if you pull back on the leg a little bit you're gonna see
this seam of skin open up and you want to run your knife right down there
gradually opening it up as you go it's gonna be very easy to do then if the
turkeys cooked well you should be able to just pop the joint and you may not
even need the knife to remove it you can see there the joint just came right out
if it didn't you can use your knife to run right through that very easily we're
just gonna slice off the end right here and you're just going to repeat the
exact same process just go right down the seam pull back and if it doesn't pop
you can go right through the joint see if we can get a good view of it right
there cut right around it and remove so the next step is the breast and we're
actually going to remove it whole from the bird before slicing it so that we
can cut against the grain when you cut it off this way it's actually gonna be
more work for your teeth to chew the bird so it's not going to feel as tender
now you can remove the wishbone from the front if you like but we're gonna leave
it on the first step to removing the breast is he gonna run your knife right
down the center just a little bit and you're gonna find that keel bone right
in the middle now once you've opened that up and you
can see the edge of the bone right there you're going to want to take your knife
and down along that bone following it down
and removing the breast so this is where that upswept nature of this curved
boning knife really comes in handy because you can get in there and really
sweep down on that bone now short put your knives will work too something like
seven inches or less that's another great option as well
now you notice while I'm doing this I've actually left the wings on some people
like to take those off first but actually by leaving them on they act
sort of like a little bit of a kickstand or stabilizer helps keep the bird
upright while you're cutting so just keep coming down through there pulling
back carefully with your fingers as you come down the bone and eventually it's
going to curve out this way so you just keep following that as you go getting
the Tenderloin in the process and there we go there's one breast removed set it
aside we'll go again on the opposite side and I'm gonna try to do this from a
different angle so maybe you guys get a little bit better view on it it's just
gonna make it a little bit more awkward for me that's okay come down on the side
of that bone and because that tip is so thin and a little bit flexible being a
boning knife you can kind of come in and use that flex to your advantage and
curve out and we'll cut finally right there one more breast done so if you've
done this right you're not gonna have a whole ton of meat left I kind of cut a
little bit of shallow here but that's okay you can either remove this here
pull it off with your fingers and add it to your platter when you plate or you
can just hold it back and reserve it for the leftover turkey salad that you're
gonna make tomorrow anyway so lastly you can remove the wings here and they
should just pull off but again if they don't you can just find that joint and
cut through now you can either put these again on your platter or if you've got a
little kid or a relative that's bugging you in the kitchen throw one of these
there way it'll keep them occupied now if the wing doesn't pop out easily
just run your knife on the inside there find that bone find that joint go right
through it there you go pull out sliced up
find that joint can twist to help you see it a little bit cut right through
now here's a little bit of a cook's secret if you've turned the bird over
and I've already moved it from one side but at the end of the thigh you can pull
that bit of meat out there that's the oyster and as the cook that's just for
you now once you've pulled off all the meat that you want to make sure you save
what's left because this is going to make a great starter for a turkey stock
but now we're gonna get this out of the way so we can turn our attention to
slicing up the different cuts of meat so first we're gonna go at one of the
drumstick and thighs and what you're going to want to do is turn that over
because you can kind of pull from that direction and that's gonna help you see
the seam again there's a joint there and you want to see that seam and just
advance up towards it once you flex it you can see that it's right there get
your knife around the edge and through drumstick we're just gonna put hole onto
the platter now next to remove the bone from the thigh keep it upside-down find
the two ends of the bone and run your knife right along there and then from
there you should be able to kind of cut around the bone and cut it completely
away from the meat just kind of turning the knife and the piece of meat as you
go it might come off in two pieces like that that's okay again save that for
your stock now I'm going to put this to the side and do the other one next same
steps as before pull back a little bit follow that seam with your knife and
once you find the joint you can see it right there get your point in there cut
right around it turn the thigh back over find the ends of your bone there there
slice right along it and around to remove the meat from the bone again if
it comes off in two pieces no big deal sometimes it's gonna be messy that's
alright so now we're gonna switch over to the
Wusthof Classic nine-inch slicing knife now anything between 8 and 10
inches is a good length and you want to use long cuts with its few back and
forth motions as you can manage gives you a cleaner looking cut on the board
and with that much length it's very easy to get through in one clean slice
especially if you sharpen your knife beforehand so we're gonna go ahead now
and transfer that to our platter and continue with the rest you'll notice I'm
cutting across the grain as much as possible so you have a more tender bite
next we're gonna turn our attention to the white meat and again if you imagine
this on the bird this was the center keel bone right here
so you don't want to slice this way want to come across the grain so that it's
nice and easy to eat then one smooth clean slice that way you don't have kind
of a jagged cut along there it's a nice perfect cut very nice and drag the tip
along the cutting board as you go lets you put whatever pressure you need to on
the meat itself and this is where this long slender blade of the slicing knife
comes in handier then would a typical chef's knife or santoku because you have
a thinner blade and less actual material that's gonna cause drag on the meat
while you're cutting while I'm doing this I keep my fingers curled back using
the knuckle here to guide the knife itself and as you draw back I move my
index finger over to hold things in place so that goes right where I want it
move this see if we can move this as a whole over great I will say get yourself
a bigger platter than we got here we kind of misjudged the size of the bird
but that's okay you can always keep some of the meat in the kitchen if you do
have a smaller platter like this then once people have eaten a little bit you
can take it right back in the kitchen throw a little more on there and it's
like the feast that keeps on going knuckles back index finger to hold and
keep on going and that's the second breast cut
spin this... now the moment of truth let's see if we can fit it on there at the
same time oh it's a little crowded but it's fine so then we're just gonna throw
our drumsticks back on there throw a serving fork on there and before you
move it to the table you can actually pop that in the oven for just a few
minutes right at the end it'll get it nice and crispy on the outside and ready
to eat so that's it it's now time to eat just throwing your favorite side dishes
and the meals ready if you found this video useful and you want to see more
make sure you're subscribed to our YouTube channel and you can support us
by clicking the link in the description to get your hands on some of the knives
or sharpeners we use today I'm David C Andersen from the KnifeCenter signing
off Happy Thanksgiving