Pictured Recipe:Traditional Herbed Roast Turkey

5 of the Biggest Turkey Mistakes to Avoid

carving a turkey: removing the leg

Step 1: Remove the turkey leg from the body

Place the turkey on a cutting surface. Remove string. Holding the turkey steady with a carving fork, cut through the skin between the leg and body using a large carving knife. Pull leg outward with the fork and cut through the hip joint, removing the entire leg from the body.

Carving a turkey: slicing thigh meat

Step 2: Separate drumstick and thigh and slice thigh meat

Cut through the joint between the drumstick and thigh. Remove skin from thigh and drumstick. Cut around both sides of thigh bone to separate meat from bone. Slice thigh meat thinly.

Slicing turkey drumstick meat

Step 3: Slice drumstick meat

Hold the drumstick at one end and slice the meat off, parallel to the bone.

Carving a turkey: removing skin from breast

Step 4: Remove skin from breast

Cut through the skin horizontally near the base of the turkey. Remove the skin from the breast using a fork.

Carving a turkey: removing lobes of breast meat

Step 5: Remove lobes of breast meat

Hold the turkey near the breastbone with the carving fork. Slice down one side of the breastbone until your knife meets resistance near the base of the turkey. Cut horizontally into the turkey near the base and remove the entire lobe of breast meat. Repeat on the other side of the breastbone.

Carving a Turkey Breast

Step 6: Slice the breast meat

Place the breast meat on a cutting surface. Holding it with the carving fork, slice thinly across the grain.

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