The 2020 "How to Carve a Turkey" Thread - CIA style

knarfeng

knarfeng

senex morosus moderator
Staff member
Super Mod
Moderator
Joined
Jul 30, 2006
Messages
42,123
I only carve a turkey once a year. I find I do a much better job if I take a refresher course on proper turkey carving technique from a pro shortly before diving into it. This year I'm watching the head honcho from the CIA (Cooking Institute of America). I like this one. Not only a master chef, but a practiced instructor. Enjoy!

And my best wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving to you and your families.

 
The last time i've tried to carve a poultry i've thought, in a first time, it wasn't cooked enough at seeing the blood running on the blade.
In a second time i've seen it was my left thumb which wasn't cooked enough.

Thanks for the tutorial. Happy thanksgiving.

Dan.
 
I learned many moons ago that you take off the wings & Leg/thighs, put those aside then you cut around the carcass to maximize the amount of white meat in the biggest pieces possible. This is a bit of a generalization , I’m asked to carve most everywhere we go! I’m sure knowing how to sharpen & having a carving set in the Truck is part of that:)...Everyone enjoy time with your loved ones & hopefully a few guests!
 
knarfeng said:
I only carve a turkey once a year. I find I do a much better job if I take a refresher course on proper turkey carving technique from a pro shortly before diving into it. This year I'm watching the head honcho from the CIA (Cooking Institute of America). I like this one. Not only a master chef, but a practiced instructor. Enjoy!

And my best wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving to you and your families.

Click to expand...
Thanks for the link, Frank. :thumbsup::cool::thumbsup:

I don't anticipate carving a turkey this year, but I sure appreciated a turkey-carving video Frank posted a few years back when we hosted Thanksgiving dinner at our house and I felt obligated to do the carving. ;):thumbsup::thumbsup:

I hope everyone has a gratitude-filled day, despite the unusual circumstances this year. (My wife and I are preparing parts of the meal and a nephew and his family are preparing other parts of the meal. We'll eventually meet just to "exchange dishes", but then go home and eat in our respective household units. :eek::rolleyes: The things we do just to stay alive!)

- GT
 
knarfeng said:
I only carve a turkey once a year. I find I do a much better job if I take a refresher course on proper turkey carving technique from a pro shortly before diving into it. This year I'm watching the head honcho from the CIA (Cooking Institute of America). I like this one. Not only a master chef, but a practiced instructor. Enjoy!

And my best wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving to you and your families.

Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing this, I usually carve straight from the bird and will give this method a go-Happy Thanksgiving!
 
Since at least way back in 19 and Eighty-Ate, (starting in 19 and 73, when I worked at SWIFTS), if/when I bought turkey, it was either a mixed white/dark meat turkey roll, dark meat only turkey roll, or drum sticks and thighs, along with, (or only) two or three packages of the best parts of the bird: the Gizzards and Hearts. :D

Lot less work that way, and to be honest, I've never been all that fond of the dry arse lower flavor white meat.

(Like chicken liver, IMHO, turkey (along with duck, goose, and swan) liver is an nasty, vile, inedible. (unlike properly prepared and cooked beef, pork, seep/goat, and venison liver) However, fowl livers makes a marvelous catfish and snapper turtle bait. :) )
 
knarfeng said:
I only carve a turkey once a year. I find I do a much better job if I take a refresher course on proper turkey carving technique from a pro shortly before diving into it. This year I'm watching the head honcho from the CIA (Cooking Institute of America). I like this one. Not only a master chef, but a practiced instructor. Enjoy!

And my best wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving to you and your families.

Click to expand...
Nice video, Frank. Thanks. I had been carving my turkeys similarly, but I think I removed the wings before the breast. Tried it this way today. Worked great.
 
afishhunter said:
Since at least way back in 19 and Eighty-Ate, (starting in 19 and 73, when I worked at SWIFTS), if/when I bought turkey, it was either a mixed white/dark meat turkey roll, dark meat only turkey roll, or drum sticks and thighs, along with, (or only) two or three packages of the best parts of the bird: the Gizzards and Hearts. :D

Lot less work that way, and to be honest, I've never been all that fond of the dry arse lower flavor white meat.

(Like chicken liver, IMHO, turkey (along with duck, goose, and swan) liver is an nasty, vile, inedible. (unlike properly prepared and cooked beef, pork, seep/goat, and venison liver) However, fowl livers makes a marvelous catfish and snapper turtle bait. :) )
Click to expand...
The breast is best. I don't even eat the other parts till all the breast is gone! :D
 
knarfeng said:
That's how I grew up doing it. This technique was a revelation when I discovered it.
Click to expand...
I learned how to carve like the vid link when I was in high school working in a restaurant under a French trained chef. Then I went off into the Coast Guard and attended their culinary school and became a shipboard cook. The first year I went home for Thanksgiving my dad whom always carved the bird gave me the honors...he was aghast watching me take the meat off the carcass like shown. I arranged the wings, drums, thighs, and breasts sliced with a sliver of skin on each slice on the platter in their respective places...needless to say, every time I returned home for turkey day, I was called upon to render the bird. Nowadays it's just me and my wife, so I get a smallish breast and remove the meat raw, then cook them over charcoal in tinfoil boats with indirect heat, and scorch the skin over the coals to crisp it in the last few moments...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top