It’s hard to believe that the holidays are nearly upon us, and with the holidays comes the epitome of center dishes – the turkey! With a turkey roasted in the Pit Barrel vertical drum cooker, you’re sure to have the juiciest turkey in the neighborhood and presenting it on an EndGrain Cutting Board will absolutely add another layer of wow to your meal. To get the most out of your holiday feast, follow these step-by-step instructions so not one tasty turkey morsel is lost.
- Move your turkey onto an EndGrain wood cutting board. If you find the turkey wants to slide around, you can use a clean kitchen towel to stabilize it, but this is optional.
- Next, gather your tools – we recommend a good, sharp knife and a pair of kitchen tongs. A pair of disposable gloves are also useful in improving grip and cleanliness but are not necessary. A fancy carving set is not necessary, you can save that for serving the turkey during dinner.
- Begin by cutting the breast meat away with a cut along the keel bone, down until you meet resistance and then out and down following the curve of the wishbone.
- Then cut skin down along thigh and into the underside of the breast meat.
- Use tongs to remove the detached breast meat.
- Repeat steps three through five on other side.
- Now, to slice the breast meat for serving, slice through the skin and against the grain of the meat. This will make your tender, juicy turkey breast even more tender.
- Next, to remove the drumsticks, pull the drumstick back to help expose the joint. Slice through the meat, skin, and joint.
- Repeat step eight on the other side.
- To serve the drumstick meat, you can either go Medieval Faire style and serve it whole or slice the meat down and off the drumstick. See photo below.
- To remove the wings, flip the bird over so the back is facing up. Treat the wings like
the drumstick – pull the wing out and slice under the wing through the skin and meat and then through the joint. Serve whole.
- The process to remove the thigh is like the drumstick and wing. Begin by gripping the thigh with your other hand, and then start your cut about where the cut for the wing started. Cut back towards you, through the meat while pulling the thigh back, exposing the meat and eventually the joint. Then finish by cutting through the joint.
- Removing meat from the thigh can be a little tricky due to the thigh bone. First, you’ll need to remove the thigh bone by flipping the thigh meat over and locating the thigh bone. Make slices along the thigh bone, slicing down and then a little under the bone, then use your hand to pull the bone out of the thigh meat.
- Once the bone is removed, gently tuck the meat back together, and flip over so the skin is on top. Slice the thigh meat as you would the breast meat, through the skin and against the grain.
- Repeat steps twelve through fifteen to remove the wing and thigh on the other side of the bird.
- Go back to the carcass and remove the remaining meat using your hands. This meat is great for soups, hash, pot pies, salads, the list goes on.
- Serve your turkey meat and enjoy!
