How to Carve a Spatchcock Turkey

Name: How to Carve a Spatchcock Turkey
Prep time: 15 min
Yield: 1 serving
Ingredients: 1 turkey

User Reviews

5

139 reviews

Excellent

Prep Time
15 mins

How to Carve a Spatchcock Turkey

Quincy Hayes

Report

This guide explains how to carve a fully cooked spatchcock turkey by first resting the bird, then removing legs, wings, and breasts using precise joint and bone cuts. The method ensures clean separation of turkey parts by identifying hip and shoulder joints, followed by slicing breast meat into preferred thickness. The step-by-step process creates manageable, evenly cut pieces that are easy to serve. Resting the turkey before carving helps retain juices, improving the meat’s texture and moisture when plated.

Description

How to Carve a Spatchcock Turkey involves resting the cooked turkey for about an hour to preserve its juices and then placing it breast-side up on a cutting board. The legs and thighs are removed first by bending the leg back and slicing through the hip joint, followed by removing the wings by slicing carefully through the shoulder joints. After the legs and wings come off, the breast is sliced away by cutting along the breastbone and separating the meat in one piece if possible. The breast can then be sliced to the desired thickness. This carving technique provides neat, usable portions for serving.

The rest period before carving is essential to prevent juice loss, keeping the meat moist and tender. Using a boning knife allows for precise cuts at the joints and bones, reducing tearing. The spatchcock preparation means the bird is flatter, which can make the carving process different from a whole roasted bird but ultimately allows for straightforward removal of parts.

This carving method suits post-roast serving situations where you want quick access to all turkey parts for plating or buffets. It organizes the turkey efficiently into legs, wings, and breast portions for diverse meal applications.

Share:

I Made This!

13 people made this

Print

133 people printed this

Save this

66 people saved this

Ingredients

1 turkey cooked, spatchcock

Add Ingredients to Grocery List

Recommended Tools for this Recipe

Instructions

Keep Screen Awake

Before you start carving your turkey, make sure you let it rest for about an hour so that the juices don't stream out of it as you're slicing it.
Then, lay the rested turkey on a large cutting board, breast-side up.
Start with the legs, by bending the whole leg back to find the hip joint. Then use a boning knife, slice through that joint and separate the leg from the "hip," removing both the leg and thigh. When it's out, move on to the other leg and do the same thing.
Then, remove the wings the exact same way - by bending the wings back and slicing at the "shoulder" joint. Do this for both sides and remove both wings.
Then move on to the turkey breast, and slice down the breast bone, gently following the hard line of the bone that separates the two breasts. Next, use a gently pulling motion to remove the breast from the bird in a whole piece, if possible. Repeat with the other breast.
Slice the breast meat however thick you like - I like to slice it on the thicker side in half an inch slices or so.
Then, start to break apart the wings and the legs by separating the drumsticks from the thighs by cutting through the "knee" joint.
Next, separate the wings from the tips by cutting through the "wrist" joints. Remove the wing tips completely and and save them for stock, if you'd like. If not, discard. You can also slice through the "elbow" the same way, but I prefer to leave that in one piece.