Get Your Grill On

This past weekend, I decided to try my hand at smoking a turkey, as a trial run for Thanksgiving Day, hoping to get some info to pass along that might be useful.

I brined the turkey (brining will be covered by someone else, I think) in salt water with fresh thyme and sage, along with peppercorns, turbinado sugar and some Maker’s Mark whisky. The bird sat overnight in a cooler with a lot of ice. The next day, I smoked the turkey using a mix of hickory and cherry, at a temp of about 275. I sprayed the bird every hour or so with apple juice. What came out at the end was a really nice looking bird, though a bit darker than I wanted. For the actual Thanksgiving Day bird, I’ll change my methods by using cheesecloth, soaked in apple juice and draped over the bird.

So there I was with this great looking turkey sitting on my counter and guests waiting to eat. What now?

This is where the art of carving a bird comes in handy. Let’s face it, when it’s time to get the bird carved up for dinner, a lot of us just cut up the turkey any way we can. However, carving the turkey the ‘right’ way isn’t that hard to do.

Starting with the legs pointing toward you, pull the leg and thigh down toward the cutting board, then find the joint where the thigh is connected and cut through, separating the dark meat. Do this on both sides. Next, cut the joint between the thigh and the leg. Cutting parallel to the bones, cut the meat off the thigh. This can also be done on the legs, but watch for the hard tendons as you cut.

For the breast, there are a couple of methods to use for carving, the traditional and the kitchen method. There’s also a mix of the two.

For the traditional method, which works great if you’re carving at the table, hold the turkey with a carving fork and slice the breast meat parallel to the bird, resulting in larger slices.

When using the kitchen method, remove the whole breast, and then slice the breast into medallions. To do this, place the knife next to the breastbone on the top of the turkey, and slice down along the ribs, removing the breast. Repeat on the other breast. On the cutting board, slice the breasts at a bit of an angle, leaving a bit of skin on each piece. For presentation, pick up the breast as one and transfer to a serving plate.

The mixed method is really the kitchen method, but without taking the breast off the turkey. After slicing the breast off the carcass, leave it in place and slice into medallions while still on the bird. This works very well if serving the turkey as a whole at the table.

To remove the wings, slice the joint that holds the wing onto the turkey body.

Personally, I prefer the kitchen method. Having the turkey carcass at the table, while impressive when carving, becomes a pile of turkey bones before long! The traditional method works well if the bird is set near the table instead of being passed around to everyone. The method used depends on 2 things: how you want to serve the bird (carved on a platter or carved at tableside) and whether slices or medallions are preferred.

However you carve your turkey this Thanksgiving, I truly wish you a great Thanksgiving. My prayer for everyone is to spend the day with friends and family, and for each to take time to remember the things for which we are thankful.

For other parts of the Thanksgiving Day meal, please check out my posts on turkey stock on The Cook’s Kitchen and yeast rolls on Just Baking.