Get set to carve your turkey
Whether it’s your first time cooking a turkey or you’re a seasoned pro, we have
everything you need to know.
More turkey guides
Turkey recipes | Choosing a turkey | Cooking turkey | Turkey range
1. Separating the joints
Once you’ve left the turkey to rest for around 45 mins, you can begin separating the joints.
A) Sharpen your knife and carve away the legs by gently pulling them away
from the turkey where a gap will appear - cut down through the joint
to remove.
B) Carefully slice along the breastbone and remove each breast.
C) Remove the wings by pulling them away from the carcass and cutting through
the joint.
D) Turn the joint over and remove the dark meat from beneath.
2. Make the cut
It’s easy to carve your turkey with these handy tips and tricks.
Turn the legs skin side down and cut through the joint
between the thigh and the drumstick – you can keep these
whole or carve off the meat.
Keep the breast remaining skin side up and carve into
nice thick slices.
3. Keeping it moist
Once carved, make sure to keep the sliced meat moist and succulent.
Nobody likes a dry turkey!
After being carved, cover the
meat with cling film and tin foil
to trap in heat and moisture.
The meat is delicious served at
room temperature. However,
when reheating, place in a
shallow roasting tin with
chicken stock, covering tightly
with foil and reheat for 25
mins at 180°C/gas 4.
You can also microwave the
meat covered with a
dampened paper towel at 1 min
intervals until the meat is hot.
Some gravy lightly poured over
the carved meat helps to keep
the turkey moist.
4. Love your leftovers
Rustle up delicious dishes and reduce your food waste with these simple leftover recipes,
perfect for a Boxing Day bite.
5. Make use of the juices
Save the flavour-filled juices to create a gravy so good they’ll ask for second pours.
1. Keep all the juices from the turkey and collect any while you are carving the bird, tipping
away any unwanted fat.
2. Discard any garlic skin, fruit and herbs, but liquidise any vegetables from under and
around the bird to add flavour to your gravy.
3. If your turkey comes with giblets or liver, boil these in 300ml water for 20 mins –
discard the meat and reduce the stock to 150ml then add this to your gravy.
4. Once you have all your gravy ingredients, bring to the boil in a saucepan and thicken
with a little cornflour.
More terrific turkey guides
From choosing the perfect turkey to cooking them to perfection, unwrap even more helpful
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