Turkeys-when do you carve

Do most of you carve your turkey and have it sliced on a platter to bring to the table or do you present the whole turkey at the Thanksgiving table for the head person to carve like they do in magazines. We usually slice ours ahead and even in the last few years, we have served our food buffet style and then everyone sits together around the dining table after our plates are filled.

... we usually carve at the table -- despite the fact none of us are very good at it.

This year we're having a TurDucKen (one hit from the knife and it collapses -- nothing pretty but sure tastes good) AND a regular (23 pound) turkey and far more people than in the past. I'm going to suggest we do it your way.

I've taken to carving the turkey -- especially the breast -- in horizontal slices rather than the more traditional way where you slice a big hunk of the skin off and then to make big along-the-side slices on the same plane. I saw this once at a fast food turkey place in California (I can't remember the name of the place -- Ko KO Ro ???). This style had a nice against the grain advantage.

Meanwile, to what internal temperature should the turkey be cooked to? Following instuctions seem to usually result in an overcooked bird -- yet who wants to take a chance.

If you are doing it for the family then I would do it at the table,but when you are cooking for a hundred or more people it gets carved in the kitchen .

We carve them in the kitchen and put it on a platter. Like emsmom, with at least 25 for dinner, we serve everything buffet style in another room but have some items like butter, rolls, cranberry sauce, hot gravy, etc. on the table and drink refills on the sideboards.

I used to present the turkey at the table, then remove it to a counter to carve.

My father used to carve at the table, with custom orders for the diners. It was very slow and you had to wait too long to eat. It was a great show but impractical.

For years, I have carved the turkey in the kitchen and put it all out on a platter for a buffet style serving. No complaints yet.

We carve at the table for holidays, and in the kitchen for regular meals. This thanksgiving it will be up to my in laws. All I have to do is show up with some pies and eat.

I carve in the kitchen at the last minute, and bring it out as warm as possible. I filet the breast and carve it on the platter, rather than off the bird, anybody else do that?

I carve in the kitchen. The Norman Rockwell picture of carving at the table is nostalgic but not practical. Put all the food on the table, a quick prayer and start passing the food while it's hot!

I carve the breast meat in long slices, working towards the bone because I'm cutting AGAINST the grain of the meat and not WITH the grain.

Internal temp. should be 160 (in the thigh area) and after resting for 1 hour, it's perfect. A lot of people cook it to 180.......and this results in "cardboard turkey"!

I carve in the kitchen, doing everything buffet style as well. I've tried for years to get my husband to take up this chore leaving me time for other dishes but he insists he "can't". I'm probably better off doing it myself. I did see a few tips this year I'll try suc as placing the turkey on a "lattice" of veggies(onion, carrots, celery). Since I'm a great skin lover I'll also try unwrapping the bird and washing the night before baking for a crispier skin.

How much are y'all gonna pay me to give you the cooking method of a turkey that looks like it came off the front page of Gourmet Magazine?? $1.00? $1.50? Ante up folks and I'll spill my recipe!

I also remove the entire breast from the bird and bias cut it into medallions. doesn't dry out nearly as much. Especially if you brine the bird before cooking.

Carve in the kitchen after we have enjoyed the salad. Then bring to the dinig room and serve.

I, um, "carve"(annihilate) the turkey away and serve the meat on a platter.

If my guests actually watched me in the act of carving the bird, they probably wouldn't be hungry anymore.

Also, I never serve it with ketchup.

quote:

Originally posted by lleechef

How much are y'all gonna pay me to give you the cooking method of a turkey that looks like it came off the front page of Gourmet Magazine?? $1.00? $1.50? Ante up folks and I'll spill my recipe!

Ok, I'll send ya a buck! What's your secret, O Sage of the North

quote:

Originally posted by lleechef

How much are y'all gonna pay me to give you the cooking method of a turkey that looks like it came off the front page of Gourmet Magazine?? $1.00? $1.50? Ante up folks and I'll spill my recipe!

Just name your price, girl!

Check's in the mail!

Frank

lleechef: "We got the money honey, if you got the time...."

Cheers, john

Well, I have yet to cook or carve a Turkey for Thanksgiving. My moms has always done the cooking, and for the last 40+ years of my life, dad has done a wonderfull job of hacking the bird! Bird always gets hacked in the kitchen as the rest of us look on and nibble at it! May not be the traditional Magazine Cover method, but it's worked for us so far!

quote:

Originally posted by lleechef

How much are y'all gonna pay me to give you the cooking method of a turkey that looks like it came off the front page of Gourmet Magazine?? $1.00? $1.50? Ante up folks and I'll spill my recipe!

Do you spray yours with shellack before you photograph it?

The years we did the Turkey. it was done in the Kitchen and delivered cut/hacked etc on platters to the table. The appearance was more that of "Pulled Turkey" like its BBQ brother Pulled Pork.(NOT CHOPPED).

These days the gathering is a buffet with the prep-work all being done in the kitchen and the family passing down the line to gather what they want from the materials ready there.

This will probably be considered a sacrilege(sp?) by most of you, but I always cooked my turkey the day before Thanksgiving. I cooked it in the afternoon & by evening it was nice & cool so that it sliced beautifully. I would layer it in a large corning ware pan & pop it in the fridge. The next day I would pour some of the turkey juices, I had saved, over the sliced meat & pop it in the micro on low for a couple of minutes. It would take the chill off the meat & the meat would absorb the juices.(note: you don't want to do this any higher than 50% power) I would then arrange the meat on a platter to serve. I got more compliments on my turkey than you would believe. Everybody wanted to know how my meat was always so moist. I would just smile & pass the platter.

How to make a perfect bird: and by the way, ya'll owe me $1.00 for this, but here we go:
Clean the turkey and do whatever fussing you're used to doing and stuff the darn thing. Put it in your grandma's turkey roaster (the blue speckled one) that has been lined with FOUR sheets of heavy duty aluminum foil, so as to cover the bird entirely.Pour plenty of water inside the foil casing and plenty of water in the bottom of the roaster.
Here is the most important part: Start cooking the turkey on HIGH! Like 500 degrees! For at least one hour. After one hour, turn the temp down to 425 and cook for another three hours, basting regularly, although re-covering with the foil after each basting. The bird should be done. Now take off the cover to the turkey pan and undo the foil covering the bird. Crank the heat back up to 500 and keep basting. It will turn a lovely brown and will be done perfectly. Let stand for 1 hour before carving. Additional water will probably be needed in the bottom of the pan and maybe in the foil but not much. All these juices get turned into the gravy.
But the high heat is the secret ingredient to a wonderful turkey! Forgeddabout those recipes that call for 325 degree ovens.......bleech. Crank it up but be sure the turkey is thoroughly covered in foil and granny's pan has plenty of water in it.
This is not my recipe for turkey, it's my Mother's and she's been doing Thanksgiving dinner at her house for the last 55 years and she's an expert turkey cooker. I learned from the best!