The World’s Faster Turkey Carver Just Shared His 5 Best Turkey-Carving Tips

After you’ve carefully selected a turkey, taken days to defrost it, expertly seasoned it and cooked it, you may let out a sigh of relief. But before you can pour yourself some warm apple cider or a glass of wine, there’s one more task in front of you: carving the bird. And for some, tackling a 10- to 20-pound turkey and breaking it down so there are ample, neat servings for everyone may be just as daunting as preparing it.

That’s not the case for U.K.-based turkey farmer Paul Kelly, managing director of KellyBronze Turkeys. Kelly just so happens to be the Guinness World Records holder for World’s Fastest Turkey Carver, as he was able to break down a bird in a mere 3 minutes and 19 seconds. And while you don’t need to be as quick as Kelly this Thanksgiving, he does have a few tips for carving your turkey with ease.  

Don’t Be Intimidated 

Let’s face it: It’s not very often that home cooks are preparing a 10- to 20-pound whole animal for a meal. And while there is stress enough when it comes to choosing seasonings, ensuring that the bird is defrosted in time and making sure that you’ve got enough to feed all your guests, carving such a large cut of meat brings its own set of anxieties. Before you even take the knife out of the drawer, Kelly recommends getting in the right mindset. “Just think of it as a big chicken,” he says. “Most people have cooked a chicken and they’ve dealt with the chicken.” In fact, if you’re feeling unsure about your carving skills, he recommends making a chicken or two before Thanksgiving, so you have a chance to practice his method. This way, by the time Thanksgiving rolls around, your guests will think you’re a pro—and you’ll be cool as cranberry sauce. 

Use a Sharp, Precise Knife 

Most specialty carving knives are pretty large—sometimes 10 inches or more. And while their size and sharpness can make it easier to cut through large, bone-in roasts, Kelly recommends sticking with a smaller knife—as long as it’s sharp. He uses a roughly 5-inch Japanese Kin blade when he carves, but as long as your go-to chef’s knife is sharp, that’s what he recommends using. “To take the meat off the bone, you want a shorter blade rather than the big, long carving knife blade,” he explains. A dull knife will also make carving the bird substantially more difficult, as well as cause shredding, so take the time to sharpen your knife before taking it to the turkey. 

Let the Turkey Rest (Really!) 

Resting your turkey before you carve and serve it is not an optional recipe step. Besides just leading to a drier bird or (worse!) resulting in a potentially undercooked turkey, skipping this necessary step will make carving your turkey far more difficult than it needs to be. “Resting it for the right amount of [time] is critical because it then allows you to handle the bird for carving,” Kelly says. “If you try and take it out of the oven and straight-away carve it, you can’t even begin to touch it.” He recommends letting your turkey rest for 30 minutes before carving, but don’t worry if you need to let it rest for longer. Because the bird is so large, Kelly says it likely won’t go tepid until it’s been out of the oven for 3 hours.

Break It Down into Its Key Parts

After the turkey has rested, and you’ve mustered up your courage and sharpened your knife, it’s time to get down to carving. However, Kelly recommends taking a methodical approach to carving: breaking the turkey down into its key parts (or primals, as he calls them) and slicing each individually, which he says results in about 20% more servings of turkey meat. “Don’t try and carve it while it’s all on the bone,” he says. “If you’ve got a whole turkey there and you just attack it, it’s like a big car crash.”

First, he recommends removing the wings from the breast, then breaking each wing down into three key parts: the wing tip, which is the thinnest part, farthest away from the breast; then the flat or wingette, which is the long, flat area between the wing tip and the drumette; and the drumette, which is the closest to the breast. To remove the wing, hold it by the wing tip, then cut it at the joint where the drumette meets the breast. Kelly then pops these pieces into the oven to get the skin extra-crispy and serves them like finger foods—just as you would with chicken wings.

Then, he moves on to the legs. With the turkey breast-side up, he holds the end knuckle, then begins to slice through the skin where the leg meets the rest of the bird.

He then flips the turkey over onto its breast and makes a similar cut at the back, lifting the leg up as he cuts.

Then he twists the leg back and cuts at the thigh joint to remove the leg completely.

He repeats the process to remove the other leg.

He then cuts the thigh away from the drumstick and slices it. The drumstick can also be sliced, similarly to a leg of lamb, or it can be served whole. 

Last, he moves on to the breast meat, which he says is the hardest part to remove. With the tip of your knife, cut along the center breast bone.

Follow the bird’s contour with your knife, slicing the breast lobe away from the bone in (ideally) one piece. Repeat with the other side, then slice each lobe. 

Remove the Skin 

Kelly’s last tip is probably the most controversial: he recommends removing the skin from the breast and thigh before slicing, in an effort to make the bird easier to cut, and to ensure that the turkey meat isn’t overcooked for the sake of a bronzed outer layer. “If the skin is beautiful and brown and crispy when it comes out, then you probably overcooked it,” he says. He doesn’t discard these tasty bits though: Instead, he pops them back into a hot oven for about 20 minutes—resulting in a “perfect turkey crackling” you can serve alongside the meat and gravy. 

The Bottom Line

Don’t be intimidated by carving your turkey this Thanksgiving. As Kelly says, “Think of it as a big chicken,” and roast some chickens to practice on beforehand. On Thanksgiving Day, let your turkey rest, use a sharp chef’s knife and break down the turkey following Kelly’s steps. You’ll be serving up a picture-perfect turkey in no time—maybe not in 3 minutes and 19 seconds like Kelly, but relatively quickly and easily!