Best knife to break down whole roasted turkey

What style knife do you professionals prefer to use for breaking down a whole roasted turkey into pieces to make a serving platter?

Any one of a number of traditional slicing/carving knives. For the last few years mine has been a 210 Murray Carter with a Wa handle because it is what I have. Given I only carve maybe 2 turkeys and a Christmas duck a year, it would be hard to justify something special for the job.

A slicer or sujihiki, when you sharpen yourself. Have a 270mm carbon one and put a very conservative edge on the first 3'' from the heel. For right-handers only: Fujiwara FKH with japanesechefsknife.com

If you're going to serve the bird broken down, then it might make the most sense to cook it broken down. That way you can cook the white meat and dark meat separately and not have to compromise on temps or worry about the skin on the legs sogging out because they're underneath the bird. It's also easier to break apart a raw bird than a cooked bird, and you have the ability to do things like remove the leg and thigh bones/tendons so that portioning the dark meat is easier after cooking. And you get the carcass and wings for stock/gravy up front. Anyway, I've been doing that for the past five years and it's delivered great results. I use a honesuki to break down the raw turkey, but have used a western style boning knife in the past with perfectly acceptable results.



As for carving a cooked bird, a good pre-cook move is to remove the wishbone which gets in the way when carving. Once it's cooked, I usually strip the breasts off the bird with a smaller knife and then use a suji or western slicer to slice it. Once the breasts are off the turkey, you can probably flip it over and pop the legs off with minimal cutting. Cutting cooked, bone-in, legs and thighs is a bit of a chore, which is why I usually shred them.

Thanks for your answer. I do like the presentation when guests arrive of the whole cooked bird sitting there. I often flip the bird while cooking to avoid the soggy side and even out the skin crispness. I will use your suggestion to remove the wishbone before cooking. It has been problematic in the past removing the breasts. I'll use the honesuki to break it down to parts to plate. I have a 270 Gyuto but no Sujihiki, I may give that a try or use my long German Slicer. Thanks, enjoy your Holiday, to all.

Ok, I have a lot of knives in my 5 blocks. I was looking them over today and noticed the Masahirio 240 with the hollow metal handle that Sal Glesser (Spyderco Co) gave me a number of years ago. Very good slicer for that once a year turkey. And it looks good at the table! This is the one I will go with this year.

justmarc said:

Thanks for your answer. I do like the presentation when guests arrive of the whole cooked bird sitting there. I often flip the bird while cooking to avoid the soggy side and even out the skin crispness. I will use your suggestion to remove the wishbone before cooking. It has been problematic in the past removing the breasts. I'll use the honesuki to break it down to parts to plate. I have a 270 Gyuto but no Sujihiki, I may give that a try or use my long German Slicer. Thanks, enjoy your Holiday, to all.

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A 270 Gyuto I would think ideal and should be able to handle the odd glancing blow to bone . I might be odd, but I often use a Deba for bird.

I pull mine apart with two forks. Sometimes we take turns pulling off scrapes with our bare hands like we use to do before we invented the wheel.

Chef Doom said:

I pull mine apart with two forks. Sometimes we take turns pulling off scrapes with our bare hands like we use to do before we invented the wheel.

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At least you take turns, or else it just wouldn't be civilized

LOL it's funny cause it's true.

My grandfather cooks the turkey so damn long that it just kind of deflates and falls apart. That said, I much prefer ham and prepare one each year to take over for Thanksgiving and I normally just use a Misono Dragon but this year I did not have my kit and a simple ham slicer was used. I think it was from the dollar store.

K813zra said:

I think it was from the dollar store.

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classic...

Dont sleep on that dollar store steel 😂

I use Sujihiki knife. The long blade of the Sujihiki is ideal for thinly carving cooked and raw meats, as well as slicing terrines and patés. If you want to buy Stainless Steel Kitchen Trash Can then you can buy it from Amazing Home Depot ebay.