FOOD NEWS
The Important Turkey Roasting Step You Shouldn't Forget, According To Alton Brown
By Wendy Gould
Arguably the most important Thanksgiving ritual is the carving of the turkey — an act that you are often expected to perform at the table in front of all your guests — and the last thing you want is to embarrass yourself by making a mess. Fortunately, Food Network's Alton Brown has a tip for preparing your turkey that will save you a lot of trouble at the carving stage.
In a Facebook video, Alton Brown tells viewers to remove the wishbone (a.k.a. the furcula) — which is located at the top of the turkey's breast — before putting the turkey in the oven. Formed by the fusion of a bird's clavicle bones, the furcula makes it difficult to carve breast meat, and removing it beforehand saves you from digging your fingers into a piping-hot turkey to separate it from the cooked meat.
Place the bird in a large bowl, make the breast face you, pull back the skin to expose the wishbone, and trace along the bone with a boning or paring knife, cutting just deep enough to loosen it. At each end of the wishbone, there is a joint connecting it to the rest of the skeleton, cutting which will enable you to bend the wishbone upward and slide your knife underneath the pointy bit where the two ends meet. Then, pull the wishbone out with a twisting motion.