What you will need

Before you start, gather the following:

• A sharp meat cutting/boning knife (4-inch to 6-inch blade)

• Two, clean terry-cloth towels

• 8- to 16- ply white cotton string - at least 30 ft

• Aluminum foil

• A large sewing needle with a large eye capable of sewing the cotton string. I use a sail needle that has a curved shaft that facilitates sewing. A straight needle will also work. Make sure the needle's eye easily accommodates the cotton string.

• Dressing - you will use twice the amount of dressing for this bird than you would normally use. Click here for dressing details..

Preparing the Bird

Use a fresh bird. If you use a frozen bird, take some time to thaw the bird before beginning.

Phase 1 - De-boning

1. Stand back and take a good look at your bird. Notice how plump and rounded it is. When we finish, the bird will look just like this - only brown and cooked, of course.

2. Cut off the Parson's nose (i.e. the tail) and discard it.

3. With the bird's belly down, cut from stem to stern down the bird's back. Using your knife and fingers cut and pull the meat from the bird's back bone until reaching the hip joint. 

Hip

4. Cut through the hip joint to disconnect it from the main body. 

5. Scrape mostly and cut sparingly the meat from the thigh bone from the hip joint to the next joint.

6. Cut through the joint and remove and discard the thigh bone.

Shoulder

7. Similarly, at the shoulder joint, cut through the joint to separate the wing from the main body.

8. Scrape the meat away from the wing bone from the shoulder to the next joint. 

9. Cut through the joint to remove the upper wing bone. Be careful at this joint as it is very near the skin. It is easy to puncture the skin here. However, if you do, the puncture will most likely be on the inside of the wing and not visible on the finished bird.

10. Continue separating the meat from the ribs  and working your way around the bird toward the breast bone. Stop at the breast bone.

11. Once finishing with the leg and wing on one side, continue as above with the other side removing the thigh bone and upper wing bone and separating the meat from the bone down to the breast bone. 

12. Now, with the rib cage only attached to the meat at the breast bone carefully detach the breast bone. Discard the entire bony thorax.

Congratulations, you have successfully de-boned the bird!

Need help? Order the video or DVD. Click here.

Phase 2 - Closing & Stuffing

Now that we have disassembled the bird, our next task is to reassemble it so that it looks like it was never disassembled in the first place. 

1. Spread out the bird with the skin down. (You will be looking at the bird in a way that its mother never did). 

2. Use the cotton string to sew the bird back together.  Start at each end and work toward the center of the back. Leave about 1/3 of the middle open - maybe 4 inches or so - and not stitched closed.

3. Stuff the bird with dressing through this opening. (Need a dressing recipe? Click here)

4. Finish sewing up the bird.

5. Turn the bird belly up. Plump it so that it looks like the bird you originally started with. 

6. I use the cotton string to tie the wings and drumsticks together.

Sewing can be a little tricky. Get your copy of the video or DVD to get a better idea of how it is done. Click here.

Phase 3 - Cooking

It is important to thoroughly cook your turkey. It is recommended to use a meat thermometer to gauge the bird's internal temperature. The thermometer should be embedded in the meat, not in the dressing.

Phase 4 - Serving

Serving the bird can be a real treat for your guests. Typically, I do not let on to the dinner guests that the bones have been removed. Therefore, when I carve at the table almost everyone is expecting the usual carving mess.

I start by slicing off the drumsticks and the wings. Generally, this raises some eyebrows given how easy it is. Then, I have the dinner guests pass their plates down and I cut down through the middle of the bird like a meatloaf. This always draws comments like "How did you do that? Isn't there supposed to be a bone in there?"

The best part, though is each guest receives a portion of dressing surrounded by a frame of tender, succulent turkey meat.