If your turkey came with all the giblets, remove them and store them in the fridge for later.
Turn the turkey so it lies on its chest, with the breast meat facing down.
If you are planning to make a simple traditional turkey roast, you can leave the wings for the final presentation. However, if you are planning to stuff the turkey for a roulade, then cut off the wings now.Start by making a small incision and then continue cutting along the backbone.
Slowly begin pushing the skin and flesh away, separating it from the bone as you progress with the cutting. Take it slowly, as it can be a bit fiddly, especially as there isn't much meat at the back. Just make sure you don't cut through the skin. Do it inch by inch.
You will reach the shoulder joint at the front and the hip joint at the back. You will have to cut around the shoulder bone. Remember, just go slowly. Use sharp scissors to work around the bones. Don't let this image confuse you; it's from a different turkey deboning session, showing the other side I began working on. I have included it to demonstrate the process of separating the meat from the shoulder bone.
One side is nearly completed. The next step is to work on the leg.
If you tackled the shoulders first, turn the turkey so that the legs are facing you and begin cutting around the leg bone.Separating the meat around the leg ( drumstick) is a bit more challenging. Start from the narrow part of the leg and work towards the wider part, cutting through and removing meat off the leg bone as you go. Keep the skin intact.
The meat is now completely removed from the leg. It might not be in one piece, so don't worry if it's messy!
While finishing the leg, take care not to cut too deep; avoid slicing into the skin at the bottom, as this section of skin is crucial for holding the meat together. As shown in the photo, a portion of the skin remains intact (the area with no meat).It's not a problem if the meat is in bits; it will bind together with the stuffing and/or the skin.Now, repeat the same on the other side before you continue with the front part.
No need to turn the turkey to the other side (to lie on its back), just turn it slightly on its side when removing the breast meat from the breast bone. repeat the same with the other side. It is very easy to remove meat from the front. Just be careful; the skin is important, especially the part at the front, so be careful not to puncture it with a knife!
You now have a perfect layer of turkey meat. The dark leg meat is a little messy, with some bits possibly cut off completely; just tuck them in and press with your hand. The white bits are tendons, simply cut them off with scissors, smaller ones you can leave in, they will soften during the cooking process.
Perfectly deboned turkey meat!
For a simple deboned turkey roast, you can leave the breast meat as it is. However, if you plan to create a roulade with stuffing, you will need to butterfly the breast meat to make it thin, this will also enlarge the layer of meat.
Now cover the entire meat with cling film, tenderize the meat to even out the surface, and prepare it for stuffing.