How to bone a turkey crown
delicious. team
This is a technique worth learning. It’s a great way to turn a whole bird into a centrepiece such as this turkey cushion with sausagemeat stuffing.
You can do it with a turkey or, as pictured, a chicken.
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- Put the turkey crown breast-side down on a work surface. If it still has the backbone in place, use poultry shears and a sharp knife to cut it out (this can be tough), leaving all the breast meat in place. Next, slice off each wing by cutting between the joint.
- Turn the crown over (breast-side up), with the small (neck) end facing you.
Peel back the skin (keep this as intact as possible) and find the wishbone with your fingers (it might have been removed already). Using a long flexible boning knife, cut around the wishbone on all sides to release it from the flesh. Once it’s fully exposed you can use shears to remove it.
- Turn the crown back over (skin-side down) so you can see the breastbone. Hold the breastbone with the non-knife hand, then slice down as close to the bone as possible to remove the meat. Do this on both sides. When most of the breastbone is exposed, push the knife under the bone and lift it up, carefully cutting it away from the meat.
- You should have one large flat piece of meat, ready to make our cushion recipe. Find and cut out any large tendons.
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