Don’t Use an Electric Knife to Carve the Turkey
If you’ve thought about investing in an electric carving knife ahead of Thanksgiving, you may want to reconsider. The vibrating serrated blades make quick work of slicing through juicy turkey breast, but that’s about all they can do—making an electric knife just another tool you need to clean at the end of the night. Here’s why you should ditch the electric knife this year and what you should use instead.
An electric knife isn’t great at slicing through cartilage
Electric carving knives are really good at slicing large, boneless pieces of meat, such as turkey breast and hunks of ham, but they lack the finesse required to break down joints and cartilage. If you’re cutting up a whole roast turkey on Thanksgiving, you still need to use a traditional carving knife or chef’s knife to navigate around bones and remove the legs and wings. Although taking the time to swap between two knives while carving doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, if a nonelectric carving knife works just fine for the breast, why use two tools? A second knife is yet another thing to clean during dish duty.
Electric knives are hard to use at the dinner table
This electric knife slices through large cuts of meat quickly, but it comes with a few caveats: It’s loud, messy, and not the most attractive tableside knife.
Carving the turkey at the table in front of loved ones and friends is a tradition for many families, but you probably don’t want to use a noisy, mess-making electric knife around your nice Thanksgiving linen. Electric carving knives have whirring blades that create splatter while they cut, spraying turkey juice and bits of food as they work. Most electric knives, including the Hamilton Beach knife we recommend, are also fairly loud. Senior staff writer Tim Heffernan compared the sound our pick makes to the drone of a blender. And to make matters more complicated, plenty of electric knives are corded; the Hamilton Beach knife comes with a short, 6-foot cord, which limits where you can use it. For the best results, leave the whole electric-knife-at-the-table thing to sitcom families and Christmas specials.
What we recommend instead
This carving set looks a lot more expensive than it is, and does a good job at slicing the Thanksgiving turkey into thin, neat slices.
If a whole roasted turkey is the main star of your Thanksgiving dinner, you should stick with a traditional carving set. The Messermeister carving set, which we recommend, is an affordable option that works well and looks great. The sharp knife easily cuts turkey breast into thin slices, and the blade is thin and flexible enough to act as a decent boning knife, too, easily separating thighs, drumsticks, and wings from the bird. A chef’s knife also works well in a pinch, though a dedicated set looks nicer—and feels more ceremonious—if you’re carving at the table.
This article was edited by Catherine Kast and Annemarie Conte.
Further reading
Build Your Own Knife Set
by Raphael Brion
The best knife set is the one you put together yourself. Here are the knives we've come to love after decades in professional and home kitchens.
8 Cheap(ish) Kitchen Essentials to Make Thanksgiving Prep a Little Smoother
by Marguerite Preston and Marilyn Ong
Adding any one of these items to your Thanksgiving toolkit can make your feast preparations a little smoother.
The Best Cutting Boards
by Michael Sullivan and Kevin Purdy
After testing over 30 boards, we think that the plastic OXO Good Grips and the wood Teakhaus Edge Grain Professional Carving Board with Juice Canal are best.
The Best Turkey Fryer, According to NYT Cooking’s Kim Severson
by Rose Maura Lorre
Deep-frying a turkey may sound like a gastronomic gimmick, but NYT Cooking pro Kim Severson swears by the method—and this King Kooker fryer.
