You can learn how to do just about anything on YouTube. I don’t know that I’d trust a surgeon from YouTube University, but for day-to-day things, there is a ton of expertise up there.

And thus it was on a Thanksgiving years ago, that I found myself with an imminent 16-pound turkey and zero experience in how to carve said turkey. Simply searching for “best way to carve a turkey” provided quite a few very promising results, and my choice explained how to first “deconstruct” the turkey and then get nearly every piece of meat off of it.

The technique doesn’t have as much theatrical drama as carving the turkey right at the table—say, with a buzzing electric carving knife—but it is straightforward and really does end up with just about all the meat neatly displayed and ready to serve right off the platter.

I find it amusing that everyone who has ever had a Thanksgiving with us now thinks of me as the person who is the expert at carving a turkey.