Pros' Turkey-Carving Tips: So You Don't Have to Wing It

Although Summer Shack typically focuses on seafood, White's Cambridge, Massachusetts-based restaurant is offering deep-fried and oven-roasted turkeys to go this year.

White's father also experimented with electric knives. "They were really not good; they just rip the turkey to shreds. I still don't use them, but apparently now they work OK."

Although White's father carved at the table, he himself prefers the kitchen. "A whole roasted turkey is magnificent, the symbol of Thanksgiving. But once you start hacking it up, it's not worth looking at."

White recommends inviting your guests to the table, with a perfectly cooked turkey as the centerpiece. While everyone enjoys the first course, White carves the turkey in the kitchen, and arranges the meat on a carcass-free platter.

"I use a boning knife to bone it out quickly, then a 12-inch slicer to slice it," he says. "But really, any sharp knife will do. I have so many knives. I just pick the sharpest one."

And what kind of knives does White expect to find in his nephew's bachelor pad? "I didn't think about it. But now that you mention it, I'll bring a knife with me."