How to Debone a Turkey Buffe

Turkey breasts can be purchased with or without a bone. Those without a bone have been removed from a buff and you can do this yourself quite easily. I work with a scalpel as opposed to a knife because they’re sharper and I can get between the breast meat and the bone more closely. You can purchase disposable scalpels from any pharmacy and they come in different sizes to accommodate the task you’re using them for. This one I’m using is a 22 blade and I use this size when I’m deboning poultry or game or scoring pork rind.

Start by running the scalpel right down the centre of the breast and cut through several times until you’ve reached the bone. Now is gradually your work way down each side of the breast cutting in as close to the bone as possible to sever the breast meat from the breast bone. This will take a little time but the scalpel will make the job far easier than a knife and allow you to retain as much of the breast meat as possible.

Move the bird to whatever angle is comfortable and slide the scalpel between the meat and the bone to release the breast meat. Continue with this action all the way down the breastbone working your way around the small bones and cartilage until the meat falls away completely from the bone. Then finally turn the buff over to release the flesh near the drumstick.

So now, you have your turkey breast completely boneless to prepare whatever you wish. Just trim away any excess fatty bits before you use it. Once you’ve done one side repeat with the other side of the bone. You’ll get two decent size breasts from each buff.