Nicholas Gavin is the Culinary Creative Director of ChefSteps, where he develops recipes and is responsible for making all the food look beautiful. Nick has worked at ChefSteps for over a decade; he and ChefSteps co-founder Grant Crilly worked together at Modernist Cuisine. Nick has worked in professional kitchens both in the United States and abroad, most notably at Mugaritz in San Sebastian, Spain.

Nicholas Gavin

Joule® Turbo Sous Vide

Needle-nose pliers

1/4 Sheet pan(s)

Digital scale

Small fine-mesh strainer

High-quality plastic wrap (18-inches wide)

Cake tester

Kitchen tape

Butcher’s twine

2-gallon Ziplock-style freezer bag(s)

Dutch oven

Spider strainer

Splatter screen

Baking/Cooling rack(s)

Breville Joule® Oven Air Fryer Pro

Turkey legs

Kosher salt

Sugar

Activa RM

Flat-leaf parsley

Sage

Thyme

Neutral oil

Flake sea salt

Black pepper

If starting with a whole turkey, <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/turkey-butchery-how-to-separate-breasts-thighs">break down turkey into leg quarters (keeping thighs and drumsticks attached) and airline breasts (boneless breasts with drumettes attached)</a> or <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/turkey-butchery-how-to-separate-legs-crown">leg quarters and a crown</a>. Reserve breasts or crown for <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/the-most-tender-turkey-breast-ever">cooking sous vide</a> or <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/turkey-crown">roasting</a>. 
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How to break down a turkey into a crown and leg quarters.

How to Break Down a Turkey: Crown and Leg Quarters

How to butcher a turkey and separate it into breasts and leg quarters.

How to Break Down a Turkey: Breasts and Leg Quarters

Before we begin

Heat sous vide water bath to [f 149].

Heat sous vide bath

Place leg quarters, skin-side down, on the cutting board. Working with one leg quarter at a time, make incisions running the length of drumstick and thigh bones to expose the bones. Using the tip of the knife, make shallow cuts on either side of the bones to fully expose them; knee joint will still be attached. 

Make a cut at bottom of drumstick to separate meat from bone, then make shallow cuts around the knee joint to free meat completely from leg bones, taking care not to puncture the skin. Check deboned meat for any fragments of cartilage or bone. 

Repeat with remaining turkey leg. 

NOTE: Watch the video to see the process in detail.

Debone legs

Keeping legs skin-side down on the cutting board, locate tendons on drumstick side—there should be 9 firm, white tendons about 2 to 4 inches in length. Grip one end of each tendon and, using the tip of the knife, angling blade slightly up into the tendon, not the meat, slice tendons from meat. 

Reserve bones and tendons for another use, such as <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/pressure-cooked-brown-chicken-stock">stock</a> or <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/turkey-gravy">gravy</a>.

Remove tendons

If you find the tendon to be too slippery to hold onto, use a kitchen towel. If they’re super slippery, use a pair of needle-nose pliers to grip and remove them.

Using needle-nose pliers to remove tendons

Weigh deboned, cleaned legs. Record weight. In a small bowl, scale salt to 0.6% of weight of legs; scale sugar to 0.4% of weight of legs. Stir until well combined. 

Sprinkle salt-sugar mixture evenly over flesh side of deboned turkey legs.

Scale salt-sugar mixture and season turkey

Because only the meat—and not the skin—is being seasoned for the roulade, we take a lighter approach with seasoning compared with other sous vide turkey preparations. During testing, we found that using our standard 1% salt and 0.5% sugar ratios for a roulade produced an unpleasant hammy texture. The 0.6% salt and 0.4% sugar used in this recipe yields well-seasoned turkey that’s juicy and tender.

For a roulade, go lighter on seasoning

In a small bowl, scale Activa RM to 0.5% of weight of deboned turkey legs. Using a small fine-mesh strainer, evenly dust Activa over flesh side of legs, taking care to dust any exposed skin as well.

Dust with Activa RM

In a small bowl, stir together parsley, sage, and thyme until well combined. Sprinkle herb mixture evenly over flesh side of turkey legs.

Add herbs and spices (optional)

Set up your workstation. You will need a roll of plastic wrap at the top of your cutting board, a cake tester or skewer, tape, and two 3-foot lengths of butcher’s twine. 

Spread a sheet of plastic wrap over the work surface, including a little extra over the counter edge; do not cut it. The plastic wrap should be smooth and wrinkle-free. 

Place one leg, skin-side down, in the center of the plastic wrap. Spread excess skin out flat; if there’s more than 1 1/2 inches of excess skin, trim it, if desired. Place the second leg on top of the first, skin-side up so that meat is on the inside and the skin is on the outside. Line up thigh with the first leg’s drumstick and drumstick with the first leg’s thigh. Tuck in any visible meat and cover with excess skin. 

Lift near edge of plastic and wrap over turkey. Using plastic wrap to assist you, form turkey into a rough cylinder. Grip ends of plastic on each side of cylinder firmly and roll away from you as you simultaneously force entire cylinder toward you, pulling more plastic wrap out of its source as you roll. Repeat 2 or 3 times, reshaping as you go. 

Using a cake tester, poke through plastic and deep into the roulade about 10 times to disperse any air pockets. Gripping ends of plastic again, squeeze cylinder to remove air, then pull ends in opposite directions to tighten. Roll and pull the cylinder a few times to wrap it up even tighter. Repeat this step at least 3 times to ensure roulade is compressed nicely. Cut plastic and roll up cylinder in remaining plastic from the sheet. 

Gripping ends of plastic, twist in opposite directions to tighten roulade. Tape one end of roulade to secure it. Twist free end several times to ensure roulade is tight. Using butcher’s twine, tie a knot around the plastic to secure it, leaving 3 to 4 inches of excess twine at one end and a much longer end on the other. Wind longer length of excess twine 4 times around plastic just below knot and cinch it tight. Repeat winding process several times until roulade is very tight. Tie off twine and trim excess twine and plastic. 

Remove tape from other end of roulade and repeat tying process. Watch video for full process.

Form roulade

Place roulade in a 2-gallon ziplock-style freezer bag or vacuum-seal bag. Seal bag using water displacement method or vacuum sealer. 

Lower bag into sous vide bath until roulade is fully submerged, and clip to side of water bath container. Cook for 5 hours. 

Once cooked, roulade can be held in sous vide bath for 2 hours without any loss in quality.

Cook roulade sous vide

Remove roulade from bag and transfer to cutting board. Using a sharp knife, slice one end of plastic to expose roulade. Using the tip of the knife, carefully slice through plastic and remove it, taking care not to puncture turkey skin. 

Transfer roulade to a paper towel–lined plate or tray. Pat thoroughly dry.

Unwrap roulade and pat dry

For best crispy skin results, we recommend deep-frying the roulade. You can also roast the roulade to finish it. 

Deep-fry: In a large Dutch oven, heat 3 inches of oil to ​￼​[f 400] over high heat. Set a wire rack in a sheet pan and place it next to the stovetop. 

Using a spider strainer, carefully transfer roulade to hot oil. Even when the surface of the roulade has been thoroughly dried, roulade will release moisture during frying, which can cause oil to splatter. Be careful and use a splatter screen if you have one. Fry roulade, turning and basting occasionally, until golden brown on all sides, 2 to 4 minutes. Carefully transfer to prepared sheet pan. 

Roast: Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to [f 475], with high fan if using a convection oven. Place roulade on a wire rack set inside a sheet pan, and brush roulade with 15 g oil on all sides. Cook until skin is golden brown and crisp, 10 to 12 minutes.

Crisp skin

Transfer roulade to cutting board and allow to cool for at least 2 minutes. Using a sharp knife, slice roulade into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. Season with flake sea salt (if using) and pepper to taste. Serve.

Slice and serve

Roulade can be prepared through Step 7 and refrigerated for up to 2 days before cooking. 

Roulade can be cooked in a water bath, chilled in ice water for 30 minutes, and refrigerated in its bag for up to 4 days. Reheat in a sous vide bath set to [f 131] for a minimum of 2 hours before searing and serving. 

After reheating, roulade can be held in sous vide bath for up to 4 hours with no loss in quality.

Make-ahead and storage

One of the things we like to do for <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/thanksgiving">Thanksgiving</a> turkey is separate the legs from the <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/the-most-tender-turkey-breast-ever">breast</a> and use the dark meat to make a roulade seasoned with thyme and sage. If you know, you know: People love a roulade. There’s just something irresistible about a perfectly round slice of meat. A lovingly plated roulade shows your commitment to creating a meal that’s both beautiful and delicious. And it’s a classic way to feature a meat “two ways”—a presentation that shows off your culinary prowess and gives your guests two distinct experiences of a particular protein. It also allows you to get ahead on Thanksgiving prep, since you can form and cook the roulade sous vide days in advance, then reheat to core temp and crisp up the skin right before serving. The key to the best turkey roulade is all about rolling technique, just like with a <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/foie-gras-torchon-a-flavor-packed-french-snack-your-friends-will-freak-over">torchon</a>. For turkey, we use <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/activa-a-k-a-meat-glue-what-it-is-and-how-to-use-it">Activa</a> to hold the boned-out legs together, then roll them up tightly so that they’re perfectly encased in the skin. We strongly recommend referring to the detailed step videos in the recipe before attempting the rolling process.

Sous Vide Turkey Roulade