Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Carving


paulraphael

Recommended Posts

Is a carving fork a good idea? I don't like the idea of poking unnecessary holes in meat. I ususally use tongs or my fingers, but sometimes it feels inneficient. I'm wondering what people like to use for roasts, birds, and fishes. Especially people working service at good restaurants.

Notes from the underbelly

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is a carving fork a good idea? I don't like the idea of poking unnecessary holes in meat. I ususally use tongs or my fingers, but sometimes it feels inneficient. I'm wondering what people like to use for roasts, birds, and fishes. Especially people working service at good restaurants.

A fork is fine; by the time you get to that point in the process of serving a piece of meat, the juice loss is minimal, and can be avoided by carving on a recessed board or one with grooves to catch the juices. Regardless, losing juiciness in a piece of meat is more easily remedied by allowing the meat to rest a while after cooking. If your concern is aesthetic, then I would reccomend tongs over fingers,

"A culture's appetite always springs from its poor" - John Thorne

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the kitchen just use whatever is at hand. At the table carving fork is preferable around polite company, especially if you have a fancy set in the sideboard that you dying to just show off with.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like a regular, largish dinner fork rather than a carving fork, unless I'm carving at the table. I have little hands, and it's just easier. I never thought about holes before because you don't usually carve til the meat has finished its rest and that's when the juices are supposed to be redistributed down into the meat.

"Life is a combination of magic and pasta." - Frederico Fellini

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For large birds and roasts a fork is a must.

Note that many use a straight fork with long tines. this is more correctly a 'meat' fork used for serving slices of meat/cold cuts and not for cutting. A carving fork is curved so the cutting edge of the knife blade does not hit the fork tines. One can also then use two large curved forks to lift a bird/roast.-Dick

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't imagine trying to hold meat or a bird down with tongs when carving and I don't want my hands getting all over the food and vice versa.. A fork holds it much better. I have never noticed any holes in the meat and, as stated above, the meat should have rested long enough for the juices to settle.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...