Smoked Turkey Breast

[NS Gearhead]

http://bbqpitboys.com/recipes/turkey-breast/

So, the recipe was for two 8lb turkey breasts... the one I found was 5lbs, so I 1/4d the brine recipe.



Fit perfect (meat side down), and fit in the fridge, so no messing with ice


Brought it to 160deg internal, and took 3 hours @ 225


Wrapped it in tinfoil, towel, and put it in a cooler for 30min. Still steaming hot when taken out.


It was enough for 4 adults, and one child...and still enough for my lunch the next day. Best turkey I've ever had. Moist and flavorful.

 

[dickfoster]

http://bbqpitboys.com/recipes/turkey-breast/

So, the recipe was for two 8lb turkey breasts... the one I found was 5lbs, so I 1/4d the brine recipe.



Fit perfect (meat side down), and fit in the fridge, so no messing with ice


Brought it to 160deg internal, and took 3 hours @ 225


Wrapped it in tinfoil, towel, and put it in a cooler for 30min. Still steaming hot when taken out.


It was enough for 4 adults, and one child...and still enough for my lunch the next day. Best turkey I've ever had. Moist and flavorful.

For a change I might do that for Thanksgiving this year. I usually do up a whole turkey in the Weber but completely foiled so the wife can have the oven for everything else.
I smoked up a rack of ribs in the smoker for dinner last night. I'm starting to get a hankering to do up another pork butt. We can't get real southern style BBQ pulled pork out here so I have to do it myself. I don't think many people out here even know what hush puppies are. It's getting hard to even find American food out here. Any kind of Asian fine, Italian you're covered, Mexican of course, there just isn't much American anymore, even steak houses are getting rare.

 

[Bird]

I used to do just fine smoking fish and oysters, but never got the smoke to penetrate deep enough on whole turkeys or turkey breasts to suit me. They were pretty good, but just not as good as some I could buy already smoked.

 

[Gunny]

I love turkey breast smoked over apple wood, but yours looks delicious

 

[dickfoster]

I used to do just fine smoking fish and oysters, but never got the smoke to penetrate deep enough on whole turkeys or turkey breasts to suit me. They were pretty good, but just not as good as some I could buy already smoked.

Maybe your smoker is running too hot. Good smoking takes time and low temps. I'm normally run mine at 225 F for most stuff. Proper choice of wood for smoking is important too. Like paring wine with food you have to pair different meat with different wood, hickory with pork for example or say apple with salmon or mesquite with beef.

 

[teejk]

Maybe your smoker is running too hot. Good smoking takes time and low temps. I'm normally run mine at 225 F for most stuff. Proper choice of wood for smoking is important too. Like paring wine with food you have to pair different meat with different wood, hickory with pork for example or say apple with salmon or mesquite with beef.

You figured it out..."low and slow" is the catch phrase. My "experts" say that meat will stop accepting smoke when the internal temp gets to 140F. I guess I agree...the proof is what they call the "smoke ring" that develops on the outside of the meat. Cooked too fast the smoke will not permeate far. And I agree with your wood choice...any fruit wood (apple/cherry/plum) mixed with hickory works on anything I cook. I reserve mesquite for thick cuts of beef. Fish...guess "alder" is preferred there but I don't have a source for that.

 

[dickfoster]

You figured it out..."low and slow" is the catch phrase. My "experts" say that meat will stop accepting smoke when the internal temp gets to 140F. I guess I agree...the proof is what they call the "smoke ring" that develops on the outside of the meat. Cooked too fast the smoke will not permeate far. And I agree with your wood choice...any fruit wood (apple/cherry/plum) mixed with hickory works on anything I cook. I reserve mesquite for thick cuts of beef. Fish...guess "alder" is preferred there but I don't have a source for that.

We just cut down a maple tree out front and I was sure to save the trunk for smoking. BACON!! Maybe a pork butt or something would be good with maple wood too.

 

[teejk]

We just cut down a maple tree out front and I was sure to save the trunk for smoking. BACON!! Maybe a pork butt or something would be good with maple wood too.

I forgot about maple! That works with anything you need to smoke. A decent sized tree will have you set for years.

 

[Bird]

I know you guys are right, but I even got rid of my smokers; just don't do that anymore. I did cook a fine ribeye on the grill this afternoon, but only have smoked meats and cheese when I buy them already smoked.:laughing:

 

[dickfoster]

I forgot about maple! That works with anything you need to smoke. A decent sized tree will have you set for years.

It was only an 8" or so truck but that is still a lot of wood for smoking since I use mostly lump charcoal for fuel and only enough fist sized chunks of wood, when I can get it, for flavor. Cherry is good too. Don't have alder around here so I use apple for salmon.

 

[teejk]

It was only an 8" or so truck but that is still a lot of wood for smoking since I use mostly lump charcoal for fuel and only enough fist sized chunks of wood, when I can get it, for flavor. Cherry is good too. Don't have alder around here so I use apple for salmon.

I have a woodworking shop. A chunk of 8" maple run through the bandsaw and/or planer would last for a long time! Hickory is available in stores everywhere as is apple and mesquite. Even seeing cherry lately but I have a pile of that from the shop (I even give it away for Christmas presents).

 

[NS Gearhead]

We just cut down a maple tree out front and I was sure to save the trunk for smoking.

Yup, I use maple for all my smoking other then beef (when I use hickory or mesquite), as that's what I have around my place. I started with a 5 gallon pail of 2" square chunks, and at the end of season #2 I'm about half way through it.

 

[JRobyn]

Poplar makes a pretty good substitute for alder.

 

[Soldier415]

Did you use a smoker or a grill? What wood did you use?

 

[teejk]

Poplar makes a pretty good substitute for alder.

No shortage of poplar here (I'm surrounded by it...probably enough to smoke every fish in the world). I've read that alder and "popple" are one and the same and it's merely a matter of local terminology. Have to see if "poplar" and "popple" are the same tree (they might be). If so I can quite paying for smoking wood!

 

[NS Gearhead]

No shortage of poplar here (I'm surrounded by it...probably enough to smoke every fish in the world). I've read that alder and "popple" are one and the same and it's merely a matter of local terminology. Have to see if "poplar" and "popple" are the same tree (they might be). If so I can quite paying for smoking wood!

Yeah I'm with you; if popple is equal to alder that'll double my free supply of smoking chunks!

 

[NS Gearhead]

Did you use a smoker or a grill? What wood did you use?

Here's a link to my smoker;
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/343026-el-cheapo-brinkmann-smoker.html#post4214382

I use maple from my property.

 

[JRobyn]

As usual (IMHO) Meathead Goldwin has the last word on smoking wood.

Barbecue Wood & Smoke: Different Types, How to Use it.

 

[teejk]

As usual (IMHO) Meathead Goldwin has the last word on smoking wood.

Barbecue Wood & Smoke: Different Types, How to Use it.

Great read...nothing I disagree with other than his blanket statement about the "myth" of meat no longer accepting smoke beyond a certain temp. Early in his article he explains smoke absorption and rightly says it is related to moisture in the meat. I agree. But absent injecting or constant basting of the outside (bad IMHO because that requires opening up the box way too often), as the internal temp rises the outside moisture of the meat will decrease a lot faster than the middle. That's just how meat cooks. But thanks for the post...I learned/confirmed some stuff. Now to experiment with my poplar that I normally throw on the burn pile!

 

[NS Gearhead]

Couldn't find the same turkey breast roast at Costco, so we did a full turkey. 12lbs. Used 3/4 of the brine recipe for the cooler I had and 3/4 of a bag of ice. Took 4 hours on the smoker and 30min wrapped. I was giving thanks for an attatched garage to shelter the smoker from the storm we got!