Newbie ISO of smoked Turkey Breast Recipe

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gregc

Fire Starter
Original poster
Jul 12, 2010
49
15
Atlanta, GA
Hello,

I joined yesterday and have already gotten a lot of good advice on how to smoke ribs which I am gonna smoke Sunday. However, Mom will be in town Saturday and does not like pork. I would like to smoke a Turkey Breast for her. Anybody know where I can find a good recipe. I have searched and searched and just can't find one. Keep in mind I'm new to smoking so if anyone has a "step by step" recipe. I'd appreciate it. Thanks a lot!
 
Im a newbie also.

If you type Turkey breast in the search bar at the top of the page you will get hundreds of results.

Hope this helps.
 
I would take the thawed breast out of the package and rinse well.

Then I would brine overnight using the brine recipe below 

(Make sure you use a plastic container you can submerge the breast in you can fill a ziplock bag with water and use that as a weight to keep it submerged if needed.)

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/wiki/tips-slaughterhouse-recipes-for-poultry  

Then take the breast out and rinse again and pat dry with a paper towel. Coat the breast with EVOO then apply your rub or seasonings.

Place the breast in the smoker below the ribs and then smoke to an internal of 162-165 if you don't care about eating the skin

If you want to eat the skin smoke to an internal of 150 or so then place the breast into a 350 degree oven to finish to an internal of 165 this will allow the skin to crisp.

I'm sure others will have different methods but this how I do them
 
Thanks for the info. I appreciate it. Do you recommend Brining and injecting or just doing one or the other?
 
Personally I do one or the other tho I know some people do both.

I moved your thread to the Poultry section
 
Last edited:
Inject the breast with Creole Butter and rub the outside with whatever you use for chicken.  I like just plain old Tony C's. Lay a few bacon strips over the top of the breast and smoke at 225 until your thermo says 155 - 160, then wrap and rest.  If you aren't going to rest it, take it all the way to 165 before you pull it off the smoker.  This is a crowd pleaser every time.  Especially when you have a lot of ladies around. 
 
I do a brine of 1/3 chicken broth, 1/3 apple juice, & 1/3 water. To that I add a McCormiks & Schmicks hot itilian herb seasoning - basically itilian herb blend with salt and red pepper flakes.... and a little more salt to taste. A great way to brine is buy the ziploc 3 or 5 gallon bags, put the turkey breast and the brine in the bag, put the bag in the ice chest and then dump a bag of ice around it. It will keep it cold all night long and not take up a ton of refrigerator room. Then right before I smoked it I melted a stick of butter and mixed some more of the spicy italian herb seasoning into it and rubbed the turkey breast all over and under the skin.

I ran my smoker at 225-250 deg. and draped bacon over the turkey breast to keep it from drying out, and used a few chunks of mesquite for flavor. I took it to 170 deg. internal temp. then wrapped it up in foil and tossed it into the cooler to rest for 30 minutes. It came out with a very nicer herb flavor and super moist.
 
Welcome Friend you are in the right place. Everyone here are experts. I love these people. They are always willing to lend a hand when needed. Try this. Your Mom may like it

Brined Turkey
In a large pot mix
1 Gallon of water ,1 cup of Kosher salt and 1 cup of sugar. If you use table salt use 3/4 cup. You have to make enough brine to cover your Turkey/ Breast completely in the pot. Using the above recipe. 
 Now anything you add at this point the turkey will taste like. I use garlic ,onion ,pepper corns, Poutry seasoning. and a dash of sage. You can use cajun seasoning, maple syrup. fruit, anything you want it to taste like. Hold the Turkey under the brine with a heavy plate, or a brick / rock in a zipper bag.
If you are going to cook just a turkey breast leave it in the brine in the fridge for 5-8 hours. a whole turkey can stay in it for up to 24 hours. Rinse well and pat dry with paper towels. Once you get the turkey in the brine, grab a stick of butter and mix in the seasoning you have chosen it to taste like, Roll it back out into a cigar shape , place it in a sandwich bag and freeze it while the Turkey/ Breast brines. After the turkey is nice and dry push your fingers under the skin of the breast and get it loose from the turkey. slice the frozen butter into madallions and push under the skin all over the breast.

Smoke the breast at 250 degrees for 4 hours and they say a safe inside temp ( Away from the bone, in the thickest part of the breast is 165 ) I like 170. Remember the best smoke is thin blue smoke. Not heavy white. I usually add wood chips as I see fit. But I been doing it for 33 yrs
You don't have to smoke it ( Blasphemy ) , Bake it as you usually would. I have baked it in a sealed brown paper bag in a turkey baking pan. You can also deep fry it as long as you pat it nice and dry before it hits the hot oil. If you are not sure how to deep fry it in a Turkey Fryer email me and I will give you the proper process. Give this a try. Welcome Again Chefrc  
 
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