Boneless skin on turkey breasts - How should I smoke these?

[jjdbike]

Hello everyone,

I bought these at Wild Fork. They are two small frozen boneless skin on turkey breasts. See pics below. The labels say "retains uptown 6% water", but doesn't mention slat, sodium or brine.

I bought these thinking they'd be quick and easy. I have been warned about them drying out and the skin being rubbery and gross.

I'm looking for guidance on how to smoke these in my KBQ stick burner so they are moist and flavorful. I'm not married to the skin and wouldn't mind pulling it off and tossing it. I am open to injecting and or brining.

I am respectfully requesting specifics please e.g., time, temp, technique, recipes, etc.

Thanks in advance!
JD

[Murdy]

I don't know about the skin, but I would wet-brine the breast overnight. Haven't done one for a while, but I recall doing one indirect on a Weber kettle at a higher temp (prolly in the mid 300s but really don't remember) and it came out great, I don't recall the skin being unappetizing.

[Starsky]

I brine mine over night in apple juice, brown sugar, salt etc. I run around 235 - 250 degrees. I leave the skin on to help reduce drying out the meat and then remove it after the cook. It never stayed crispy for me. I also pull it at around 160 degrees

[jjdbike]

I brine mine over night in apple juice, brown sugar, salt etc. I run around 235 - 250 degrees. I leave the skin on to help reduce drying out the meat and then remove it after the cook. It never stayed crispy for me. I also pull it at around 160 degrees

Thanks Murdy & Starsky,

The thing about cooking skin on and then removing and discarding is, any seasoning, e.g. rub, would also get removed and discarded.

Can I wet bring and inject to maximize moisture or is this overkill?
Would spritzing or moping help not dry out?

Respectfully,
JD

[Murdy]

Not sure about doing both, I have never injected anything, but I recently got an injector as a gift, and plan on using it on a pork butt this Friday. I would say if you are wet brining, you probably don't want to use an injection with salt in it, lest the breast get too salty.

[Oak Smoke]

Your rub will need to go under the skin. I would also recommend using a low salt rub if you brine yours.

[lostclusters]

When you cook poultry low and slow (which you should not do) the skin will be rubbery and unappetizing. You also run the risk of drying it out. Hot and fast will better yield moist meat and crispy skin.

[smokin fool]

Agreed should have added to my diatribe I put the boid on at 400 or better for 30 mins then dampen down to 300ish for the rest of the cook

[smokin fool]

I go with Malcom Reed’s method of spraying the skin with aerosol canola spray every so often.
This has been hit or miss for me, maybe it’s the boid maybe my prep.
Wet brine will do more for the taste than the dry rub on the skin very little if any dry rub will get thru the skin.
I find spritzing is moping not the best for smoking Turkey, others may argue.
Find it’s best for oven cooked boids.
Never injected so cannot comment on that.

[RonB]

This is how I think about cooking poultry.

I want the meat cooked to a safe point, but I also want the meat moist. If the skin is on, I want that crispy. Small pieces cook quickly while larger pieces take longer. In addition, dark meat is greasier and needs to cook to a higher temp than white meat.

Since you are talking about a whole breast, you need to pull it no later than when it reaches 160° to help keep it juicy. All the little nasties are killed in a matter of seconds at that temp, so as long as the center of the breast reaches 160°, you are safe. And there will be some carry over too. (You can pull at a lower temp, but the rest must be longer for safety.)

I shoot for around 400° for single chicken breasts, but would drop that temp to ~ 350° for a whole turkey breast. The additional time that it takes to reach 160° at 350° will help crisp the skin.

And you can always put your rub under the skin to season the meat. In addition to seasoning the meat, separating the skin from the meat will help the skin crisp up.

[jjdbike]

This is how I think about cooking poultry.

I want the meat cooked to a safe point, but I also want the meat moist. If the skin is on, I want that crispy. Small pieces cook quickly while larger pieces take longer. In addition, dark meat is greasier and needs to cook to a higher temp than white meat.

Since you are talking about a whole breast, you need to pull it no later than when it reaches 160° to help keep it juicy. All the little nasties are killed in a matter of seconds at that temp, so as long as the center of the breast reaches 160°, you are safe. And there will be some carry over too. (You can pull at a lower temp, but the rest must be longer for safety.)

I shoot for around 400° for single chicken breasts, but would drop that temp to ~ 350° for a whole turkey breast. The additional time that it takes to reach 160° at 350° will help crisp the skin.

And you can always put your rub under the skin to season the meat. In addition to seasoning the meat, separating the skin from the meat will help the skin crisp up.

Thanks much!
I feel prepared now.
Best regards,
JD

[Bkhuna]

What is uptown water? Is it different than downtown, midtown, crosstown, or funky town water?

[Murdy]

Unlike other waters:
Its been living in an uptown world
and never had a backstreet guy
and its momma never told it why

[RonB]

It could also be "up to" instead of uptown.

[bbqLuv]

Due to the odd shape, thick at one end and thin at the other end, perhaps cut into medallions. This worked so well on boneless, skinless chicken breasts it should work on turkey as well.

[shify]

Remove the skin and cook separately to make turkey skin cracklings (bake between two cookie sheets)

Then follow the Franklin method - season the now skinless breast however you like and smoke to about 130 degrees. Then wrap in foil with a large amount of butter on top — I think Franklin uses a whole stick but you can get away with a lot less - and cook till your desired temp. I pull at around 155. Then let rest and serve with the buttery drippings.

[Oak Smoke]

+1 great idea.

[bbqLuv]

Arnie Tex's let's talk turkey
Just watched this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY_T_yNwHqs

[Steve R.]

This works great every time! I use a half stick of butter for each half of the breast and it does the trick.

[Alan Brice]

Kosher salt 4-8 hours prior. Soft butter and Simon n Garfunkel under the skin just before.
Smoke at 325-350 with probes. Pull at 156. Wrap temporarily. If you want crispier skin.
Broiler. I think the flavor will out shine the crispy skin. Could broil the skin separate after the fact.

[CandySueQ]

Following what shify said! I'd remove the skin (before wet brining) and season it up to match the meat. I'd tie the breast into a log shape, so it would cook evenly. Then I'd cook the skin separately until it reaches golden brown and crunchy.

This is what I did for the turkey below. It won 1st place! Those brown crunchy bits made it. Flowering herbs from my garden didn't hurt either.

[Michael_in_TX]

I've also got a pair of turkey breasts in the freezer I want to do something with.

I'm not sure why, but it just seems weird to want to smoke something hot and fast, rather than so 225 F.

I really like CandySueQ 's suggestion of rolling the breast into a log. I was trying to figure out how to deal with the breast's irregular shape, especially the major thickness differences. I was thinking of butterflying it, but that would make it just too thin. I like the log idea.

For me, I am planning to do a Texas-style cook. I'll discard the skin (which I did when I froze them) so I don't have to worry about it. Dry brine with salt the night before, then a rub of pepper and garlic powder. Butter will be involved somehow. I'll either baste it every 20 minutes or put some butter in foil once the color is where I would like it.

[tenphases]

i love turkey pastrami