Frozen smoked turkey breast: Preserving bark?

[jjdbike]

Hello everyone,

I smoked several boneless, skinless turkey breasts and was thrilled with the moistness, flavor and bark. I did four of them, ate one that day. Froze three. I vacuum packed them in solidifed herb butter. My ideas was as I thawed and brought uptown temp in SV, they marinate and stay moist. We've eaten two and have one left.

As you can already surely imagine, they were moist and flavorful, but bark was completely destroyed, devolved, washed away w/ the butter.

Is there a good plan be to thawing and reheating this last one and maintaining the bark w/out drying it out?

Respectfully,
JD

[bbqLuv]

Re-bark it in the smoker? Much like setting the bark on a brisket after the "Texas Crutch" maybe?

[Huskee]

I think what I'd do is hit them with a good sear in hot cast iron right before eating, after reheating. That or a high heat broil. Haven't tried either in this setting, just a hunch. Skip the butter next time. Add it at chow time.

[jjdbike]

Re-bark it in the smoker? Much like setting the bark on a brisket after the "Texas Crutch" maybe?

Interesting.
Never had to do that w/ brisket.
Would you slather and rub again?
What time & temp would you shoot for?
JD

[jjdbike]

I think what I'd do is hit them with a good sear in hot cast iron right before eating, after reheating. That or a high heat broil. Haven't tried either in this setting, just a hunch. Skip the butter next time. Add it at chow time.

Thanks.
That sounds easy.
Regarding the butter, It was solidified before I added it to the vacuum seal bag. If I cut open bag before thing I can remove the butter. I can reseal breast to reheat in SV, or reheat in some other way.
I fear re-heating - remarking in smoker will dry out the breast.
Thoughts?
JD

[Huskee]

I think your'e right, I think you need hot & fast to crisp up the skin, whereas a slow re-heat might overcook and dry out. Hard to say though I've never done it. It might work out ok reheating on your smoker. What smoker do you have? If it's a pellet (convection) it might work out, but I'd still lean toward a quick high energy skin crisp.

[Steve R.]

These are skinless, Huskee.

I would just skip the added butter, jjdbike. Turkey breast stays more moist than you would think, at least in my experience. If anything, I have found that the leftover slices that I have stored in the fridge for a day or two seem even more moist than the day I cooked them.

[Huskee]

Thanks Steve R. I missed that. I still vote high quick heat to dry out only that outer layer of bark.

[jjdbike]

I have a KBQ stick burner that has significant convection due to two fans.

I'll skip the butter till after reheated.

So high heat re-heat in oven or smoker? I'll be running the smoker for 1 couple hours beforehand at 275 for bologna.
Thank everyone.
JD

[Huskee]

No, my personal suggestion is high heat for the bark, AFTER you gently reheat the whole thing. Think the same principle as reverse sear.

[Angle Jhon]

No there is no way to save this

[jjdbike]

I do appreciate all of the helpful replies.

I think I will that it slowly in the fridge over a couple days. It was thawed and smoked within a couple days and vacuum packed and refrozen the next day so freshness isn't a concern. Once reheated it will all be consumed in one sitting.

I'll remove from the vacuum pack bag and remove the hardened butter.

I'll allow take it out of fridge and allow to warm up towards room temperature a bit (30 - 54 mins)

I'll give it another shot if rub & gently warm in smoker at 250 -275 till nearly to temp - i.e. 135 ish.

I'll hit is w/ a little brown sugar and BBQ sauce and put it in broiler for a couple mins to tack up sauce... being very careful to not burn sauce and sugar.

I'll rest a few mins, melt some butter and pour over after sliced.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Respectfully,
JD
In retrospect, it would have been easier to simply smoke one from scratch.