Smoked Turkey Breast Cook Time

[captainlee]

Going to smoke a breast for t giving which I have never done before. In looking at cook times on line they are all over the place. I assume the breast will be about 5 lbs, waiting for final size when i pick it up from the butcher. Plan on smoking 250 to 275. Any guide from your experience from smoking one. I do plan to wrap at 145.

[DaveD]

I'd run it at least 300, maybe 325, so that your skin won't be rubbery. 250-275 is pushing it IMO... and monitor that IT like a hawk, and expect a solid 10 degrees of carryover if not more. Good luck!! Is the Thanksgiving protein, or a pre-TXG test run?

[captainlee]

I am pretty set at 250 injected with butter, just trying to figure out cook time. I did read his write-up Meathead, and it was at 225.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

captainlee unfortunately it's gonna depend on the breast, but I would guess somewhere around 1.5 hours and anything over that, just wrap the thing? Or just grab 2 and cook one for lunch meat this week? That's what I usually do with whole birds... this is my first year only doing a single breast.

[captainlee]

ItsAllGoneToTheDogs I plan on wrapping at 140. The breast should be about 5 lbs. I was guessing maybe 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Just trying to time it with all the sides.

[LA Pork Butt]

Lee,

Below you will find my notes on the one I did a while back. I think DaveD is correct and you will need to cook at a higher temperature if you want crisp skin. I am thinking at least 350 and maybe as high as 375 or 400. But, I think you want to smoke it so just plan to kiss the skin goodby.

My notes
Brine them in a basic brine or inject them with a marinade.

I deboned the breasts and put the wet rub on the bottom, under the skin and on the skin after they had been brined its Basic Brine for 3 hours. I cooked the, for 1 hour and 25 minutes at 225 to an internal temp of 165. I did two breasts. One was with Rudy’s and the second was with Sucklebuster’s. I tried crisping the skin, but it just curled up. I think I should still cook with the skin to keep moisture in, but just plan not to eat it.

Lee, I looked at my notes on cooking a whole turkey. If you want crisp skin let the breast dry in the refrigerator uncovered overnight. Rub the skin with oil or soft butter and cook at least at 325. Don’t tent it after the cook or it will soften the skin.

[captainlee]

I can't brine due to the salt so I have to skip that process. All the videos I have seen including Malcolm and reading Meathead they cook with the skin off. All the Texas BBQ videos are skin off and lots of butter. So many methods that's why it's confusing.

[LA Pork Butt]

captainlee If my assumption is correct that you want smoke on it I think I would pull the skin and oil the breast in an attempt to keep it from
drying out. Without brining it is going to be a challenge to keep it from drying out. A water pan should help. The many methods are because there are many ways to cook it successfully. You may have to cook them frequently to find what works best for you.

[captainlee]

LA Pork Butt. If you check out Meatheads method he injects butter into the breast. I would use,no salt butter. This should help with drying out.

[WI Bubba]

DaveD and I have different ideas about what the best way of smoking a turkey breast is. I have followed his method and done skinless turkey breast at 300 ish degrees and got a very good turkey breast. I have also done them at 250°. For my tastes, the lower temperature is better. I'm pretty sure he has tried it at a lower temp and prefers the higher temp cook. If I were you I would flip a coin for the temp, and give it a go.

As long as you allow for some carry over and don't go much past 155° IT in the end, you are going to be happy with the results. When you do another one, and you will once you get a taste of the first one, try the higher or lower temp and see which one you like better.

This is one cook that I wrap based on time. Two hours of smoke with a water pan in the cook chamber, before wrapping is what I have settled on as my go to method. If you were doing skin on, then you would absolutely want to run over well over 300° as LA Pork Butt suggested to get the skin nice and crispy.

Turkey breast is one of those cooks that I put off for a long time thinking that it would be very tricky to get right. It's not. Keep a close eye on the temp, and it's not at all hard to get a moist, smokey, delicious hunk of meat.

Happy cooking and make sure to post some picks of the results!

[captainlee]

I most likely will use a water pan. Yoder says you don't need it but at this altitude you need all the moisture possible, especially with something like a turkey breast.

[DaveD]

Now that I know it's skinless, I'd back off for sure. Indeed, my attempts with skin-on were lousy at 275 but excellent at 325. I'd run at lower temp too if there were no skin.