Need Guidence on Smoked Turkey breasts

[fzxdoc]

Meathead recommends 4 oz butter, unsalted if the bird has been brined either by you or at the packing plant. He also only injects the breast of the whole bird, so it looks as though 4oz is good for a (whole)turkey breast by itself.

HTH,
Kathryn

[Florida cracker]

Ok, how much butter to inject per bird ?

[biggreenmatt]

Thanks for the input, guys. I ended up wet-brining two five pound breasts for 12 hours, no injection of anything, using a relatively neutral rub, smoked over cherry at ~350F to 155-160F. Turned out magnificently. Moist, super-tender, astounding flavour, and most importantly, the damn bird was *toothsome* from the brine. Smash hit at Canadian thanksgiving dinner. Cut it off the bone from the butcher, which made for excellent turkey stock and then gravy so good, you could drink it straight. Great time of year! Love it!

[Marauderer]

I agree with Pit Boss and others. Dry brine, inject with butter, and run at 325 deg F. The butter is key in my opinion.

I will do that on my next one in a couple of weeks. Thanks for the input.

[Henrik]

I agree with Pit Boss and others. Dry brine, inject with butter, and run at 325 deg F. The butter is key in my opinion.

[Marauderer]

Yeah, if you dry brine the skin and cook at 325, you should have great skin. Either way, for a whole breast, I would stick with dry bringing. Obviously injecting with butter is a must!

The turkey that I did a couple of weekends ago overall was great. But the skin was not crispy. I cooked at 325*F, I used the S&G rub and applied all over the exterior skin mixed with oil. I think that was my problem. Maybe if I had put the rub under the skin it would have crisped up??

[Huskee]

BGM, I have done them both ways. When I do chicken pieces they're always skinless, and whole birds I tend to do skin-on. I wet brine skinless pieces in a solution of 1 gal water, 1C salt, 1C sugar, for 1 Hr <--- I've tried many brines and this is my personal favorite FWIW. I cook skinless usually at 225, it still develops a nice (thin) bark layer, similar to skin anyway. When I do whole birds I dry brine and cook at 325 (because of the skin). I am not knocking dry brining breast pieces, simply sharing what I do. A good dry brine on skinless will result in likely the same outcome but be less hassle and waste less salt for sure. Experiment!

[David Parrish]

Thanks for the reply, guys.

I'm not worried about the skin- it's my complete intention to take it off and cook it separately. Frankly, I don't like smoked skin. Rather have it crisp and beautiful straight out of the oven.

My concern is juicy, plump, perfectly done, smoked poultry meat. Is this better accomplished with a brine or salt?

Dry Brine (Salt)

[biggreenmatt]

Thanks for the reply, guys.

I'm not worried about the skin- it's my complete intention to take it off and cook it separately. Frankly, I don't like smoked skin. Rather have it crisp and beautiful straight out of the oven.

My concern is juicy, plump, perfectly done, smoked poultry meat. Is this better accomplished with a brine or salt?

[Pork Lord]

I did that(smoke at 325) for two chickens on my pit last weekend. (I used to slow and low on chicken) and they were by far the best birds I ever turned out! Crispy skin and the meat wasn't overcooked and falling off the bone.

[bbantel]

Yeah, if you dry brine the skin and cook at 325, you should have great skin. Either way, for a whole breast, I would stick with dry bringing. Obviously injecting with butter is a must!

[David Parrish]

While on the topic, I'm about to smoke a 12 lb double-breast on the weekend. Typically I brine my birds in a solution, but I'm intrigued if anyone's had more success with a dry-brine instead. I'll be smoking them without the skin (rather remove and roast it to make turkey skin chicharonnes, which I luuuuuuuuurv!).

Dry Brine with salt. Inject with butter. Best turkey ever.

[biggreenmatt]

While on the topic, I'm about to smoke a 12 lb double-breast on the weekend. Typically I brine my birds in a solution, but I'm intrigued if anyone's had more success with a dry-brine instead. I'll be smoking them without the skin (rather remove and roast it to make turkey skin chicharonnes, which I luuuuuuuuurv!).

[bbantel]

Poultry - 325F until it hits 165 (white meat). Instead of a traditional brine, I prefer MH's dry brine method, you get really crispy skin that way. Check out the Ultimate Smoked Turkey, it can easily be adapted to breasts only.

[Florida cracker]

thanks for the input