First post here. Been a lurker for a while. So much great info! I’ve improved on smokin’ Boston Butt, Ribs, Pork Belly-Bacon, and whole chicken. In doing so my wife has requested I smoke turkey breast to slice up so we can avoid sliced meat from the grocery deli or packaged off shelf. If I’m able to accomplish this she’ll buy an electric meat slicer. So there are now two good reasons!
Anyone here do this regularly? Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
I have not. I'm not sure how well a slicer will work for turkey breast. Ever notice how smooth deli turkey is texturally? It seems like if fresh cooked turkey breast was sliced that thin it would fall apart. Deli turkey must have binders or fillers to get it to that texture.
I do cook/smoke bone-in skin-on turkey breasts from time to time. Love 'em.
You took the name Bluestreak. Is that a Cedar Point reference?
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I don't smoke turkey breasts that often. Just be careful with temp et.c., they're quite lean. I would cook them like I do chicken, at around 300 deg F. They don't need tenderizing like a butt och chuck roast does. But I'm sure other people with chip in with good advice.
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I cook turkey breast quite often. It’s one of our favs. I am away from my notes, but follow Aaron Franklin’s recipe loosely. Where I deviate is the rub I use. But typically the salt pepper is best. I will add that it’s nearly impossible to find a breast that is fresh(not frozen) or not injected with brine.
I must be lucky. Our local grocery store, Busch's, periodically has turkey breasts (and backs) along with wings and thighs packaged up by their meat department. Just like when a meat department packages up steaks and puts them out for display.
Great to hear from you. Thank you for your support. When I am smoking a turkey breast, I like to use Meathead's Simon and Garfunkel Rub. It is a savory rub that I really like. I was going to slice the meat for deli meat, I would shock the meat in a 50/50 ice bath after smoking. (Scroll down to The Big Chill in that linked article) It will be much easier to slice when the meat is cold and rested. You will also have a better chance of saving some of that wonderful skin onto each slice as well.
Make sure to put the rub under the skin as well. This will allow the rub to adhere to the meat itself so if you do loose some skin, at least you still have the rub on the surface of the meat.
Best of luck and make sure to fill us in on your progress and what kind of slicer your better half "lets" you buy.
I'm going to follow this thread because I would like to do the same thing. I've wondered if store bought turkey deli meat is cured because of the texture difference. I would like a good method since I have a turkey still frozen in the garage and a nice slicer. Sorry I can't provide any actual help.
To get something like a deli turkey, you will likely want to wet brine or buy enhanced anyway, so that's not a problem. Most deli meats are processed sous vide or in a process that is functionally similar (high heat steaming in plastic).
Rub with whatever. Grocery store/deli turkey's come with all manner of rub. Sous vide sth like 145 for 3 hours, shock cold, gently smoke, chill again, then slice. Preserving the moisture is kind of key to deli style turkey. As an aside, Alton Brown claims to prefer wet brining to dry brining for turkey because the leftovers make better sandwiches. I trust Alton Brown pretty implicitly, especially when he explains that dry brine produces a better bird on T-day but wet brine produces moister leftovers.
Lacking SV, I would likely wet brine, and then roast like a turkey to an IT of 145 in the center. Folks do poultry at 325, but there's not really a reason not to low and slow. Crispy skin will impair clean slicing and will not be crispy after spending any time in the fridge, and you will want to slice it cold to get nice slices for sandwiches, so there's not much point in even going for crispy skin, imho.
Thank you all for the quick replies. I’ll give this a shot soon and report back. Slicer will also come in handy for the bacon too. Family went nuts over that cook that was done per the instructions here. What went from a once a month thing is becoming a once a week thing. 😳
I take the skin off before I cook a turkey breast. I slice the skin into strips, add some salt, and throw it into ghe smoker with the breast. The skin turns into cracklings and is a real delicacy.
I get the deli turkey breasts through my food service company I work with. I ordered them by mistake one time for a event I was cooking for so I just went with it. They come 2 in a case and go about 7lbs. ea. I told the sales rep about it a week later and he said I wondered why you ordered those that's what we sell to the super market delis and they slice thin.
Any how I heated these up on the smoker low and easy around 225, Spritzed every so often. They are pre cooked so you are only heating. After a while sitting on the grate I put them in a pan with some apple juice to introduce a little moisture. Heated to 125 or so. Sliced those babies and man were they good! They took on the smoke so well and were nice and moist. The people loved them and kept asking where I got them and how I made them. Oh I should say I rubbed them first with a little lemon infused olive oil and rubbed them with Mcormicks Montreal Poultry Seasoning.
They are boneless so not a ounce of waste and slice beautifully. They are so easy it's my go to turkey breast now when it's a requested menu item. I don't know where you would get these other than a food service company or special order through a local deli.
220 mg sodium per serving (2 oz). Ingredients: Turkey Breast Meat, Turkey Broth, Contains 2% Or Less Vinegar, Salt, Potassium Phosphate, Carrageenan.
There are a couple other similar products that claim "reduced sodium", but they contain more sodium than this one (260-300 mg), so you'd want to read labels before leaping into buying.
Yes IowaGirl, label reading is always a must! Lots of times though packages destined for resellers don't have that info (see sub shops/deli's).
BTW, I went to college in Iowa back in the Stone Age - Grinnell.
Welcome from TN. We do whole turkeys every couple of months. We usually do them low and slow and I ignore the skin (low and slow turkey skin is not very good), and while we don't have deli slice style sandwiches, we have sandwiches which are really good. Haven't ever just done a breast though, I will probably try the Aaron Franklin recipe from au4stree post.
And welcome to the pit, glad you decided to stop that lurking thing. Now you got me thinking about a smoked turkey sandwich topped with some home made bacon...
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