I wasn't sure what to call this: a boneless, skinless turkey breast, cured like bacon, and treated like pastrami, but "bacon-style" didn't sound right, nor did "cured, smoked, turkey product."
I started with a whole, fresh turkey breast and boned one half of it, using the bones and scraps for a stock. The boned breast weighed 1 lb 10 oz. I cured it with a variation of my usual bacon cure, scaled to 2 lbs:
2.4 tsp table salt
1 tsp curing salt #1
2 tsp grains of paradise (similar to pepper)
4 tsp corned beef spices (supposedly different than pickling spices)
60 gm brown sugar (~4.5 Tbs, 50% more)
2 Tbs white sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (instead of hot sauce)
1/2 C water
all in a plastic bag in the refrigerator, just like I do side or back bacon. After 12 days I rinsed and dried it, then oiled it, and applied MH's pastrami rub, but increased the sugar by 50%. I cut his recipe (for 4 lbs of meat) in half, and then only used about half of that, using just a light coating. I was concerned about too strong a pepper flavor on mild turkey.

After a couple of days in the refrigerator (like pastrami), I smoked it in my PBC, on the Great-Grate so I could add wood easily. I went easy on the cherry wood chips, too, about 2 oz initially, and again after 30 minutes. I used half a basket of Kingsford
and put on the meat when the PBC temperature had come down to 304 deg; it drifted lower and stayed between 265 and 290 deg during the 80 minute cook. I took the meat off when it reached 160 deg internal temperature.

I tried a piece right away, of course, and it was very good, but I was concerned about the strong pepper flavor, although it was tempered by the sweetness. Of course the test piece had more rub surface area than regular slices. After refrigerating it, I sliced it by machine, most of it to about 0.14" (3.5 mm), like thick bacon, but some to about half that, like a thin lunch meat. I haven't tried the thin slices yet, but I'm thinking turkey BLT or club sandwich.

Cold, the slices were firm but easy to bite through or pull apart. It was very tasty, but still a pepper overtone. Briefly heated in a frying pan to caramelize the sugar, it was great and the pepper was not too strong, with a nice hint of sweetness. Slices heated briefly in the microwave were also very good with balanced flavors. None of the slices tasted salty at all, but I wasn't tempted to add salt, either.
I'll definitely do this again, perhaps cutting back a bit on the pepper. Also interesting would be a rub with a good component of Simon & Garfunkel spice mix.
I started with a whole, fresh turkey breast and boned one half of it, using the bones and scraps for a stock. The boned breast weighed 1 lb 10 oz. I cured it with a variation of my usual bacon cure, scaled to 2 lbs:
2.4 tsp table salt
1 tsp curing salt #1
2 tsp grains of paradise (similar to pepper)
4 tsp corned beef spices (supposedly different than pickling spices)
60 gm brown sugar (~4.5 Tbs, 50% more)
2 Tbs white sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (instead of hot sauce)
1/2 C water
all in a plastic bag in the refrigerator, just like I do side or back bacon. After 12 days I rinsed and dried it, then oiled it, and applied MH's pastrami rub, but increased the sugar by 50%. I cut his recipe (for 4 lbs of meat) in half, and then only used about half of that, using just a light coating. I was concerned about too strong a pepper flavor on mild turkey.
After a couple of days in the refrigerator (like pastrami), I smoked it in my PBC, on the Great-Grate so I could add wood easily. I went easy on the cherry wood chips, too, about 2 oz initially, and again after 30 minutes. I used half a basket of Kingsford
I tried a piece right away, of course, and it was very good, but I was concerned about the strong pepper flavor, although it was tempered by the sweetness. Of course the test piece had more rub surface area than regular slices. After refrigerating it, I sliced it by machine, most of it to about 0.14" (3.5 mm), like thick bacon, but some to about half that, like a thin lunch meat. I haven't tried the thin slices yet, but I'm thinking turkey BLT or club sandwich.
Cold, the slices were firm but easy to bite through or pull apart. It was very tasty, but still a pepper overtone. Briefly heated in a frying pan to caramelize the sugar, it was great and the pepper was not too strong, with a nice hint of sweetness. Slices heated briefly in the microwave were also very good with balanced flavors. None of the slices tasted salty at all, but I wasn't tempted to add salt, either.
I'll definitely do this again, perhaps cutting back a bit on the pepper. Also interesting would be a rub with a good component of Simon & Garfunkel spice mix.
Comment