Bone in turkey breast lunch meat.

[hooked on smoke]

Hi all,
I have a 6.68lb bone in turkey breast and would like to try brining/curing it for lunch meat.
Would this breast be a candidate for that? Looks like it may have solution add already. ???
Any recipes and advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[chopsaw]

Here's a couple different ways I do them .
This one I remove both breast halves , then wrap in the skin .

Boneless Turkey breast . Cured and smoked .

I do this method every now and then , but use chicken . Makes good sandwich meat . Had a whole turkey breast in the freezer , so got it thawed out . Mixed up a gallon batch of Pop's low salt brine . Cured the breast with the skin on and the bone in for 6 days . Used the Briner Jr. Drained and...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

This one has one bone in , and the other is boned and rolled .

Smoked Turkey breast

This came up in another thread about BBQ chains stores . I mentioned that a local place had great Turkey and it made me rethink the process . @SmokinVOLfan asked about it , so I figured I would write it out . Here's a thread on how I was doing them before I had the Turkey from Sugar fire BBQ ...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

If it's already injected , you can still brine it without issue . Just don't add any salt after you rinse , before cooking .

 

[tallbm]

Hi all,
I have a 6.68lb bone in turkey breast and would like to try brining/curing it for lunch meat.
Would this breast be a candidate for that? Looks like it may have solution add already. ???
Any recipes and advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Oh yeah that breast is definitely a candidate.

I would suggest deboning it and get that weight in grams.
Then equilibrium brine/cure it as well as inject that solution into the meat all over since turkey breast muscles are pretty thick.

I believe 1 gallon of water weighs 8.333 lbs or 3779.9213 gm.

1. Add up the water + meat weight and then pop that number into this calculator (new digging dog):
   
   

   EQ Dry Cure Calculator

   Calculate dry cure ingredient amounts for your bacon and cured meats.

   digging-dog.vercel.app
2. Change the "Desired salt % " to 1.65
3. Hit calculate to get the amount of Cure #1, Salt, and Sugar (if you even use sugar) that is needed to cure this meat
   
   
   

How to make your cure/brine solution:

1. Measure out the stuff from the calculator above
2. Put about about 1 liter of the water in a blender and add the measured out cure, salt, sugar into it and blend for a bit to get the dissolving going
3. Pour that into your curing/brining tub or bucket
4. Repeat step 2 & 3 until all of the cure, salt, and sugar are dissolved in and in the bucket/tub and then pour in the remaining water from the 1gallon of water you were using
5. Drop the turkey breast into the curing/brining solution
6. Draw the solution into a meat injector needle and inject the breast deep and all over. Do so liberally, you cannot over do this so don't worry. Just make sure you get solution into the breast all over and especially in the thickest parts.
7. Let sit until fully cured as you desire.
   Note: It's my understanding that Salt and Cure travel at like 1/4 inch every 24 hours. So if your breast is 3 inches at the thickest part it would take the cure 6 days to maybe travel all the way through to the deepest parts from the outside into the meat. HOWEVER, because you injected the solution liberally all over and deep in side you are also getting inside-out travel at the same rate as well
   I hot smoke my cured turkeys and chickens so I don't let them cure for more than 48 hours. Hot smoking will have Internal Temp (IT) of the meat is 140F within 4 hours for sure. Actually it will be fully cooked to 165F IT well before 4 hours.
8. Hot Smoke the turkey breast until the IT of the meat is about 162-163F and pull it. The meat IT should rise to 165F even with it being a smaller amount of mass than a whole turkey would be
9. Put it in the fridge until it is dead cold and then slice when cold. Done!

I hope this gives you an idea on how to do this. This is the simplest and SUPER tasty way you won't go wrong using that will NEVER be too salty, should you follow these directions.

Ask any questions you have. You'll be going in no time :D

 

[jcam222]

I usually do 10 or so once a year to stock the freezer. I inject them all with Butcher BBQ bird booster. I usually do half with a poultry rub and half with a standard BBQ type rub. I smoke at 275 for awhile and cruise up to 300. I also use beer can chicken holders for them. I'm down to two packs so need to finish and a new deal.

 

[hooked on smoke]

Oh yeah that breast is definitely a candidate.

I would suggest deboning it and get that weight in grams.
Then equilibrium brine/cure it as well as inject that solution into the meat all over since turkey breast muscles are pretty thick.

I believe 1 gallon of water weighs 8.333 lbs or 3779.9213 gm.

1. Add up the water + meat weight and then pop that number into this calculator (new digging dog):
   
   

   EQ Dry Cure Calculator

   Calculate dry cure ingredient amounts for your bacon and cured meats.

   digging-dog.vercel.app
2. Change the "Desired salt % " to 1.65
3. Hit calculate to get the amount of Cure #1, Salt, and Sugar (if you even use sugar) that is needed to cure this meat
   
   View attachment 691393

How to make your cure/brine solution:

1. Measure out the stuff from the calculator above
2. Put about about 1 liter of the water in a blender and add the measured out cure, salt, sugar into it and blend for a bit to get the dissolving going
3. Pour that into your curing/brining tub or bucket
4. Repeat step 2 & 3 until all of the cure, salt, and sugar are dissolved in and in the bucket/tub and then pour in the remaining water from the 1gallon of water you were using
5. Drop the turkey breast into the curing/brining solution
6. Draw the solution into a meat injector needle and inject the breast deep and all over. Do so liberally, you cannot over do this so don't worry. Just make sure you get solution into the breast all over and especially in the thickest parts.
7. Let sit until fully cured as you desire.
   Note: It's my understanding that Salt and Cure travel at like 1/4 inch every 24 hours. So if your breast is 3 inches at the thickest part it would take the cure 6 days to maybe travel all the way through to the deepest parts from the outside into the meat. HOWEVER, because you injected the solution liberally all over and deep in side you are also getting inside-out travel at the same rate as well
   I hot smoke my cured turkeys and chickens so I don't let them cure for more than 48 hours. Hot smoking will have Internal Temp (IT) of the meat is 140F within 4 hours for sure. Actually it will be fully cooked to 165F IT well before 4 hours.
8. Hot Smoke the turkey breast until the IT of the meat is about 162-163F and pull it. The meat IT should rise to 165F even with it being a smaller amount of mass than a whole turkey would be
9. Put it in the fridge until it is dead cold and then slice when cold. Done!

I hope this gives you an idea on how to do this. This is the simplest and SUPER tasty way you won't go wrong using that will NEVER be too salty, should you follow these directions.

Ask any questions you have. You'll be going in no time :D

Thanks again for the detailed instructions. Currently all I have as far as a bucket is a large metal steamer pot. Will this be okay for the cure/brine process?

 

[hooked on smoke]

Thanks again for the detailed instructions. Currently all I have as far as a bucket is a large metal steamer pot. Will this be okay for the cure/brine process?

Sorry for bombing you with all these questions. I just want this to work out okay.
Okay, will the solution generate the skin and that rubbery seal under the skin?
What temperature do you run to HOT smoke the breast?
What are your preferences as far as wood when smoking?
I'll be sure to get my process re order and share when Its done. Thank you.

 

[tallbm]

Thanks again for the detailed instructions. Currently all I have as far as a bucket is a large metal steamer pot. Will this be okay for the cure/brine process?

Generally it's not good to use salts and cure (more salt there) in metal containers due to how salt reacts with metal. Even if it's not an unhealthy reaction for the food you might not like what salt may possibly do to the metal.

Sorry for bombing you with all these questions. I just want this to work out okay.
Okay, will the solution generate the skin and that rubbery seal under the skin?
What temperature do you run to HOT smoke the breast?
What are your preferences as far as wood when smoking?
I'll be sure to get my process re order and share when Its done. Thank you.

Not bombing at all, ask all the questions you have. I've just been away busy all day :D

I've never had an issue brining and curing at 48 hours or so. I rarely go over that because I inject and just haven't had to. Some guys report chicken meat texture changing if going too long but I don't have an issue with my 48 hour time frames.

Rubbery skin is a general cooking temperature thing.
When smoking skin on poultry, I hot smoke at 325F because cooking 315F or higher seems to ensure edible poultry skin for me and often crispy skin. You might get edible skin at lower temps than the ones I use but I can pretty much guarantee you get edible and likely crispy skin if you use the temps I mention the entire time.
If you don't have any skin to worry about then you can basically smoke at any temp you want.
The biggest quirk with poultry is fighting with the skin and then making sure you don't over cook the breast meat. Stop a little short of 165F in the breast and it will coast up to 165F and you will not end up with dry breast meat, ESPECIALLY if you wet brined and cured :D

For chicken my wood preferences are about 60-65% hickory and then the rest as even parts Maple and Cherry. How do I accomplish this??? I use pellets and just blend them at these rough ratios and boom. My own MCH competition blend :D
I personally don't care for 100% hickory on anything except when I do 100% hickory bacon. Doing going over 65% hickory makes everything taste like too much like bacon to me. But having that about half or slightly more be Hickory and then other woods allows for the other woods to bring their flavor to the party as well.
I personally don't use Oak because it is like 90% of what all the BBQ in my state/area is smoked with and I was burnt out on it many many years ago, but many people will like Oak because it burns evenly and is forgiving.


Keep the questions coming. We'll get you sorted out.

 

[hooked on smoke]

Thanks for your patience and support this is very kind of you.
As far as my skin on questions, I was asking more for the curing/brining phase. Will the brine be as effective doing it with the skin on? I notice there is a thin clear film almost bubble between the skin and the breast meat. I'm kind of concerned about the breast being in the fridge for too long. It was thawed on Friday I won't be able to do the brine until maybe Thursday. I removed it from it's original packaging, rinsed it off, patted it dry then vacuum sealed it and stuck it back in the fridge. Did I mess it up?

 

[tallbm]

Thanks for your patience and support this is very kind of you.
As far as my skin on questions, I was asking more for the curing/brining phase. Will the brine be as effective doing it with the skin on? I notice there is a thin clear film almost bubble between the skin and the breast meat. I'm kind of concerned about the breast being in the fridge for too long. It was thawed on Friday I won't be able to do the brine until maybe Thursday. I removed it from it's original packaging, rinsed it off, patted it dry then vacuum sealed it and stuck it back in the fridge. Did I mess it up?

The cure and brine wont be affected by the skin if you inject that solution into the meat all over.
As for it being in the fridge to long, that I'm not sure.
Now if you cured for a couple of days (injecting with the cure solution and soaking) it sooner rather than later and THEN let it sit in the fridge out side of the cure I think it would be fine. That is the job of the cure #1, to keep bacteria from doing it's thing.

Being just raw chicken sitting the fridge for a weeks time without it being already cured... doesn't seem like a great thing but I'm also not sure it would spoil it. That's a bit too much time for me but maybe some folks with better raw storage chicken expertise will weigh in. :D

 

[hooked on smoke]

The cure and brine wont be affected by the skin if you inject that solution into the meat all over.
As for it being in the fridge to long, that I'm not sure.
Now if you cured for a couple of days (injecting with the cure solution and soaking) it sooner rather than later and THEN let it sit in the fridge out side of the cure I think it would be fine. That is the job of the cure #1, to keep bacteria from doing it's thing.

Being just raw chicken sitting the fridge for a weeks time without it being already cured... doesn't seem like a great thing but I'm also not sure it would spoil it. That's a bit too much time for me but maybe some folks with better raw storage chicken expertise will weigh in. :D

Got it.
I think I'd rather start over fresh and not risk getting sick. I didn't plan this one very well, bummer. Back to the drawing board. At least this will give me time to find a suitable bucket to brine thebreast in.
Any suggestions would be appreciated. I do have limited refrigerator space.

 

[tallbm]

Got it.
I think I'd rather start over fresh and not risk getting sick. I didn't plan this one very well, bummer. Back to the drawing board. At least this will give me time to find a suitable bucket to brine thebreast in.
Any suggestions would be appreciated. I do have limited refrigerator space.

You could cook that chicken ASAP and not have the throw it out. At least get some meals out of it if possible :D