1st time Turkey Breast

[JBCWCHS06]

Was going to give a shot at Turkey Breast this weekend and had a couple of questions. Kroger has bone in skin on turkey breast on sale so bought one to smoke. Should I debone it and take the skin off before smoking or leave it as it is and smoke it like that. If I should debone it was wondering if anyone had a tutorial or tips on doing it.

 

[cansmoke]

Was going to give a shot at Turkey Breast this weekend and had a couple of questions. Kroger has bone in skin on turkey breast on sale so bought one to smoke. Should I debone it and take the skin off before smoking or leave it as it is and smoke it like that. If I should debone it was wondering if anyone had a tutorial or tips on doing it.

NO. Leave skin and bone on. Flavour, flavour, flavour!

 

[GrumpyGriller]

If you have time, a wet brine is an option - this is what I did on my last turkey attempt. Of course the amounts can be adjusted based on the size of your turkey and what's needed to cover it etc.

Turkey Brine:

• 1/2-gallon water
• 1/2-gallon apple juice
• 1/2 cup kosher salt
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• peppercorns, garlic cloves, rosemary, thyme, parsley

 

[KimberlyO]

I have not smoked a turkey breast. Am watching to see the advice you get and hoping you keep postting your results! pics please!!!

 

[negolien]

kinders makes a great wet brine kit comes with everything.... For future suggestion. I find them on sale after holidays sometimes for like 1.97 and stock up. Skin on, bone in is my advice. Remember to get crispy skin you're gonna have to reverse sear it or cook over
325 or so.

kinders kit

 

[chopsaw]

Here's a couple different ways . There's another link in the one I posted .

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

 

[tallbm]

Was going to give a shot at Turkey Breast this weekend and had a couple of questions. Kroger has bone in skin on turkey breast on sale so bought one to smoke. Should I debone it and take the skin off before smoking or leave it as it is and smoke it like that. If I should debone it was wondering if anyone had a tutorial or tips on doing it.

If you aren't planning in slicing for sandwich meat, then It's not worth removing from the bone in my opnion.

I do firmly believe that you must wet brine or inject that thing. Turkey breast is super notorious for being dry.

I find that with a wet brine I like using 1.65% salt.
This means if you have:

• a 5 pound turkey breast (2268 grams)
• and you use 1 gallon of water to cover it (8.3pounds = 3780 grams)
• you would use 100 grams of salt ( [2268gm + 3780gm] x 0.0165)

I would also inject the brine into the breast all over to help it absorb really fast since turkey breasts are so thick.

You can add anything else you like to the brine as well and season with anything except salt (salt is already calculated). Getting the salt correct is the tricky part.

I hope this info helps and the math isn't too off-putting because this will ensure you have turkey that is not dry and has great flavor!

 

[thirdeye]

Removing the bone is pretty easy and makes for easy slicing, but it's optional. Skin is a different story. I've done them skin-on and skinless and if I use a curing brine I often leave the skin on, it's going to be rubbery anyways. However.... with a flavor brine/injection I like skinless turkey. It's often referred to as Texas style if the rub is heavy on the pepper.

Here is a whole breast I have boned, removed the skin and split in half, and two thighs (skin-on). Everything was brined/injected.

Seasoned and on the smoker, followed by a butter bath (but not anywhere as much butter as the video link below), then return to the pit re-set the rub.

Setting the rub and building more color....

The thigh meat is cooked to a higher internal and is the pulled mear.

I really like watching guest's faces when they think there is skin on the slices, or when they try to remove it. This is a pretty good video, and like I said I used way less butter.

 

[radioguy]

Don't remove it from the bone. Trim it up a bit, use kitchen sheers to trim the bottom so it rests up right. Trim the excessive skin on top by the neck, you want smoke to pass through. Inject it with a mixture of chicken broth, garlic and onion powder, fine black pepper, butter and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Inject all sides, inside by the tenderloins. Rub it with oil and pepper, enough salt in breast and broth. Smoke it at high heat, 325-375, for about an hour and half, IT 162F, foil it and let it rest for 30 minutes. Find the center bone on the back, cut a little to one side and follow it down to the ribs. slice it and enjoy.

RG

 

[JBCWCHS06]

Removing the bone is pretty easy and makes for easy slicing, but it's optional. Skin is a different story. I've done them skin-on and skinless and if I use a curing brine I often leave the skin on, it's going to be rubbery anyways. However.... with a flavor brine/injection I like skinless turkey. It's often referred to as Texas style if the rub is heavy on the pepper.

Here is a whole breast I have boned, removed the skin and split in half, and two thighs (skin-on). Everything was brined/injected.
View attachment 662305
Seasoned and on the smoker, followed by a butter bath (but not anywhere as much butter as the video link below), then return to the pit re-set the rub.
View attachment 662306
Setting the rub and building more color....
View attachment 662307
The thigh meat is cooked to a higher internal and is the pulled mear.
View attachment 662308
I really like watching guest's faces when they think there is skin on the slices, or when they try to remove it. This is a pretty good video, and like I said I used way less butter.

Yeah that was honestly what I was wanting to do until I realized it was a bone in skin on turkey breast was to smoke it like the one you have in your picture. You have any tips or a tutorial on taking the meat off the bone. And did you brine and inject or just inject it with a brine. What about temps. I'll make sure to keep everyone updated. Starting to get some ideas on how I want to attack this cook

 

[thirdeye]

Yeah that was honestly what I was wanting to do until I realized it was a bone in skin on turkey breast was to smoke it like the one you have in your picture. You have any tips or a tutorial on taking the meat off the bone. And did you brine and inject or just inject it with a brine. What about temps. I'll make sure to keep everyone updated. Starting to get some ideas on how I want to attack this cook

Deboning a turkey or chicken breast is really easy, and most of the work is done from the cavity side (unlike when you are carving a cooked bird). I linked a good video below, but just take your time and when using your knife, always favor the bone not the meat. You are cutting the meat but you want to be in contact with the bone... a combination of scraping and making short cuts.

The skin will peel off and you may need a little knife work to cut some connective tissue. For this I stretch and hold the skin with one hand, and use the tip of the knife only and favor the skin. I do inject, then cover with the remaining brine. 4 hours will work, but I usually let it go a little longer. A pit temp of 275° to 300° is good. And if you opt for the butter bath I wait for the breast to get to 140° internal, then into a pan with butter and chicken broth or water, and cover. You can use your oven for this step, just monitor the internal temp. The breast goes back on the smoker (or use the oven) for a few minutes to re-set and dry the rub slightly.

 

[JBCWCHS06]

Deboning a turkey or chicken breast is really easy, and most of the work is done from the cavity side (unlike when you are carving a cooked bird). I linked a good video below, but just take your time and when using your knife, always favor the bone not the meat. You are cutting the meat but you want to be in contact with the bone... a combination of scraping and making short cuts.

The skin will peel off and you may need a little knife work to cut some connective tissue. For this I stretch and hold the skin with one hand, and use the tip of the knife only and favor the skin. I do inject, then cover with the remaining brine. 4 hours will work, but I usually let it go a little longer. A pit temp of 275° to 300° is good. And if you opt for the butter bath I wait for the breast to get to 140° internal, then into a pan with butter and chicken broth or water, and cover. You can use your oven for this step, just monitor the internal temp. The breast goes back on the smoker (or use the oven) for a few minutes to re-set and dry the rub slightly.

Good deal. Thanks for the help. Definitely want to try to brine it even if its for a couple of hours. Made a rub I plan on using for it but added salt to it and don't want it to turn out too salty should I remake the rub but with no salt. I don't wanna waste all that rub but might just use it for something else. Think I have a bit of a game plan on how I want to attack this bird. Throwing it on tomorrow and going to reheat it for Easter. Along with a log of bologna for a a UFC watch party I'm going to on Saturday can't wait to fire up my smoker tomorrow.

 

[thirdeye]

Good deal. Thanks for the help. Definitely want to try to brine it even if its for a couple of hours. Made a rub I plan on using for it but added salt to it and don't want it to turn out too salty should I remake the rub but with no salt. I don't wanna waste all that rub but might just use it for something else. Think I have a bit of a game plan on how I want to attack this bird. Throwing it on tomorrow and going to reheat it for Easter. Along with a log of bologna for a a UFC watch party I'm going to on Saturday can't wait to fire up my smoker tomorrow.

I think if your brine is really high in salt, a rub that is high in salt might not be a good idea. I've made Lite brines/injections using 1 gram of salt per each ounce of liquid, that bring moisture without a problem with saltiness.

 

[JBCWCHS06]

I think if your brine is really high in salt, a rub that is high in salt might not be a good idea. I've made Lite brines/injections using 1 gram of salt per each ounce of liquid, that bring moisture without a problem with saltiness.

OK and what's the usual ratios you use for your brine my breast is 5 lbs but that's before removing it from the bone and removing the skin

 

[thirdeye]

OK and what's the usual ratios you use for your brine my breast is 5 lbs but that's before removing it from the bone and removing the skin

The basic brines I use are below. You can add any number of aromatics, garlic, onion, pieces of fruit etc. If I add some chicken broth or pork broth I cut back on the salt.

The strongest flavor brine I make is 1.3 grams of salt / ounce of liquid:
1 gallon of water
6 ounces of salt (168g)
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup sugar

The weakest flavor brine I make is .75 grams of salt / ounce of liquid:
1 gallon of water
3.5 ounces of salt (98g)
1 Tablespoon minimum of sugar

Above, I mentioned the 1 gram / ounce of liquid for an injectable brine, so it's in the middle. I always have the small bottles of apple juice (or apple-white grape) and those are either 8 or 10 ounce bottles dpending on the manufacturer. I'll pour a little juice out, add salt, and shake. The sweetness is already built in. If I use water, I'll add a couple of Tablespoons of sugar.

 

[JBCWCHS06]

Well ended up catching a little bit of a bug that was going around my house so felt a little under the weather this weekend but still needed to smoke this bird. Ended just spatchcocking the breast and removing the skin. Made an injection of butter, chicken broth, rub and lemon juice and injected the breast and ended up smoking it for almost 4 hours before it hit 158 then slapped some butter on top and let it rest for almost an hour before carving. Not the best at carving but honestly pretty happy with how it turned out. It got devoured fast and turned out nice and juicy with really good flavor. Really wanna try a boneless skinless turkey breast at some point. Also ended up throwing a log of Bologna on the smoker too and always a hit.

 

[tallbm]

Well ended up catching a little bit of a bug that was going around my house so felt a little under the weather this weekend but still needed to smoke this bird. Ended just spatchcocking the breast and removing the skin. Made an injection of butter, chicken broth, rub and lemon juice and injected the breast and ended up smoking it for almost 4 hours before it hit 158 then slapped some butter on top and let it rest for almost an hour before carving. Not the best at carving but honestly pretty happy with how it turned out. It got devoured fast and turned out nice and juicy with really good flavor. Really wanna try a boneless skinless turkey breast at some point. Also ended up throwing a log of Bologna on the smoker too and always a hit.

Looks fantastic to me! Great work on the success of your 1st go!

To kick it up a notch. Curing that turkey breast will give amazing extra bit of flavor as well so think on that if you like :D

I look forward to seeing the next one :D

 

[thirdeye]

Looks good from here.