Advice needed

[JLeonard]

I have this turkey breast, bone in, thawing in the fridge. Plan to smoke on Sunday. Going to use a mix of mesquite and apple. My question is...should I brine it? It’s injected already. Looking for advice from the masters of the smoke.

 

[mike243]

IMO brining will have a hard time getting flavor in, you would have better luck injecting but I would leave out salt as it may be border line any way. I have found I get great results from birds not injected before I buy them, its tough to find them not enhanced when I want 1.

 

[K9BIGDOG]

I think I would still brine for at least 4 hours using a kosher salt brine so it's less salty. Then give it a really good rinse before smoking. If I was gong to inject I would use low-sodium broth if I was using broth in my injection and unsalted butter if the recipe called for butter. mike243 is right about not geting much flavor in from the brine, but brining will, I think, still help keep it moist.

 

[JLeonard]

Would that be a dry or wet brine? I just don't want to screw up a nice breast.

 

[schlotz]

If it's already injected I would be leary brining it also. Concern is the amount of salt. Watch out for the mesquite, pretty bold especially for foul as it can easily overpower and mask the bird's flavor. Personally I would stick just with fruit wood.

 

[K9BIGDOG]

Wet brine. Usually it's a gallon of water, 1 cup of kosher salt and then whatever else you want to add in, usually a cup of brown sugar, or anything else that suits you. Morton's kosher salt is like 25% less salty than table salt. You can adjust down from there as you prefer. For the short amount of brining time I would worry about it too much, just give it a good rinse and pat dry,

 

[gmc2003]

It looks like the package says injected with a 5% salt solution. I would inject with something either very low salt or no salt. Some type of cajun or creole seasoning would be good. Also you said mesquite wood. That's a little strong for poultry in my experience. Go lite on the smoke if it's first time smoking poultry. Nothing tastes worse then an oversmoked bird.

Chris

 

[JLeonard]

If it's already injected I would be leary brining it also. Concern is the amount of salt. Watch out for the mesquite, pretty bold especially for foul as it can easily overpower and mask the bird's flavor. Personally I would stick just with fruit wood.

It looks like the package says injected with a 5% salt solution. I would inject with something either very low salt or no salt. Some type of cajun or creole seasoning would be good. Also you said mesquite wood. That's a little strong for poultry in my experience. Go lite on the smoke if it's first time smoking poultry. Nothing tastes worse then an oversmoked bird.

Chris

Thanks guys on the wood suggestions. For sure don't want to over power the bird.

 

[JLeonard]

Thanks!

Wet brine. Usually it's a gallon of water, 1 cup of kosher salt and then whatever else you want to add in, usually a cup of brown sugar, or anything else that suits you. Morton's kosher salt is like 25% less salty than table salt. You can adjust down from there as you prefer. For the short amount of brining time I would worry about it too much, just give it a good rinse and pat dry,

 

[zwiller]

I use enhanced poultry all the time and find it lacking and needs more salt (the injection is mostly water). I half the salt I would normally use for enhanced. For smoked turkey, I highly suggest Pop's low salt brine but you likely do not have cure on hand. That said, it makes the best smoked turkey and worth looking into.

 

[JLeonard]

Thanks. That's why I'm loving this forum. You guys are full of wisdom.

I use enhanced poultry all the time and find it lacking and needs more salt (the injection is mostly water). I half the salt I would normally use for enhanced. For smoked turkey, I highly suggest Pop's low salt brine but you likely do not have cure on hand. That said, it makes the best smoked turkey and worth looking into.

 

[gary s]

Here is a brine I use on my whole turkeys, I usually double, triple or quadruple or more depending on how big or how many turkeys i'm doing.
1 quart of water

1 cup of brown sugar

½ cup salt

¼ cup regular sugar

¼ tsp. Cayenne pepper

1 Tbl. Black pepper corns

1 Tbl. Juniper Berrys

½ tsp. garlic powder

2 bay leaves

1 tsp. Tony’s

1 cup of



Mixed all ingredients in a pot on the stove stirred till everything was mixed and almost up to a simmer. Pulled off burner added ice cubes to cool it down..

 

[zwiller]

Much of the wisdom I have was learned here. Never heard of Pop's brine until I joined. I probably smoked a dozen turkeys before SMF and they were good but first time with Pops was easily the best ever and basically exactly what I had been striving for. On that note, there is some crossover but IMO there are 2 styles of smoked turkey. Cured, which is smoked at lower temps a long time and is very rich tasting and tastes similar to ham. The other is what I would call hot and fast. Not cured, but injected or rubbed and smoked hot and served like chicken. Both are good, just different.

 

[JLeonard]

And another question to add......Since I have just the breast, will spatchcocking change the way I smoke it?

 

[K9BIGDOG]

And another question to add......Since I have just the breast, will spatchcocking change the way I smoke it?

No, it shouldn't. It will help it cook more evenly and help all the sections (thighs, legs and breast) to hit your target temp around the same time.

 

[JLeonard]

No, it shouldn't. It will help it cook more evenly and help all the sections (thighs, legs and breast) to hit your target temp around the same time.

Thanks K9.

 

[Lonzinomaker]

I have had better luck doing a 48 hour dry brine on turkey breasts. I always use cure as well because I let it age outside in the winter.

Dry Turkey Brine
Ingredients per 15# turkey
4 tablespoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon sage ground
1 teaspoon rosemary ground
½ teaspoon celery seed ground
½ teaspoon garlic granules
½ teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon apple cider mix (unseasoned -no cinnamon)
Use 6 Tablespoons mix per 12-15# of turkey.
Optional: add 1 teaspoon cure #1 per 5# pound of turkey to mix when smoking turkey

Mix ingredients well. Pat dry turkey so it is not wet. Spread some mix under turkey skin over breast. Rub mix in cavity. Sprinkle evenly around outside of turkey, should be able to cover all the turkey. Place turkey in a stainless steel, plastic or glass pan within a refridgerator. There will be some liquid pulled off by the salt, at end of dry brine period, discard liquid.
Quickly rinse turkey and pat it dry. Spread some butter under the breast skin and 2 tablespoons over the rest of turkey. Cook as normal.
I smoke at 225 until internal temperature reaches 158-160. Let turkey rest for at least 30 min. Turkey will be best if left overnight to firm up for slicing.

For my Smokin-It smoker, I use about 3.5 oz apple wood and 1.5 oz cherry wood.

 

[Joatman]

Thanks guys on the wood suggestions. For sure don't want to over power the bird.

I agree.....the package states “Solution of salt, sugar and broth”. That sounds like the ingredients of a brine. I smoked a Butterball turkey a few weeks ago....and when I was taking it out of the package to put it in the brine, I noticed that the package said that it was pre-brined. And if you were going to brine it again, then reduce the salt by half. You may just want to check the package.