As said before the change of seasons also comes with a change of FOOD cravings. Certainly those first cold snaps remind us that the holidays will soon be on us. ( Not to mention the Christmas trees already on display at the home improvement store by September! But thats another conversation.)
AND Its just not a holiday without Turkey! And as luck would have it the local store had Breasts on sale! I picked up 2. One for dinner tonight. The other for soup and sammies later.
.
First things first. They need a good wash. And trim the loose skin and bits of meat that will only burn and get hard when you smoke your bird. These are about 6 pounds each.
Rather than brine these birds, I'll inject them with Bird Booster. And rub them with Cosmos Dirty Bird rub. I typically make my rub but I'm a big Cosmos fan.
Time to light the Amaz N. I'm using dust rather than pellets. Only one row. I prefer a lighter smoke on birds.
The MES is set to 235 degrees. I am lucky enough to own 2 Mavericks and probs are inserted into the breasts. I'm expecting about a 3 hour cook time.
About an hour and a half into the smoke I rotate the birds and I give them a sprits of apple cider vinegar.
Getting close. Waiting for an IT of 165 degrees. When they hit 165 I know they will be safe to eat and still nice and juicy!
Beautiful!
Rather than carve the breast in the traditional way, I prefer to filet the meat off of the breast bone.
Perfectly smoked. Nice and moist.
Start off with a "little" salad... Beefsteak Tomato, Mozzarella and fresh Basil from my garden.
Dinner is served with a light sauce and cauliflower au gratin. Delicious.
In my opinion, next to a pork butt, Turkey is one of the easiest meats to smoke. Just make sure you closely monitor the internal temperature of the meat. Targeting the IT to 165 degrees will insure a moist and safe bird.
Brian
