So I saw frozen turkey breasts for a pretty good price last week and decided to grab one. Partly to do a little experimenting before Thanksgiving, but mainly because it was a pretty good price. Anyway, I've never done a full bird or bone in breast, only the boneless "loafs" that are bound with netting. I've done a few whole chickens tho, so it wasn't totally new territory.
I brined it for 24 hours with an off the cuff brine I threw together. Next day it got pulled from the brine, rinsed, dried, and seasoned. I didn't have a rub ready and I was short on time, so I used Morton's cracked peppercorn and herb sea salt rub. I've been wanting to use this on a poultry recipe and I was not at all disappointed. Since I hadn't pulled the skin away from the breast before I brined, I did it at this time. This allowed me to get seasoning up under the skin and directly on the meat. It then went back in the fridge for 3-4 more hours. I decided at the last minute to spatchcock it. Aside from the usual benefits of spatchcocking, it also kept the unwieldy bird in place on my rack. I also decided to hit It with a premade SPOG blend that we keep on hand. While I was seasoning under the skin, I decided to slice some yellow onion and stick those full slices between the skin and breast.
It went into my MES 30, which was set at 275 (highest it goes) but it stayed south of that mark according to my Maverick. It hovered around 220 until I got deep into the smoke, where it maxed out around 250-260. I used mulberry chips (something new) and also added some small pieces of Maker's Mark barrel staves. I only used 4 little pieces of barrel, as I only wanted a touch of the oak along with the mulberry. It went for about 4 hours until it hit the 165 mark in the breast. When I opened the smoker, I was pleasantly surprised to see the skin was beautiful and golden and crisp.The onions under the skin allowed the moisture and flavor from the onion to seep into the breast, but it also helped to hold the skin away where it could crisp up easier. We let it rest and dug in. We paired it with an Alabama white sauce (my wife's favorite) and some homemade baked sweet potato fries. No pics of the plated meal or anything before the smoke, but I'm pretty proud of how it turned out.
Seasoning
I brined it for 24 hours with an off the cuff brine I threw together. Next day it got pulled from the brine, rinsed, dried, and seasoned. I didn't have a rub ready and I was short on time, so I used Morton's cracked peppercorn and herb sea salt rub. I've been wanting to use this on a poultry recipe and I was not at all disappointed. Since I hadn't pulled the skin away from the breast before I brined, I did it at this time. This allowed me to get seasoning up under the skin and directly on the meat. It then went back in the fridge for 3-4 more hours. I decided at the last minute to spatchcock it. Aside from the usual benefits of spatchcocking, it also kept the unwieldy bird in place on my rack. I also decided to hit It with a premade SPOG blend that we keep on hand. While I was seasoning under the skin, I decided to slice some yellow onion and stick those full slices between the skin and breast.
It went into my MES 30, which was set at 275 (highest it goes) but it stayed south of that mark according to my Maverick. It hovered around 220 until I got deep into the smoke, where it maxed out around 250-260. I used mulberry chips (something new) and also added some small pieces of Maker's Mark barrel staves. I only used 4 little pieces of barrel, as I only wanted a touch of the oak along with the mulberry. It went for about 4 hours until it hit the 165 mark in the breast. When I opened the smoker, I was pleasantly surprised to see the skin was beautiful and golden and crisp.The onions under the skin allowed the moisture and flavor from the onion to seep into the breast, but it also helped to hold the skin away where it could crisp up easier. We let it rest and dug in. We paired it with an Alabama white sauce (my wife's favorite) and some homemade baked sweet potato fries. No pics of the plated meal or anything before the smoke, but I'm pretty proud of how it turned out.
Seasoning
