Ref; First Smoked Turkey Breast

[TomKnollRFV]

So I ended up smoking my first turkey breast tonight..mostly because it turns out the turkey breast was frozen when we picked it up a few days ago. Didn't get to brine it, was actually thinking it was thawing out still till I realized it wasn't. So I figured to smoke it up. Basically rub of salt, pepper, some rosemary. Nothing special.

Also had my old LG phone finally kick the bucket a few days ago, no longer able to make or receive phone calls or much else, so my father bought me a Galaxy S7 via Straight Talk <Walmart's Phone Service> and of course I had to go and look at the grilling section after reading about Pit Boss Pellets being servicable...

Well, i got a 40 pound bag of Pit Boss Competition Blend for 15 USD. Apparently they're switching over to 20 pound resealable bags so they had them marked down for Roll Back or some such. I was hoping to get the fruit blend <Maple. Cherry. Apple.> But can't complain.. here's the shot of it before I put it in the anti dog oven cooling spot...

The holes were where I had my thermal probes in. One was reading super high..an hour in and 154. Going to have to see whats going on with it; hoping I acidentally had it touching the actual smoker grate and it didn't crap out on me.

 

[Geebs]

Very nice, if you like those pellets Lowe’s will still carry the 40# bag for $16.

 

[TomKnollRFV]

Yah? I didn't know if they were good or not, some posts here said they did alright. Wish they were resealable <I also have to figure out where to store a 40 pound bag of smoking pellets now LOL!>

 

[Geebs]

Check out the pellets storage thread that was just posted. Get a kingsford charcoal caddy. It holds a whole 40# bag. I like the pit boss comp blend. I use it for almost every smoke and then add whatever other wood I want.

 

[TomKnollRFV]

Nice! Also any one got tips for the turkey skin? I started at 240 then ramped up to 275f <Max on my MES> and it's a bit rubbery..

Should I do it in the oven on low broil for 2 mins? High Broil for 2 mins? I like the skin crackling <Me and my Uncle at holidays are the two who some how cut all the bird up, but no skin makes it to the platter...>

 

[KrisUpInSmoke]

tips for the turkey skin?

I'd like to figure out how to deal with the skin too. I planned to do the birds in there for Thanksgiving. I have until then to figure it out. Two chickens I did had thick, rubbery skin so I don't even want to put whole chicken in there again until I figure something out.

 

[TomKnollRFV]

That is my thoughts too Kris. It's not a big deal on a breast, you can basically peel the skin away, but on a whole bird.. If I stay had a turkey deep fryer I'd honestly smoke a bird and quick drop it into the fryer. <I've done smoked and deep fried wings before. Why not a whole turkey..>

Maybe some one will chime in and tell us the trick. I don't want to haphazardly try things and end up drying out every turkey breast I ever do in the search of crispy crunchy edible skin!

 

[KrisUpInSmoke]

Propane torch to the skin after the smoke!?!

 

[SmokinAl]

I have heard a weed burner works real well, and it would only take a few seconds to crisp the skin.
I have one & have been wanting to try it out on a turkey, but haven't smoked one lately.
Al

 

[TomKnollRFV]

Well Al if i do one again, and shortly after I post about a house fire I believe you can guess what I did.. LOL

 

[gmc2003]

Foamheart gives some good advice on crispy skin with lower smoking temps in thread listed below.

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/whole-chicken-need-input.273863/#post-1812363

Chris

 

[tallbm]

Nice! Also any one got tips for the turkey skin? I started at 240 then ramped up to 275f <Max on my MES> and it's a bit rubbery..

Should I do it in the oven on low broil for 2 mins? High Broil for 2 mins? I like the skin crackling <Me and my Uncle at holidays are the two who some how cut all the bird up, but no skin makes it to the platter...>

I'd like to figure out how to deal with the skin too. I planned to do the birds in there for Thanksgiving. I have until then to figure it out. Two chickens I did had thick, rubbery skin so I don't even want to put whole chicken in there again until I figure something out.

Oh the rubbery poultry skin issue rears it's head again. This issue is my sworn enemy lol.

So in short if poultry skin isn't cooked at a high enough temp it comes out rubbery.

My surefire way to get edible poultry skin is to cook/smoke at 325F or higher. This should do the trick.

If you use an electric smoker and can't get over 275F then your options are to pull the poultry with about 20 minutes before it is done and to finish on a hot grill or in a hot oven.
I have had success with the grill on poultry pieces but never tried full birds or turkey breasts this way.

I haven't had much success with the oven on broil but I really should revisit it as my last attempts didn't have the poultry in the oven for more than 6-8 minutes. I'm guessing pulling the poultry at like 135F IT and putting in the oven for 20 minutes on high heat or so would do the trick but I'm just speculating. Feel free to test this :)

Also cooking your birds on a vertical roasting rack (same as beer can racks) helps the skin more easily become edible as well.

DSC_0476[1].JPG

• tallbm
• Aug 1, 2017

DSC_0485[1].JPG

• tallbm
• Aug 3, 2017

One final solution is to simply brine whole birds or turkey breasts, remove the skin from the breast and thighs of whole birds, and smoke however you want. Once you get over the fear of the unknown on doing this you will see the meat comes out fantastic and your seasoning isn't lost to the skin. This is how I am doing my holiday turkey's specifically for the flavor and the mahogany color I get on meat with no skin :)

I hope this info helps!

 

[KrisUpInSmoke]

Once you get over the fear of ... meat with no skin :)

*gasp*.....:p

This is probably going to make some people sad, but I'm not sure I've ever eaten crispy skin on Turkey or chicken. I want to try it. I want it available for people who want it. And, I want that perfect look on the food.

Thus far, I make my Thanksgiving Turkey in an oven bag, which leaves a soft, thin skin, but moist, yummy turkey. The skin on the chicken from the smoker was just gross... it made what was underneath unappetizing, so I'm motivated to improve that, for sure. Maybe that's me as a newer smoker, but I never saw it like that.

I'm very curious about a kitchen torch now. It would do what a close broiler would do. I mean, my gas oven has flames coming out of the top on broil. So, a torch ought to be effective, especially right on that skin.

BUT... but, pulling the skin off and daring to buck the whole system is certainly tempting! Except, some of that fat and the protective layer of skin must act to maintain moisture, right?

 

[tallbm]

*gasp*.....:p

This is probably going to make some people sad, but I'm not sure I've ever eaten crispy skin on Turkey or chicken. I want to try it. I want it available for people who want it. And, I want that perfect look on the food.

Thus far, I make my Thanksgiving Turkey in an oven bag, which leaves a soft, thin skin, but moist, yummy turkey. The skin on the chicken from the smoker was just gross... it made what was underneath unappetizing, so I'm motivated to improve that, for sure. Maybe that's me as a newer smoker, but I never saw it like that.

I'm very curious about a kitchen torch now. It would do what a close broiler would do. I mean, my gas oven has flames coming out of the top on broil. So, a torch ought to be effective, especially right on that skin.

BUT... but, pulling the skin off and daring to buck the whole system is certainly tempting! Except, some of that fat and the protective layer of skin must act to maintain moisture, right?

I've tried to torch the skin with a propane torch before and all that seemed to happen was that the skin shrunk and got a burnt flavor on top of still being rubbery. Now maybe a low torch setting and more time would do better but my initial attempts didn't turn out to well. Please feel free to try and add anything you learn to my old post The Acceptable Chicken Skin Quest - MES Chicken Smoking.

You'll see plenty of info added there by myself and others. I'll need to come back to that post at some point with more attempts but for now smoking at 325F does the trick for me and for smaller pieces finishing on a hot grill also works :)

 

[TomKnollRFV]

I'm pretty wary of a blow torch to crisp the skin, I can just see it now..an on fire thanks giving turkey courteousy of me. Honestly once on the platter there isn't much skin. It's really the meat, but I love picking up bits of crispy skin and fat from the roast you know? Ahh well.

I gave serious thought to 'What if I smoke this, and dunk it in a turkey fryer' to be fair. I'd need to borrow one and all again. Then spend a small fortune on oil and at that point I went 'I'll use high broil for a few minutes' Lol.

 

[tallbm]

I'm pretty wary of a blow torch to crisp the skin, I can just see it now..an on fire thanks giving turkey courteousy of me. Honestly once on the platter there isn't much skin. It's really the meat, but I love picking up bits of crispy skin and fat from the roast you know? Ahh well.

I gave serious thought to 'What if I smoke this, and dunk it in a turkey fryer' to be fair. I'd need to borrow one and all again. Then spend a small fortune on oil and at that point I went 'I'll use high broil for a few minutes' Lol.

Practice with a whole chicken on high broil. My few tests didn't work out so well with the oven but I honestly think it can be done I just found a simpler approach for my setup but not everyone can go to 325F for smoking so I am really interested in what you discover with your oven tests. Plus chickens are inexpensive and smoked chicken is awesome!