Smoked Turkey Recomendations

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kidkaos

Newbie
Original poster
Oct 5, 2006
13
10
Nashville, TN
First off I would like to thank everyone for so many great resources and ideas. I'm going to be smoking a couple of 3lb turkey breaks for the first time and wanted to mix up the flavors a bit. I've decided not to go with a Brine as the breasts already have a % solution they have been in. I will also be smoking them with Pecan and Apple and very small amounts of Hickory (possibly a little Cherry to boot). The 1st bird I was going to inject the night before with "Canjun Injector-Creole Butter", and put "Rudy's Rub" both on the inside of skin and out.

The 2nd bird i'm unsure of, I wanted to change up the rub a bit, so I was thinking of using like a poultry seasoning (Thyme, Sage, Marjoram, Rosemary, Black Peper and Nutmeg) add a bit of salt and brown sugar as a rub? Good, bad, before I proceed? Possibly use the same Creole Butter injector. Also i've read that putting the breasts side down while smoking gets them the juiciest.

I will be using the Brinkmann Gourmet Electric Smoker, with a temp gauge I installed to monitor temps. Am I on the right track, or would anyone recommened a different rub or injector for the birds? I'm thinking since they are only 3lb birds, total cook time shouldn't be anymore than 3 hours, but I will be sure to pull when they reach the 160-165 degree mark.

Any comments pro or con would be greatly appreciated! :-)
 
I have done several of those breasts. Here are my suggestions.

1. Don't remove the mesh bag until the cooking is complete.
2. Brine the breasts overnight in a sugar salt etc solution (1 cup sugar, 1 cup kosher salt per gallon of water). IMO, I will not do any type of poultry without brining.
3. Rub the breasts with your favorite rub minus the salt. Don't use premade rubs, they have too much salt.
4. Smoke at 225 to 250 until thickest part of breast is 160.
5. After removing from the smoker let rest at least 30 minutes before cutting.

Here is my favorite rub for this:
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1-1/2 teaspoons onion powder
1-1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon chicken-flavored bouillon granules
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Next time I do one of these breasts, I'll post a "how to".
 
Thanks for the feedback. So even though the breasts already come in a % of salt solution still use a brine on them?

Also what about the injectors? I'd really like to try out the Creole Butter, would any recommend a different style or their own personal preference?

Would you also recommend brining and injecting? Or is that overkill?
 
KK,

Can't say I know anything about injecting. I suggest you brine one and simply inject the other. See which one is better.

I do these every month or so. Then I cut them on a slicer for lunch meat.
 
Good idea. I'll brine one of the turkey breasts and use a salt-less rub. Anyone see any issues using a turkey breast that appears to have a certain % of salt solution it was socked in? It's a Butterball 3lb boneless breast.

I'll just inject and use my normal rub on the other turkey breast and see how it comes out.
 
I smoked an 8.5 lb. bone in turkey breast last weekend. I just brined it out of habit. I usually buy fresh, but couldn't find one. I bought a frozen at Sam's. I realized after that it was in a 15% solution in the bag. I put it in about 10:00 pm. I was planning on taking it out early the next morning. Well for the first time in a long time, I slept till 10:00 am. I'm usually up at 5 or 6 at the latest. I knew the bird would be ruined. I took it out, rinsed it and put it back in the fridge. I rubbed it down with EVOO and sprinkled a light amount of rotisserie seasoning and a good bit of black pepper. I hung it on my beer can turkey stand, poured a beer in the stand, poured two more in the water pan and smoked it at 300* with hickory until it hit 165*. It wasn't too salty. I thought it was pretty good. Everyone else ate it and never mentioned it being too salty. The next day it made phenomenal sammiches. The wifey said I would have to do those regularly just for the sammiches and she has never said that before.
 
Thanks for the brine story. I was hoping to get a post regarding the % salt solution a frozen bird comes with and a brine as I didn't want to ruin one of the birds. This should be alot of fun this weekend. I'm definately going to brine one of the breasts and inject the other.

I'll post pictures after all is said and done and let everyone know the results and how they turned out.

Thanks again everyone! :-)
 
Another recipe for turkey that I found to be one of my favorites is from Steven Raichlen

Turkey Pastrami
3 Tablespoons coriander seeds
3 Tablespoons cracked black peppercorns
6 cloves garlic minced
1 ½ teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
¼ cup coarse salt
¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar
¼ cup paprika
1 Tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground mace (optional)
1 4-5 lbs turkey breast bone in or out

Make the rub; coarsely crush the seeds combine with the remaining ingredients and mix well using fingers

Add rub to meat, smoke, and enjoy
 
Okay so got up early this morning got the birds ready etc...however...for some reason I cannot get the electric smoker above 170 degrees this morning? Is it safe to cook at this temp? Maybe I should remove the water pan? Any ideas. I don't won't to ruin all the meat that I was planning on cooking.
 
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