- Jan 23, 2018
- 20
- 36
As promised.... I finally got around to making another Turkey roulade. This time I changed a few things and learned some stuff myself. But enough with the monologue.... Time for the pics and instructions.
Pic 1: I started with the basic Turkey breast on sale at our local grocery for .99/lb. Pics 2 - 7: I sliced the skin down the backbone and peeled the skin off. I trimmed the extra fat off the skin as best I could as to help it crisp up later. After trimming I bagged it and tossed it in the fridge. Pics 8 - 14: Returning my attention to the meat. I filleted the meat off of each side of the keel bone. I started by cutting along the wish bone and removing it, then cutting each side off individually and placing them in a Ziploc bag full of brine. Brine recipe is 1/4 cup Brown sugar, 1/4 cup salt, 1 tsp each of garlic powder, onion powder, fresh cracked pepper, and crushed dried rosemary. I left them in the brine for 24 hours. (This was too long. A few hours would have been better. Too long made the Turkey a bit hammy in texture.) I didn't take pics of the smoking process but it was pretty simple. I took out the meat, dried it and cold smoked it for about 45 minutes with heavy smoke. This was the first time I have tried to smoke a roulade. I will not be doing it again. Loved the smoky flavor but the process did two things that I didn't like even though I knew beforehand that they were likely to occur. The smoking process left the meat a bit chewier and also hampered the binding of the meat in the roll. Pics 15 - 20: After smoking I laid out some extra wide plastic wrap and spread the skin out on it. I seasoned the skin with a bit of salt, pepper, and rosemary. I then place each breast piece on the skin overlapped to make the roll as even as possible and folded the skin over to try to cover all of the meat. Pics 21 - 28: The rolling process. Rule #1. The tighter the better. Rule 2. No air pockets, like holes in the first few layers with a toothpick to let the air out. I use lots of extra wide plastic wrap here. I roll the Turkey in the first few layers while pulling the side of the plastic wrap straight out to the side pinching the meat into the center. Poke holes to let the air out. Squeeze and roll it a few more times, pulling the ends straight out again. Pinch the meat into the center and twist the ends up tight to the meat, checking for air pockets. Poke holes again if necessary. Wrap a few more time pulling the ends straight out again. No air pockets? Good. Now twist the ends of the plastic wrap in opposite directions. When you get them tight, use butcher's twine to tie one end. Then twist the other end super tight. The tighter the better. When you think it is about to bust, then tie with the twine. I wrap the twine around the twist towards the Turkey to tighten it as much as possible. If you aren't worried that the plastic is gonna break, you haven't twisted it enough. When both ends are tied, you can trim the twine and ends of the wrap. I then vacuum seal it and drop it in the sous vide. °140 for 3.5 hours. I pulled it out of the sous vide and put it in an ice bath, then the fridge overnight. It was 10 pm... The rest would wait till the next day. Pics 29 - 34: I threw it back in the sous vide when I got off work the next day to bring it back to temp. Took it out of the vac bag and plastic wrap and after drying it thoroughly with paper towels, browned it in a cast iron skillet with some butter. Sliced and served. It was very, very good... But... I learned that the texture suffers when smoking it. Gets a bit chewier. After rolling and wrapping it needs to sit in the fridge at least overnight to allow the meat to bond. You could use transglutaminase (meat glue), but if you roll it tight enough and let it set, you won't need it. Less time in the brine... I wanted a soft Turkey texture, not ham. The first one I made and posted was still the best one I made and less steps. I know the plastic wrap makes it impossible to smoke but I did have the idea of using butcher's netting to hold it together. Just not sure you could get it tight enough to maintain it's shape. Thanks for reading.
Pic 1: I started with the basic Turkey breast on sale at our local grocery for .99/lb. Pics 2 - 7: I sliced the skin down the backbone and peeled the skin off. I trimmed the extra fat off the skin as best I could as to help it crisp up later. After trimming I bagged it and tossed it in the fridge. Pics 8 - 14: Returning my attention to the meat. I filleted the meat off of each side of the keel bone. I started by cutting along the wish bone and removing it, then cutting each side off individually and placing them in a Ziploc bag full of brine. Brine recipe is 1/4 cup Brown sugar, 1/4 cup salt, 1 tsp each of garlic powder, onion powder, fresh cracked pepper, and crushed dried rosemary. I left them in the brine for 24 hours. (This was too long. A few hours would have been better. Too long made the Turkey a bit hammy in texture.) I didn't take pics of the smoking process but it was pretty simple. I took out the meat, dried it and cold smoked it for about 45 minutes with heavy smoke. This was the first time I have tried to smoke a roulade. I will not be doing it again. Loved the smoky flavor but the process did two things that I didn't like even though I knew beforehand that they were likely to occur. The smoking process left the meat a bit chewier and also hampered the binding of the meat in the roll. Pics 15 - 20: After smoking I laid out some extra wide plastic wrap and spread the skin out on it. I seasoned the skin with a bit of salt, pepper, and rosemary. I then place each breast piece on the skin overlapped to make the roll as even as possible and folded the skin over to try to cover all of the meat. Pics 21 - 28: The rolling process. Rule #1. The tighter the better. Rule 2. No air pockets, like holes in the first few layers with a toothpick to let the air out. I use lots of extra wide plastic wrap here. I roll the Turkey in the first few layers while pulling the side of the plastic wrap straight out to the side pinching the meat into the center. Poke holes to let the air out. Squeeze and roll it a few more times, pulling the ends straight out again. Pinch the meat into the center and twist the ends up tight to the meat, checking for air pockets. Poke holes again if necessary. Wrap a few more time pulling the ends straight out again. No air pockets? Good. Now twist the ends of the plastic wrap in opposite directions. When you get them tight, use butcher's twine to tie one end. Then twist the other end super tight. The tighter the better. When you think it is about to bust, then tie with the twine. I wrap the twine around the twist towards the Turkey to tighten it as much as possible. If you aren't worried that the plastic is gonna break, you haven't twisted it enough. When both ends are tied, you can trim the twine and ends of the wrap. I then vacuum seal it and drop it in the sous vide. °140 for 3.5 hours. I pulled it out of the sous vide and put it in an ice bath, then the fridge overnight. It was 10 pm... The rest would wait till the next day. Pics 29 - 34: I threw it back in the sous vide when I got off work the next day to bring it back to temp. Took it out of the vac bag and plastic wrap and after drying it thoroughly with paper towels, browned it in a cast iron skillet with some butter. Sliced and served. It was very, very good... But... I learned that the texture suffers when smoking it. Gets a bit chewier. After rolling and wrapping it needs to sit in the fridge at least overnight to allow the meat to bond. You could use transglutaminase (meat glue), but if you roll it tight enough and let it set, you won't need it. Less time in the brine... I wanted a soft Turkey texture, not ham. The first one I made and posted was still the best one I made and less steps. I know the plastic wrap makes it impossible to smoke but I did have the idea of using butcher's netting to hold it together. Just not sure you could get it tight enough to maintain it's shape. Thanks for reading.
