turkey breast help

[captain richard]

I smoked my first turkey breast yesterday and it did not turn out great, i need some help. I used a vertical gas smoker temp 250 it took 2.5 hours, brined the breast, used a mix of hickory and apple wood . the problem is the color was grayish and to smoky it was edible but strong smoke flavor. what did I do wrong? I do pork butts all the time and they come out perfect.

 

[chef jimmyj]

What did the smoke look like? Off the cuff, sounds like the wood was not generating thin blue smoke and there was a bit of creosote settling on the breast giving the overly strong flavor...JJ

 

[captain richard]

it was producing thin blue smoke but I did have the damper almost all the way closed to maintain  temp and I don't soak the wood chips.

 

[chef jimmyj]

If closing the exhaust is the only thing you did out of the ordinary, that was probably what caused the problem. I was told, when I first got my MES 40, to leave the exhaust 100% open and raise the set point to control temp, if needed. The same may be an option for your smoker as well...JJ

 

[captain richard]

ok next time I will leave open and see what happens. thank you for the help