Turkey breast side down?

[Patricia Beaupre]

In Jeff's recipe Lots of Butter smoked turkey the pictures look like he smokes it breast side down. Is that correct? I roast my turkey in the oven breast side down but few do.

 

[chef jimmyj]

I do believe Jeff smokes breast side down, at least the first half of the cook. There are multiple methods folks here follow. To date, I cook breast up but will give down a shot this year...JJ

 

[gmc2003]

I go breast side up in my smoker. I'm always afraid of having the skin stick to the grate.

Chris

 

[hardcookin]

I go 2 hours breast down in a pan. Then flip up until finished.
When bird gets desired skin color loosely cover with foil.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Hard, that looks BEAUTIFUL! A perfect Thanksgiving Dinner for 4....JJ

 

[hardcookin]

Hard, that looks BEAUTIFUL! A perfect Thanksgiving Dinner for 4....JJ

Thank You Jimmy! for 4...must have and appetite with all that snow removal.

 

[browneyesvictim]

A lot of folks around here spatchcock the bird vs leaving whole. One would tend to automatically think bone-down skin up. And at least in my opinion I see no benefits of going skin down, and would be better appearance wise.

 

[hardcookin]

A lot of folks around here spatchcock the bird vs leaving whole. One would tend to automatically think bone-down skin up. And at least in my opinion I see no benefits of going skin down, and would be better appearance wise.

Unfortunately a lot of people don't want a spatchcock turkey for the holiday. They want to see a whole turkey.
I will say there is no wrong way to smoke a turkey...whatever works!
I have done a lot of turkeys over the holidays and have tried many different ways, on the grate,in a pan breast side up, breast side down, oven bags for reheating.
Currently with my smoker I have been starting them breast down and it has been working out.
Every smoker is different.

 

[browneyesvictim]

True words there...

The last bird I did breast down was a wet brine cured one. It turned out VERY tasty! What I notice is there is no real "flat" spot on the breast because of the way the breastbone is shaped. So it kind of tends to lean over to one side or the other unless you have a pan or grate or something to keep it propped up. Since this cured bird was getting piece-parted out, appearance wasn't an issue. Otherwise what you are saying about appearance with a whole turkey would apply..

Oh... and those birds in your pic above look great!

 

[tallbm]

Hi there and welcome!
I use a vertical roasting rack that the turkey sits on when I do whole turkey so I guess breast side perpendicular would be the best way to describe the way I do it lol.

With that said my guess is it should be find any way you want to do it so lay it however it makes it the easiest to smoke in you setup. Just a word to the wise, if you set breast side down in a pan then the skin will be in juices the entire time and will never get crispy or nice looking color. So if laying directly in a pan then I recommend back side down so the breast side turns out great :)

 

[chef jimmyj]

The Theory...Starting breast down lets gravity carry all the juicy goodness, INTO the breast instead of to the spine or drip pan. A couple hours in the surface muscle protein has coagulated, creating a restrictive barrier, holding more moisture in the breast.
Does it really work? In a Whole bird probably. The skin side meat would be in contact with the pan and will heat/cook faster than the bone side that is insulated by the cavity and spine. An hour or so in, the bone side will have caught up sealing the breast and you can up right the bird to get brown crispy skin. In a spatchcocked bird, The surface meat, skin side of the breast and bone side, cook at the same rate. Up or down, the same amount of moisture will escape until the meat surface cooks.
I have never tried breast down, because Mom' cooked breast up and of the various Chef's I trained with or worked with, they all cooked breast up. Just figured if there was a huge difference, somebody would have set me straight.
I am cooking 2 whole breast for tomorrow. I will cook one up, one down, for the first hour, then see if I notice a difference. Considering I only cook to an IT of 155 with a rest, the meat is always tender and juicy. Can I get More juicy breast down? We will see...JJ

 

[HalfSmoked]

Just don't forget which is which JJ. :D Waiting for final report on this.

Warren

 

[chef jimmyj]

Two breasts, side by side, one up, one down. Both rubbed under and on the skin with seasoned 50/50 Butter and Bacon Grease. Cooked 30 minutes at 350°F and turned the one breast upright. The surface 1/2 inch of meat was cooked and firm. Finished cooking to an IT of 150. Let them rest 30 minutes while I finished the gravy. The result...
The skin on the down breast was a mess, shriveled and never did crisp up like the other breast. No one could tell the difference between the two meats. Both were equally flavorful and juicy. Bottom line...It was a waste of what is normally crispy skin and time for the extra effort...JJ

 

[browneyesvictim]

Thanks for confirming this JJ. Just curious if that was on a flat cookie sheet or something else like a wire rack? What you are describing is what has me balking at doing cupcake chicken with thighs in a muffin pan. Perhaps there's a difference if there was direct conduction type of heat directly to the skin to make it crispy.

 

[HalfSmoked]

Thanks for confirming this JJ. Just curious if that was on a flat cookie sheet or something else like a wire rack? What you are describing is what has me balking at doing cupcake chicken with thighs in a muffin pan. Perhaps there's a difference if there was direct conduction type of heat directly to the skin to make it crispy.

On a flat cookie sheet would be bad grease would run all over the place.

Warren

 

[browneyesvictim]

I was meaning a rimmed cookie sheet Warren.

 

[HalfSmoked]

would have to be about at least 2" rim

Warren

 

[browneyesvictim]

I've been cooking chicken on cookie sheet for years shake-n-bake style. Sometimes with a rack, and sometimes without. I think I like it better without using a rack because the chicken can cook (oven fry) in its own oil. Not as healthy that way of course, but it sure stays juicy and gets crispy! Never tried it skin side down...

I just use your typical rimmed sheet. Even if doing all thighs there's no more grease than when cooking bacon in the oven.

 

[noboundaries]

We were visiting family for TG, but I roasted a non-brined, whole natural turkey on Sunday. I tried something new for me; flipping the bird half way through the roast. I started breast side up, on a grate, in a pan, leaving the plastic leg thingie attached, then decided half-way through the roast to flip it. Honestly, it was an "Hmmm, I think I'll give this a try" after seeing someone on YouTube do it. Result: Crispy skin all over, juicy and delicious, plus thigh/breast temps within 2F of each other. The temps were FAAAAARRRR apart before the flip, like 30F. I'll be a flipper from now on.

And for those who noticed, I said roast not smoke. I've had a 30 foot long, broken dead-man's branch hanging over my patio for the last few weeks. I moved my smoker and grills to the side of my house so I've been out of the smoking game for about a month. The branch came crashing down about 2 AM Saturday morning after several days of heavy rain. I have no idea how it came down in the orientation it did, but we had zero damage. Must have been angels. The arborists are arriving in about a half hour to trim the tree and take clear away the branch. I'll be sure to have them leave me enough wood for the smoker! My chain saw bit the dust a while ago or I'd already have that baby carved up.

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

I'll toss in my two cents here. Normally, I would say smoke a turkey breast with the breast side up. However, the two turkey breasts I smoked for Thanksgiving were smoked breast side down on the rack for the entire smoke due to them being stuffed with onion and apple quarters and herbs. I did not brine the turkey breasts since they were pre injected. To help crispen the skin somewhat, the turkey breats sat uncovered in the fridge over night. During smoking, when the IT hit 130 degrees I increased the smoker temp to 265 until IT hit 165 degrees. All in all, the turkey breasts turned out juicy with golden brown and sort of crispy skin.

Since my dinner guests had never ate smoked turkey before, I informed them ahead of time that the skin will not be super crispy and the meat will have a slight pinkish tinge. I did not want them to think I was feeding them undercooked turkey. :eek: