Turkey Breasts Hanging Around.

[smokingohiobutcher]

I picked up a couple of turkey breasts we had on sale last week at work for $1.19lb.(Honeysuckle Bone-in) While I was making some ground chuck, an idea snuck in my brain! What if i bone out the breasts after i thaw them? Brine them....and hang them in a ham sock to smoke them? Should make them easy to eat anyways.

Sooo here goes...

After I got them home and soaked them in some fresh water for an hour, i rinsed them and placed them in a strainer to drain. 4 decent sized breast halves totaling 14 pounds.

Next I mixed up some of Pops low salt brine in a clean bucket...only extra I added was a TBS of granulated garlic....Meee loves me some garlic!!!

 Here is one of the breast halves so you gan get a better look at the size.

http://s690.photobucket.com/albums/vv267/m0kwarnke/poultry/?action=view&current=1320274611539.jpg

1st 2 pieces in the pool!
http://s690.photobucket.com/albums/vv267/m0kwarnke/poultry/?action=view&current=1320274635976.jpg
 

whoa !! thats a deep pool!
http://s690.photobucket.com/albums/vv267/m0kwarnke/poultry/?action=view&current=1320274659170.jpg
 

I put some ice in a gallon zip lock bag with some water and placed it on top to wiegh the meat down into the brine.
http://s690.photobucket.com/albums/vv267/m0kwarnke/poultry/?action=view&current=1320274808123.jpg

With the lid on it will go into the garage fridge for 3 days....I am pretty sure that is how laong Pops says to soak em' with his brine.

Be back Sat to update this thread with some smoke!

Later

SOB
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[bamafan]

I'm sre those are going to be tasty. Haven't tried to brine that long, only overnight. Can't wait to see how they turn out.

 

[SmokinAl]

Can't wait to see how they turn out.

Pop's says cured turkey is the best.

 

[pops6927]

It's a delicacy, but judge for yourself, lol!  If you're on a low-fat diet, you may want to remove the skins before smoking!  I am excited to see what you think!

 

[mballi3011]

PING......................Everything looks good so far there SOB.

 

[uncle_lar]

I do them all the time seasoned like pastrami

I cure them with the same cure as I do my corned beef.

I used a little hickory and mesquite on the last ones I did

you sure wont want to buy any turkey breast at the deli any longer after making your own!

 

[justpassingthru]

Looks good so far, I'll be waiting for the Q-view.

Gene

 

[jak757]

Mark, you are going to love those!  I have been using Pop's brine on chicken -- doing two a week pretty steady for the last month or so.  I have two in right now that will be smoked Sunday.  I cure tham about three days -- one batch, becuse of weather went 1 week.  It was great.  I need to keep my eyes open for some sale turkey now!

 

[venture]

This will be fun to watch!

Good luck and good smoking.

 

[smokingohiobutcher]

Ok Saturday is here and time for some Smoke!! Got home frome work and Hung the breasts in some socks.

Smoking with Cherry dust....

http://s690.photobucket.com/albums/...tion=view&current=2011-11-05_17-29-37_161.jpg

http://s690.photobucket.com/albums/...tion=view&current=2011-11-05_17-29-18_802.jpg

http://s690.photobucket.com/albums/...ction=view&current=2011-11-05_17-22-05_14.jpg

http://s690.photobucket.com/albums/...tion=view&current=2011-11-05_17-30-06_873.jpg

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Back later with some money shots!SOB

 

[chef jimmyj]

Most of the Smoked Turkey I have had was commercial. Basic turkey brined and smoked but then had some that used a Ham cure and that one was virtually indistiguishable from Baked Ham...Is that what you get here?...JJ

 

[teeznuts]

Is that red color from the brine? Im intrigued now.

 

[smokingohiobutcher]

Well now!  Its 8 1/2 hours later and the turkey boobies are finally done. I started them off slow with cherry dust in a 180* smoker for a couple of hours...and they were straight from the fredge so they were cold. Next time I will let them come up to temp a bit before I put them in the smoker. I didnt want to dry them out at all so I also had a layer of foil under them on a rack to diffuse the direct heat. I pulled them when the IT was 165* Enough of my yakin', heres the qview!

The last 2 hangin' in the smoker...almost forgot this shot!

http://s690.photobucket.com/albums/vv267/m0kwarnke/poultry/?action=view&current=1320559603769.jpg
 

OOOOHHH YEAAAAH!!!
http://s690.photobucket.com/albums/vv267/m0kwarnke/poultry/?action=view&current=1320559616572.jpg
 

1st two on the pan!
http://s690.photobucket.com/albums/vv267/m0kwarnke/poultry/?action=view&current=1320559635062.jpg
 

All 4 breasts after I fought off the dogs and made it into the house.
http://s690.photobucket.com/albums/vv267/m0kwarnke/poultry/?action=view&current=1320560442645.jpg
 

YUM!!!
http://s690.photobucket.com/albums/vv267/m0kwarnke/poultry/?action=view&current=1320560455685.jpg
 

Top view is the side of one that I took the skin off of.

The bottom still has the skin on.
http://s690.photobucket.com/albums/vv267/m0kwarnke/poultry/?action=view&current=1320560466246.jpg
 

Now to the slicing!!!
http://s690.photobucket.com/albums/vv267/m0kwarnke/poultry/?action=view&current=1320560823371.jpg

http://s690.photobucket.com/albums/vv267/m0kwarnke/poultry/?action=view&current=1320560835742.jpg
 

MMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!
http://s690.photobucket.com/albums/vv267/m0kwarnke/poultry/?action=view&current=1320560840754.jpg
 

In Closing!!!

WOW

 & YUMMY!!!

Soooo juicy! and tender! Not salty yet very flavorfull...JJ... doesnt taste like ham to me.

More like a deli turkey breast but sooo much better.

Pops ...I bow at your feet!!!

 This is awesome!

I cant hardly wait to take some to work and slice it sor sandwiches.

Next time I will let them smoke longer...only had 2 hours of smoke on them this time. Didnt want to over do it.

But I will wait to make that decision for sure after they sit overnight. The ham sock trick worked awesome.

thanks again Pops!

Thanks for watchin!

SOB-QTV
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[stitan06]

wow looks great not to thread jack but im looking to do the same thing for thanksgiving im new here whats POPS BRINE and do you or anyone else here use any rubs or anything ? also i have two i think 8 something pound breast bone in is it harder to smoke bone in or out ? would you recommend three days also for brining

 

[ptcruiserguy]

Excellent looking turkey breasts. I got a shoulder curing right now that I got the

recipe from Pops. Still waiting, got about another 2 weeks on it.

Want to do a couple of whole chickens, but don't have room in fridge.

Great Job there!!

Mike

 

[uncle_lar]

excellent looking turkey. you did a fantastic job!

 

[tjohnson]

WOW Mark!

That's some awesome looking turkey My friend!!!

I'm following in your footsteps, and gonna bow to Pops for my next smoke

Todd

 

[bluebombersfan]

Wow those look incredible!!!!

 

[pops6927]

So glad you liked them!  It was a family favorite for New Year's Eve - dad would cure and smoke turkeys for the New Year's and we'd always made sure we had one.  Of course, back then we only got turkeys at Thanksgiving and Christmas time, fresh turkeys only (when i was a boy we had to pluck them all and scortch off the pinfeathers ourselves; they came eviscerated but still had the heads, necks and feet on them and unplucked.  Then we had to put them in a contraption on the wall (normally it was on a table, but dad put it up on the wall, it was quicker) and would pull the ligaments from the drumsticks; no ligaments to try and chew around - there was one on Ebay, a turkey leg puller or sinew puller but it's not there anymore (referenced in my original post on curing a turkey: http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/86405/pickling-a-turkey-with-pops-curing-brine).  There is reference to sinew pulling on http://www.rivercottage.net/forum/ask/poultry/26549turkey-technical/   and there's a sinew pulling mount you can buy on http://www.mkwholesale.co.uk/page9.html:

by sixbrothers1   8th December 2009 at 10:36

Do bleed. Tis a horrid red mess if you don't.

Pulling sinews: make a scoring cut at the back of the leg between the foot and the ankle joint. Break the leg bone there and you will have a floppy foot attached by sinews. Bang a big nail into a strong piece of wood above head height. Hold the turkey's leg over the nail with one hand holding the foot and the other the thigh. Lift your feet off the ground and pull like mad. Oh and as the sinews come out put your feet back on the ground to avoid landing in a heep. It's hard on the tummy muscles after a while.

In my opinion, 

 

 one of the most useful bits of kit dealing with all poultry is a sinew puller - Poultryman in Shepton Mallet sell them.

 

[pops6927]

well, guess that didn't work out too well, it didn't copy right, don't know how to fix it!  But, that's the v'shaped hook for ligament pulling, follow the direction on where to cut at the ankle and you can yank those ligaments right out!