Whole Turkey Breast Question

[runway1]

Would you recommend and injection for a whole breast or just a brine? What are your thoughts on seasoning?

First time on a whole turkey breast. Does have the 'insurance' of fat content like a pork shoulder or brisket. Thanks all!

 

[indaswamp]

On or off the bone? and how much does it weigh? Or how thick is it? If off the bone, less than 5# and less than 1.5-2" thick in the thickest part, I would just brine-no injection.

 

[indaswamp]

I like to brine my turkey breast, then truss well, glaze with honey and smoke...
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/cured-smoked-wild-turkey-breast.295713/

 

[SmokinEdge]

Most commercial turkey is injected with solution. So you have to allow for that with the brine. If fresh not so much.
Which is it? Fresh or butterball type?

 

[seenred]

Hello runway1...

You'll likely get a mixed bag of replies...I've done both a brine and an injection in turkey breasts -both with good results. My best advice is to try both, and then decide which works best for you. I personally prefer an injection concoction that includes Tony Chacheres Creole butter injection, Frank's hot sauce, and some melted butter. And I generally season/rub the outer bird with a simple combination of seasoning salt (very lightly), sage, and lemon pepper.

But like I said, either brine or injection can produce great results.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out!
Red

 

[sandyut]

I would splatchcock it and brine with Slaughterhouse Brine I do it all the time with great results.

 

[zwiller]

I am with indaswamp the choice depends on thickness. Smaller stuff brine, thicker inject. Done correctly, no real discernible differences. Turkey does NOT have insurance like butt/brisky and is LEAN. Needs salt and needs to be pulled at proper IT or it will be tough. Have not hot smoked turkey in a long time so cannot offer IT advice but hopefully the others will chime in.

 

[sandyut]

165 is considered done. I usually pull at 165 or a hair under and cover to rest and finish.

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

Look at it this way, brining will make the turkey breast juicy and impart some flavoring into the meat.
Whereas injecting will do both while delivering flavor deeper into the meat.
Injecting is also a lot faster than an 8 hour or overnight brine.
One thing to consider is if the turkey breast has been preinjected with a sodium phosphate solution. If it is preinjected, then you need to cut back on the amount of salt in your brine for an equilibrium.

salt brining calculator

 

[runway1]

It's "Honeysuckle" brand from Aldis. Likely the Costco equivalent. It's whole, with bones and 8.4 lbs. Says it's been "basted" in up to 15% solution. Sounds like the same description as on a Butterball brine.

 

[zwiller]

I have been using "enhanced birds" for years and they still need more salt IMO. I reduce salt of brine or injection by half.

 

[TNJAKE]

These were a couple of bone in breasts I did for Thanksgiving. They were already enhanced. Injected with cajun butter and rubbed with cajun rub. Basted with the leftover cajun butter throughout the smoke. End result was flavor town and extra juicy from the butter injection

 

[PAS]

Last time I did a bone in breast I injected with creole butter then put a blanket of raw bacon strips over the top and smoked it in the MES.

 

[chopsaw]

Would you recommend and injection for a whole breast or just a brine?

I do both . I mix up Pop's brine and add 1/2 tsp lemon extract to the gallon . Inject and soak overnight . Cook hot and fast on a kettle with apple or peach . Comes out fantastic . Size doesn't matter in my opinion . It will hold around 10 % .
I used to use the store bought injectables . They're good , but everyone likes this so much if I do it different they grumble .

 

[tallbm]

Would you recommend and injection for a whole breast or just a brine? What are your thoughts on seasoning?

First time on a whole turkey breast. Does have the 'insurance' of fat content like a pork shoulder or brisket. Thanks all!

I brine and inject all my Turkey breast, Turkeys, Chicken Breast, and Whole Chickens enhanced or not. I've never had an issue doing enhanced birds or fresh birds this way.

See I make up the brine and then I inject the meat with that brine and then brine it haha .
What does this do? It just gets everything done faster, brine all the way in the meat, and makes it all fool proof.

I do what is called an Equilibrium Brine.
The concept is that you weigh the water and the bird and then add a percentage (%) of salt, sugar, (and cure #1 if using it) that works with the total weight.
The stuff you add distributes equally between the water and the bird/meat over a period of time and u are then guaranteed to never bee too salty no matter how long you leave it because you measured the % of salt/sugar/cure you add against the whole weight, so when distributed equally thats what all the stuff contains.

Example. If you have 10 pounds/160 ounces of water + meat and you add 2% salt = 3.2oz salt, you will never end up with more than 2% salt in the water and/or the meat. Fool proof, u just gotta give i the amount of time it needs.

Salt and cure #1, etc. penetrates meat at about 1/4 inch every 24hrs.
So a 3 inch thick piece of meat submerged in the brine needs 6 days for the salt to soak all the way through (1/4 inch from all sides = 1/2inch a day total, so 6 days = 3 inches).

There is a trick to speed this up that makes good sense.
You make up the Equilibrium Brine AND you also inject the meat with that brine and add the meat to the brine. This gives you brine penetration from both outside and inside to speed things up :)

So it's fool proof if you follow these steps:

• Get Total Weight of water + meat and convert to ounces or grams (grams is simpler)
• Measure Salt at 2% of Total Weight
• Measure Sugar at 1% of Total Weight
• If using cure#1 (at 6.25% nitrite) measure at 1.12gm per pound of Total Weight
• Dissolve it all in cool water to make the brine (add any other seasoning u may like to brine)
• Submerge meat and set in fridge. Wait 1 day per 1/2 inch thickness of meat or 2 days per inch of thickness of meat. Add 1 day at the end to be extra sure.
• Done!!!
  • if you want it to brine/cure faster then inject meat with some of the brine after it is mixed up, figure out how long it will take knowing 1/4 inch penetration per day from both inside and outside of meat depending on how well you injected

You can leave it any number of days over the minimum number of days and it will not over salt. Simply full proof!
I hope this info helps :)

 

[912smoker]

These were a couple of bone in breasts I did for Thanksgiving. They were already enhanced. Injected with cajun butter and rubbed with cajun rub. Basted with the leftover cajun butter throughout the smoke. End result was flavor town and extra juicy from the butter injectionView attachment 483151View attachment 483152View attachment 483153

Hey Jake cooking 2 breasts(1 split) from a wild bird we were fortunate enough to call in on Thurs. Putting them on tomorrow with this same injection. What temp did you use and about how much time to allow ? They are probably around 3 lbs each

 

[indaswamp]

Here ya go...
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/turkey-time.262935/

 

[912smoker]

Perfect thanks !!