Wild Turkey Breasts on Saturday, To Brine or Not to Brine?

[coloradosmoke]

Hello fellow smokers, I have a couple wild turkey breasts that a co-worker snagged on one of his hunting trips. He has asked me to smoke them for him.  This will be my first time smoking a turkey breast?  Has anyone done this before and do you use a rub or marinade/brine of some sort, do you wrap in bacon?  

I will also be smoking 3 slabs of baby backs and two tri-tip roasts.

Any help would be great. 

ColoradoSmoke aka Mark

Char Broil Offset Smoker

 

[pineywoods]

Personally I would brine then use a light coat of rub and pin some bacon on them.

 

[coloradosmoke]

Piney,

Do you have a brine recipe that you can suggest, and how long would you brine it for?

 

[pineywoods]

I really like Tip's poultry brine and I would brine it 8-10 hours then rinse and pat dry before applying the rub heres a link to the brine recipe

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/wiki/tips-slaughterhouse-recipes-for-poultry

 

[caveman]

My last Turkey breast was not wild but of the tame nature.  I still brined it with Tip's brine, as Piney has suggested with the link.  The bacon idea helped to keep the breast moist as well.  Good luck & don't forget the qview.

 

[sumosmoke]

Agree with the suggestion to brine. Might help get rid of any gamey flavor that the birds may have. Plus, Tip's brine is DA BOMB!!

 

[Bearcarver]

I would brine, inject, and bacon them.

Wild turkey (the bird type) is very dry---needs all the help it can get----IMHO.

Bearcarver

 

[fourthwind]

Definately brine.  like the other guys said, Tips brine is really good.  I just do a shake of Creole seasoning and Garlic powder, then wrap it thouroughly with the cheapest bacon you can find.  Pull at 160 and wrap in foil and rest for 30 minutes.   I have also injected them after the brine with a mix of butter and worchestire sauce.  came out really yummy.

 

[kozmo]

Brine, smoked a whole wild turkey on New Years day and brined it over night.  I used the brine listed here on my blog. http://www.nateelston.com/wordpress/2009/11/smoked-turkey-breast/

 

[coloradosmoke]

Hey folks thanks for all the tips, I have the "wild bird" on right now and it is moving along nicely, Since I am doing this for a buddy at work, and I asked him his preference on brine or just rub he said do one of each and see which one comes out better and go from there.

We had family over, so it has been kind of busy, but I have been taking pictures during all phases of the smokes and hope to have my Q-View posted late on Sunday.

 

[sumosmoke]

Hey folks thanks for all the tips, I have the "wild bird" on right now and it is moving along nicely, Since I am doing this for a buddy at work, and I asked him his preference on brine or just rub he said do one of each and see which one comes out better and go from there.

I'm anxious to hear of the taste test results of an impartial judge! Please let us know the results of his taste buds!

 

[coloradosmoke]

Morning folks sorry for the delay in the results and the Q-View, it has been a crazy week.

Originally I had planned to smoke the 'wild' turkey breasts with some ribs and a couple of tri tips.

I was asked by the "boss" in the interest of time and "we have people coming to dinner" to smoke the

turkey breasts after everything else was done and company had gone home. 

What I did with the two turkey breasts, one went in Tips brine (thanks Piney for the link) for about 10 hours and the 

other I just rubbed. These were smoked with a combo of apple and cherry wood (a first for me and I loved the mild smoke).

So, here are the results of the 'Wild' turkey breast smoke.

The 'Wild' Turkey Breasts going in the smoker.

tick, tock a few hours later, out of the smoker and ready for their foil wrap.

This breast took the brine bath.

And this one just the rub

I brought these babies in to work and the Weid (the one that got the 'wild' bird), offered up one of the breasts to the

folks on day shift.  He left the other breast and part of the other for us on nights to taste test.

Weid, loved the one that he had (rubbed), those of us on nights enjoyed both of them and we decided that the brined

breast was much more moist, although, we loved them both.

Thanks to everyone that gave me suggestions!!!  

 

[Bearcarver]

Looks great!

Glad it worked out for ya.

Bearcarver