Wild Turkey

[konk]

Sorry not the booze, but looking for some help to smoke some wild turkey breast. I tried it once and it was awful, dried out. Any pointers or receipes would be greatly appreciated. I will be using my new Weber Smokey Joe grill that I fabricated a stainless steel extension for with two extra racks. I converted it to electric so I can keep a more consistent heat. Thanks

 

[donr]

I would definitely brine it first.  Wild turkey is so lean to begin with that it dries out very easily.

Folks normally smoke poultry at a relatively high temperature to stop the outside of the meat from turning rubbery.

 

[dandl93]

Konk

If you go to the bottom left of this page it says Recent Disscussions below that it will say new posts.Scan thru there in the last few days some posters did some threads on cooking some tasty looking wild turkey.Hope this helps you.

Dan 

 

[chef willie]

Yep, I'd go with a brine as well. Breast is probably the only edible meat (?) and I'm thinking a bacon wrap also to keep it lubed up and perhaps a good foiling after some smoke with your fav liquid in there. I have a buddy, now in Idaho, used to pheasant hunt a lot. He never could eat the legs or thighs...to tough. Made me wonder if grinding them for sausage would work. I also think I would have some chicken or whatnot smoking as well in case it's another bust.....good luck, Willie......................

 

[smoking b]

I've smoked a lot of wild turkey breast, legs & thighs - they are some good eating! I do mine at 225* & wrap & rest for an hour when they're done. So far I haven't had one dry out on me (knock on wood) I actually just did one yesterday 

  If you know ahead of time & are able to you can brine the breast to help with moisture - I am usually smoking it spur of the moment though so I rarely brine.

You can put whatever you want on it but I just use a wee bit of salt, pepper & garlic because I like the taste of the wild turkey to shine through. Some people lay bacon on it to try to keep it from drying out but I find that changes the flavor of the bird so I don't do that.

You have a lot of options to choose from - just search around here & decide which combo sounds like it would suit you best & give it a try 

Here are a couple pics from mine yesterday. This was no brine with a bit of salt, pepper & garlic & it came out very juicy.

PICT0116.JPG

• smoking b
• Apr 22, 2014

PICT0115.JPG

• smoking b
• Apr 22, 2014

 

[konk]

Thanks for the replies. After posting this I scrolled down the forum and found a thread on using a butter milk brine on turkey, that sounds simple enough. I will do some more research here, I think I've come to the right place.

Smoking B that breast sure looks tasty and juicy.

I hope I'm not putting the cart before the horse, I have to go out next week and shoot a turkey first. Lol

 

[smoking b]

Smoking B that breast sure looks tasty and juicy.

I hope I'm not putting the cart before the horse, I have to go out next week and shoot a turkey first. Lol

Thanks man 

  It was very good eating 

Good luck getting your turkey!