do i need to brine turkey breast

[dtjim]

I have a frozen (thawed now) 8.7 lb honeysuckle turkey breast. On the package it says "contains 15% of a solution'' after my last batch of salmon flavored salt sticks im a little gun shy with the salt. Does this solution mean its already been soaked in a salt brine. I dont wanna double brine it and have it be salty. Should i skip the salt altogether and just make some kind of marinade. Any thoughts or recipes

[KyNola]

With a 15% solution there is no need to brine.  You can if you want to but there is not really a need.

[squirtthecat]

Skip it.   Just go with a good rub.  (Jan's Rub!)

[dtjim]

So the factory brine is enough to keep it safe to cook at the lower temps 225-250???

[KyNola]

Short answer is yes but brining really doesn't do anything for food safety unless there is a curing agent in the brine and even then that's not a huge safety factor.  It is more for flavor and moistness.

I would set my Bradley at 250 from the start.

Don't sweat it.  As my good friend CRG says "You can't hurt it, it's dead."  Throw the bird in the smoker, sit back and have a couple of cool ones and then reap the harvest of your labor.  The skin will most likely be inedible as it will get very rubbery.  You can pull the bird out of the smoker and put it in your house oven to crisp up the skin but I wouldn't bother.

[dtjim]

thanks for the replies....so its rub, smoke, drink, does it have to be in that order

[KyNola]

Geez, you ARE a newbie!  No it's drink, rub, drink, smoke, drink, carve(be careful at this point), drink, plate, drink, eat, drink. ;) ;D

[Habanero Smoker]

Lately I finding you need to read the labels. If the solution contains ingredients like broth, salt, and/or sodium phosphate then you can skip the brining. I'm beginning to see a lot of poultry being injected with only water. Usually you will find that with natural and/organic poultry.

[dtjim]

Geez, you ARE a newbie!  No it's drink, rub, drink, smoke, drink, carve(be careful at this point), drink, plate, drink, eat, drink. ;) ;D

Thats what i was planning that way if i screw it up it will still taste good, that system almost worked with my salmon but I may have skipped a step bc it still tasted salty but i did eat it anyway. The leftovers are still in the fridge havent got drunk enough to eat it yet lol.

[dtjim]

thanks hab i looked and it says the basting does have all the items you mentioned

[NePaSmoKer]

[Habanero Smoker]

You are well on your way.

Geez! It odd those strange cartoons keep poping up.

[dtjim]

skipped the brine and it turned out great, just let it sit overnight with the rub on