Sam's Club had 5 pound frozen turkey breasts for under $5. I picked one up and defrosted it in the fridge for a few days. Coated it with a little vegetable oil and rubbed it down with some kosher salt, black pepper, brown sugar, a little cayenne pepper and some paprika.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v85/halbleib/Turkey1st.jpg)
-Brian
I left the turkey breast absorb the rub over night in the fridge. Placed it in my 250 degree OBS with 6 cherry bisquettes. It only took a few hours to reach an internal temp of 165 degrees. You don't want it to go to 180 degrees in the smoker, take it out at 165 and wrap it in foil. It will finish cooking while it rests for 15-20 minutes in the foil.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v85/halbleib/Turkey2nd.jpg)
-Brian
5 pounds of lunch meat for less than $5. Sure beats $5 a pound the market charges...
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v85/halbleib/turkey.jpg)
-Brian
Now that's the way to go Stickbow!!!
Bet it tastes a whole lot better than deli meat too! :P
Good job. ;)
Great looking results. Nice Qview also. Thanks for sharing.
WOW does that look great...I'm going to check Costco and see if they have the same deal!! Been wanting to try a turkey breast for some time..Thanks!!
Brian that looks awesome
(http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee74/dustinnabinger/brovo.gif)(http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee74/dustinnabinger/bowdown.gif)
just a couple of questions though, was that a turkey breast or a boneless skinless turkey roast? also how well did it do for moisture without a brine?
Looks nice. If I am only cooking the breast I will only take it up to 152°F-155°F.
Looks very tasty Brian, is it nice and moist?, it looks like it is in the pics (http://www.freewebby.com/beer-food-sick-smilies/eat.gif)
Looks great Brian, now I have to add that to the ever-growing smoke list!
I've done several of those breasts, but yours looks and sounds even better. Next one will have the same rub as yours.
Thanks everyone. It's a Honeysuckle white boneless turkey breast. As you can see in the picture on the cutting board, the juice is on the board. And in the second picture, the juice is rolling out of the temperature probe hole. The meat was very moist and tender (and delicious). That's why I mentioned to not leave it in the pit beyond 165 degrees.
-Brian
This damn smoking is becoming addictive.
Now I want to do this.
Last time I used a rub, I used WAY too much and the result was not fit for human consumption. It had a LOT of cayenne pepper in it and it destroyed my taste buds for 24 hours.
What are the approximate amounts used for one breast?
Thanks
Brian-I have two 3# Butterball boneless turkey breasts thawing right now. I fell in love with your turkey pics and plan on using your EXACT recipe above. Anything at all you would change about it, or would you do it exactly as you did this time? Oh, I only have apple and hickory left-what would you do there?
Thanks.
Quote from: Ontrack on November 09, 2007, 01:15:35 PM
Oh, I only have apple and hickory left-what would you do there?
Thanks.
Send your name and address to Tiny Tim, along with an order requesting a 120 of Mesquite......
;D ;D ;D ;D
Just kidding, saw the opportunity and went for it. Do have an hour to get it out today though.
I didn't measure this one out exactly but my standard dry rubs for something like this would be:
3 Tbs Kosher salt (I used the coarse stuff on this one because it's what I had on hand)
2 Tbs brown sugar (light or dark, doesn't matter)
1 Tbs ground black pepper
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cayenne pepper
I wouldn't do anything different. I've done a few like this and each one has been great. If you only have apple and hickory, use the apple. Fruit wood smoke lends itself nicely to poultry. Let us know how it turns out.
-Brian
Brian, Thanks buddy, I'll let you know on Sunday.
Juicy, tender,a little spicier than I was expecting (which is fine)...delicious! Brian, I followed your recipe to a tee, except used apple. And, I used Butterballs instead of Honeysuckle. I actually like the Honeysuckle turkeys better, but our Walmart was sold out of the breasts. But it was a great meal, and I have plenty of leftovers to munch on this week. Thanks very much for posting yours, because that's the only reason I did mine!
Great to hear! Glad it worked out.
-Brian
2 people-6 lbs of turkey breast-3 days-GONE! Great as a meal or snack, and so easy to do. This will definately be on my "frequent" list!
Last night someone broke into my house and stole the rest of my turkey breast. I smoked it like stickbow and had it for dinner. I called Ann at work to tell her about the thief and she laughed and hung up on me??? Hmmmm...... Strange things happen in the frozen north!!! :D ;)
;D Did she happen to see some of your posts last night? :D
I go out after Thanksgiving on "Black Friday" and buy fresh turkey breasts to smoke. Been doing this for more than 20 years and this year I found fresh ones for $.79/pound US. Today I am smoking the last of 30 breasts. I can do 10 at a time using two bradleys. One is my first bradley used about 8 years and I have refurbished it with parts from bradley. I also have a 6 rack digital. So 4 in the original and 6 in the year old digital. There is a debate about brining first. I did this year try an objective approach. I brined two and did 2 without brining. I took them to the family Thanksgiving dinner and asked if those gorumands present could tell the difference. The only difference noted was that the brined had a more salty flavor. Thus I am not sure the outcome is worth the effort. I have similar feelings about injecting.
A question for the readers. I have difficulty getting the temperature to rise in the smoker. With 25 pounds of Turkey breast in the smoker and the temp on smoker set for 240 F. I can get only about 172 F inside when the ambient temp is in the mid 50's as it is now. Has anyone used any outside insulation around the oven or does anyone have a more powerful heating element- I think 1200 Watts would be ideal.
Hi Wbrannon;
Welcome to the forum.
There was a recent post in which a member was going to use a water heater blanket to insulate the cabinet. If you do a search you will find that several members have added additional heating elements.
With poultry that has skin, it is best to open the vent about 3/4 open. Poultry skin has a lot of moisture, and if that moisture is allowed to build up in the cabinet it will keep the temperature down, and with your original smoker moisture can drip from the bottom of the door and may harm the electrical circuits of your rheostat. Today most turkey breasts are already brined, so if they were already injected with a brine solution then I would suspect the only difference would be that the ones your brined would be more salty. I am beginning to see turkey breasts (Shadybrook brand) that is only injected with water, these breasts would probably benefit from brining.
Crank the heat to max and let the smoker get to max temp before adding the meat then adjust your temp accordingly.
-Brian
I bought two five# honeysuckle breasts at Sams Club tonight have them thawing planning to rub them Monday and smoke them Tuesday. I only have hickory and alder; should I get somethng different or can I use either of these???
If you like a pleasent (yet sturdy) smoke use Hickory...it's probably what you are somewhat used to tasting (I assume) if ya wanna go crazy...I think there is a guy in Texas who may waaaayyy in on the choice!!! It really does depend on your tastebuds. :)
Hickory should be good. Brian recommends cherry, for myself I like maple, apple or pecan for turkey.
Here is Brian's complete recipe.
Smoked Boneless Turkey Breast (http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?t=437)
great lookin meat
Quote from: La Quinta on November 21, 2008, 07:44:57 PM
If you like a pleasent (yet sturdy) smoke use Hickory...it's probably what you are somewhat used to tasting (I assume) if ya wanna go crazy...I think there is a guy in Texas who may waaaayyy in on the choice!!! It really does depend on your tastebuds. :)
I didn't say anything! ;D
C
And I was shocked WTS...appreciate the restraint!!! ;D
thanks, rubbing today, smoking tomorrow....I might go get maple that sounds good.....no offense meant there westexasmoker
I have two weighing in at 4.75 lbs each thawing in the frig. Will rub on Wednesday and smoke Thursday morning. Looking forward to those! Also have 4 pork tenderloins that I am going to rub with olive oil that has had fresh rosemary and whole garlic cloves steeped in it, sprinkled with a little Cavendar's Greek Seasoning and into the smoker with the turkey breasts.
KyNola
Turkey Breast looks great. Just finished Yesterday a 13 # turkey, 8 # Pork Butt (Backboard Bacon) and 4# Pork bacon slab. All turned out great. New to the forum but will send photo's on nex patch.
Hi Father Tom and welcome to the forum!
Sounds like you hit the ground running!
Keep up the great work! ;)
Mike
Thanks Walley:
Been smoking for years (Did not inhale). Texas smokers, Little chef and now the Original Bradley. I normally use recipes from "Great Sausage Recipes", "ChaRcuteRie" "Smoke & spece" or Burce Adidells "Complete Sausage Book" plus a few others. Even a few from this site.
All great books for sure FT! ;)
Don't be a stranger around forum. The more the merrier!
Mike
Thanks Mike
Now that i am retired (14 years ago) i hope to get more time to log on. I note that you are spread around most if now all of the forum. Will try and keep up.
Tom
Welcome Father Tom...WOW when you smoke...YOU SMOKE...lotta food there...very kool!! Glad to have you on board... :)
W E L C O M E to the Forum Father Tom!
Sounds like you have this smokin' thing figured out.
Thanks for all the info guys .... I will post a full thread later, but for Thanksgiving I smoked a 14# Turkey that turned out Fantastic !!!!! The FTC menthod, though I was skeptical at first, I am now a tried and true believer in the FTC. Holy crap was that some good turkey.
Only problem, I think I hot smoked for too long ... 10 briquettes total ... 5 Pecan and 5 Apple ... But still a quality tasting product, just a little overpowering on the smoke flavor ...
Thanks again to all the members of this Forum, for posting up the "Secrets" to some fine smoking!!!!!
Shuan ....
Yea, poultry will really soak up the smoke...I try to keep it as light as possible with the wood on a bird.
SD
Just wondering about how long it took to smoke/cook? I'm planning on giving it a try in a couple of days, but would like to have a general idea on when it could be done. It's my first time. I was going to use a brine but from the comments it sounds like your rub may be the way to go.
W E L C O M E to the Forum ColoradoSmoker!
I would figure 3-4 hours for a Turkey Breast, but I would cook it until the internal temp was at least 160-165F
Wow. I smoked a 6lb. turkey breast yesterday and that was the best turkey I have ever tasted. I let the rub sit overnight and smoked the turkey with 6 cherry bisquettes. The cooking/smoking time was about 3 1/2 hours until the IT was about 170. The only thing I did differently was I placed four slices of thick bacon on the rack above the turkey so it could drip down on the turkey. Not sure how much flavor it added, but the bacon was an awesome appetizer. Best bacon I ever tasted. The only thing I noticed was that after preheating the smoker to 250 and then putting the turkey and bacon in it never again reached that temperature. Towards the end it was about 220. I wasn't really concerned though since I figured worse case I could pop it in the oven to finish it off, but after 3 1/2 hours it was done. Very juicy and a lot of flavor, but not overly smokey. Now I need to decide on what I want to smoke next - probably salmon.
Congrats Coloradosmoker! you're hooked.