Turkey Pastrami

[Habanero Smoker]

The following is another conglomeration of several recipes I had found on the web. I have mixed feelings about the results of the turkey pastrami. Although the flavor was great the meat was tough, but if sliced thin like deli meat the texture was acceptable. The breasts were cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. The results were good enough for another try, so next time I will pull them out at 150 or 155.

Turkey Pastrami
(2) 2 ½ pound turkey breast with skin; fresh or minimally processed

Brine:
1 quart water (divided)
1/2 cup tightly-packed brown sugar
1/2 cup kosher salt
1 tablespoon of pickling spice
6 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped

In a small sauce pan add sugar, salt, and pickling spice in 1 pint of water.  Bring to a boil, stirring until solids dissolve, turn down heat and let simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and strain to remove pickling spices. Add garlic, and let set for another 15 minutes. Next add the rest of the water, and let cool to at least 40 degrees F before placing turkey into the brine. In a non-reactive container pour cooled brine mixture over turkey breast until completely covered. Refrigerate for 48 hours, occasionally stir the breast around.

Remove turkey from brine and rinse under cold water. Place turkey in a container, cover with water and let the meat soak for 30 minutes. If you want the turkey less salty, change the water and let it soak for another 30 minutes. Remove from water and dry thoroughly with paper towels, place in the refrigerator and allow to air dry overnight, before applying the dry rub. Note: I soaked for only 30 minutes, and the salt taste was similiar to that of deli turkey pastrami, next time I will soak for an additional 30 minutes.

Dry Rub:

3 tablespoons coriander seeds
3 tablespoons cracked black peppercorns
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1/4 cup sweet paprika
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons granulated garlic

Combine coriander, pepper and mustard seed, and coarsely grind in a spice grinder or coffee grinder. Pour ground mixture into a bowl, add the paprika, brown sugar, and granulated garlic and remix. Generously apply the dry rub to all sides of the turkey breast. Work the rub into the meat by pressing it in with the palms of your hands; especially on the skin side. Note: As an extra "kick", substitute 1 tablespoon of red pepper flakes for 1 tablespoon of the black peppercorns before grinding the mixture.

Place turkey breast on the tray, skin side down, and place in a pre-heated Bradley Smoker, at 220 degrees F. Apply 3 hours of smoke. I used 2 hours of pecan, and finished with 1 hour of apple. I cooked until the internal temperature reaches 160 – 165 degrees F, but next time I will only cook until the temperatures reaches 150 – 155 degrees F.

Remove from smoker, wrap in plastic and allow to cool, skin side up. Refrigerate and allow to age at least 2 days. When ready to eat slice thin like deli meat, and serve either cold or warm.

[Oldman]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Although the flavor was great the meat was tough..<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote"> Any thoughts as to why it was tough? Have you ever given any thought to adding grain alcohol as a tenderizer? It has no flavor.

Olds

[Habanero Smoker]

My only thought was that I had over cooked it, but 165 is not that high to make the meat tough. My experience with turkey breast is, if you over cook it by 5 or 10 degrees it generally dries and falls apart, not toughen up. Still the next time I'm going to only cook it to 150 - 155 degrees F. I did slice with the grain, next time I will slice against the grain, but again it still should not have been tough. The brine could also have been the problem, the color of the meat was closer to that of dark meat. But I used the salt/sugar amounts used in most recipes that I found on the web.

I might give grain alcohol a try. I haven't bought any in many a years. When I was in high school, we used that to spike the punch at parties [:o)]. I think, but I'm not sure; that grain alcohol is now illegal to sell in New York, and I think I may have been the cause for that law [^][:D].