Skinless Turkey Breasts

[BCSmoker]

Good day All,

What's the best way to smoke skinless turkey breast halves? Do they need to be protected by a layer of bacon?
I'll be brining them, but I'm a little concerned that because there's no skin on them, they'll dry out.

Thanking you in advance...

[OU812]

Is that the post with the chicken skin, or the tin foil, or the bacon, or the glaze?  ;D

[BCSmoker]

Hi OU812, I hope all is well.
It's the one that Seemore gave you...posted in August with pictures.
Actually, I'm using your post as a "path"
I trussed each boneless, skinless breast. Then I seasoned with the following:
Kosher Salt, Fresh Ground Black Pepper, Brown Sugar, Paprika, and a hint o' cayenne.
I wrapped them in plastic wrap and now there sitting comfortably in my fridge.
Tomorrow, I'll pull them out 30 minutes before smoking and have my smoker preheated to 220ish

In reading other posts, I'm a bit confused on whether I should pull them out at 140 or 160. I believe 160 and wrapped in foil for carry-over cooking to 165....correct?

[classicrockgriller]

Not tryin to answer for Curt, but:

I would "try" to raise the smoker up to as close to 250*+ as you can get.

Keep the top vent wide open.

And if it were me, I would take it to 165* and let it rise close to 170* in
the foil rest just to be on the safe side of poultry.

I love chicken/turkey but I am always cautious.

[BCSmoker]

Awesome! I'll crank her up to 250! and take them out around the 165 mark and follow your suggestions.

Actually, I welcome and thank everyone for their responses...takes the edge off and allows me to enjoy the smoking process so much more. :D

[classicrockgriller]

How much smoke?

And what kinda wood?

[Habanero Smoker]

When cooking the parts separately, I generally will treat breast meat much different then the dark meat. You need to cook at your own comfort level, but for breast meat I will only take in up to 153°F, and during rest it will reach about 155°F. At that temperature today's poultry breast are safe, and you have less chance to dry it out. If you want to go by USDA guidelines you only need to bring the breast up to 165°F, so you could pull it out of the smoker around 163°F. Since they are skinless, after you pull them out of the smoker, you can wrap them tightly in foil with some low sodium chicken broth, seal tightly and let them rest for 30 minutes before serving.

[OU812]

Hi OU812, I hope all is well.
It's the one that Seemore gave you...posted in August with pictures.
Actually, I'm using your post as a "path"
I trussed each boneless, skinless breast. Then I seasoned with the following:
Kosher Salt, Fresh Ground Black Pepper, Brown Sugar, Paprika, and a hint o' cayenne.
I wrapped them in plastic wrap and now there sitting comfortably in my fridge.
Tomorrow, I'll pull them out 30 minutes before smoking and have my smoker preheated to 220ish

In reading other posts, I'm a bit confused on whether I should pull them out at 140 or 160. I believe 160 and wrapped in foil for carry-over cooking to 165....correct?

Sounds like a good plan, but I would raise the smoker temp to 250

I like to smoke for 2 to 3 hr with Apple and pull outta the smoker when the IT hits 160, foil and let rest 20 min

Keep an eye on the IT as it can shoot up quickly,,,,,,like the time it takes to go get a beer  ::)
Remember to keep the vent wide open  ;D

[BCSmoker]

CRG-I'm only going to apply a light smoke of apple this go...wife prefers a lighter smoke taste with her turkey...not me, I mean the meat LOL.
total time for the actual smoking will be 60 minutes. Don't know how light of a taste that will be but I guess I'm gonna find out. Also, I forgot to mention that I tied the breast meat up. I assume that will impact the overall cook time too.

HS- Since I'm doing two halves, I'm going to pull one out at your suggested temp (153) and the other out at 160. I'll let you all know how it goes. Wife is chef-class so I'm sure to find out!

Thanks again for the suggestions and input! Greatly appreciated!

[BAM1]

Hope no one gets sick from 153 degree poultry.

[BCSmoker]

Alrighty then,

Pulled the first one at 153....nope, that wasn't my, or the wife's, kinda done. I rewrapped it back up in foil and heated in the oven until 160. it finished at 168.
The second half of the breast, I pulled at exactly 160, foiled 'er up for 20-30 minutes and......COME HOME TO POPPA! Dang that smoked turkey breast was amazing! I love this smokin' world...absolutely love it. I can't wait to try the leftovers (yes, leftovers...just the wife and myself) in a sammy tomorrow.
So, in three weeks, since getting my DBS4 I have smoked 2 chickens, 2 racks of pork baby backs, and now these boneless/skinless/tied turkey breast. I have fantastic success! 99% in part from all of you out there that "carved the path" in the smokin journey. All I can say is thanks. My name is Mike and I'm a smoking addict...

How do I post pics (sorry, kinda new to the forum thing...sorry, comupter forum thing  ;)

Thanks All!

[OU812]

Glad to here your turkey was "COME HOME TO POPPA!" good,,,,gotta love it when that happins

Some one smarter than me will come along with a link for how to post pictures, I aint real good with explaining computer stuff  ;D

[Habanero Smoker]

The first one was done at 153°F, with the carryover would have brought it to around 155°F, but it may have not been what you were looking for.  :)

For posting pictures you need to up load your photos to a hosting site, such as Photobucket. The below link contains a tutorial for Photobucket, some of the information can be applied to other hosting stations.

How To Post Pictures

[BCSmoker]

Thanks Hab Smoker, greatly appreciated! I'll be posting pics soon. Witht he instructions you forwarded me to, it sure makes my life easier! Your input, suggestions, etc is greatly appreciated!
Smoke on!

[Habanero Smoker]

BCSmoker;

Thanks. If you haven't fully checked out the Recipe Site, it is full of information. It is funded and maintained by a member who goes by they name of Oldman.