turkey breast help

[Cecil]

I am going to be smoking a turkey breast on thursday. Should I use foil at any point during the cooking time? What is a good temp to take it off the smoker? I plan on using a cooler to let it rest so is there a temp I should be looking for it to drop down to that will tell me it has rested long enough and it's time to eat? Thanks

Cecil

[chad]

I'd pull the turkey boob about 170 and wrap it up in foil. Then do the cooler thing -- it should continue to rise a bit.

Are you going to inject the meat? I'd recommend a butter garlic or herb injectable marinade.

Don't smoke the turkey in too cool a smoke -- at least get it up over 140 within 2 hours -- then take your time.

Check the internal temp -- that way you won't get nervous about the "pink" meat.

[parrothead]

I don't use foil for turkey tits, or resting time in a cooler. I do let it stand on the counter for a little while before trying to carve. I also baste skin with butter every 45 minutes. makes the skin look great and crisps it up a bit. These are one of my favorite things to smoke. Oh, I always brine also. Maybe a foil heat shield right above to reflect some heat down on that skin also. I havn't tried that yet, but these guys say to use it. I usually pull off my birds at an internal temp of 170.

As long as the smoker is fired up, you might as well do 2. Make great leftovers and sandwich meat.

[BBQchef33]

off at 170-175, foil it and into the cooler. It should climb to 180.

Check the brines section, that honey maple brine i posted kicks ass!!


phil

[willkat98]

And don't hesitate to cover with strips of bacon.

Keeps my boobs moist :)

[chad]

Keeps my boobs moist

Moist? I though they were just sweaty?? :D Oh, wait, I mis-spoke: The thought of YOUR boobs make ME sweaty!! ((did I say that right?? :D))

[Cecil]

Thanks for all the help! I plan on brining tonight with a simple recipe my wife found. It gives me all the steps and is easy to follow. Since this is my first time brining I wasn't sure how the ingredients were prepared. I was thinking of injecting it with some of the brine but butter might be better. I'm going to make a heat shield by just wrapping the shelf above the turkey with foil. I was going to spray it with peach/grape juice about once an hour. Since I'm the only one in the family who likes baked beans I'm going to try the baked bean apple filling recipe someone posted a while ago and cover the bottom and top with bacon.

Glad I already has lunch cuz this sounds like it will be good.

Cecil

[BBQchef33]

Cecil

DONT inject it with the brine. it wil be wayyyyy to salty!!!! Look in the receipes i have a herbal brone in there thats great too. But I set aside some of the reduction to that i use to inject. Find the receipe for herbal poultry brine.. The one with the franks in it.


just dont be injecting brine into your boobs.. its Salt water!!.

phil

I'm not saying I'll never brine turkey again, but... If you're smoking a frozen turkey (yes, thawed...comedians), check the ingredients on the wrapper. If sodium is mentioned, its already been injected. For my tastes, brining this bird has in the past, made it too salty.

The towel and cooler thing intrigues me...I gotta try that one.

I had trouble getting my bird's internal temp above 150-somethin'. Others have recommended 300-350 degrees for the smoke chamber, I was running about 100 degrees cooler.

I injected the night before with garlic oil, beer, cayenne as suggested in Smoke & Spice. They also suggested wrapping the bird in cheesecloth and keeping that cloth damp. About every half hour I sprayed it with apple juice. I fueled with lump, a few chunks of hickory and about 6 handfuls of apple juice-soaked apple chips, a handful added each time I sprayed.

Except for the temp thing, which I resolved in the oven after 14 hours in the Bandera, it got raves. 180 degrees and she is done...kill that salmonella, brother.

Good luck,