OT: Smoking a turkey breast

[57stratdawg]

brine or inject? I've always done injection with a type of butter creole sauce, but see alot of people brining instead.

What say SPS?

 

[PBRME]

I prefer to inject.

 

[DerHntr]

Used to inject, now I brine. In my experience it is more consistently juicy and flavorful.

ETA: I lately have only cooked turkeys I kill, so I don't have to worry about this point: a lot of store bought breasts are already brined. If they are, the injection won't do much for you. If it says a certain percent of what is in the package is water (usually 10-15%) then it has been brined.

 

[Dawgbite]

Inject! Butterball makes a boneless Turkey Roast that is a deboned breast in a mesh sleeve to hold its shape.Its about the size of a Nerf football. You can get different flavors, Cajun, Garlic, as well as regular/plain. Cook one of these and you will never cook a whole turkey or a breast again.

 

[Digging dog]

I brined last TG turkey and out it on bge. It was awesome and only took +\- 2 hrs. Only advice if your cooking it on the egg is don't use any type of smoking wood. The turkey will absorb all of the smoke and taste like a forest fire.

 

[57stratdawg]

I always use a mild wood: Apple, cherry when dealing with turkey. Never had a big problem with it.

 

[aTotal360]

Brine over night. Make sure you wash off the salt. For a milder wood, I like apple. I haven't done a whole bird, but I've been doing bone-on split breasts. Usually takes 90 mins to 2 hrs.

After that 2 hrs, soak'em in Dale's for another 72 hrs.

 

[hullabaloodog]

Brine gets my vote. I get pretty consistent flavoring.

 

[Dawgzilla]

I inject. Never had much success with brine. Maybe I wasn't doing it right, but one turkey I brined just didn't have much flavor, and the next was the worst turkey I ever cooked. Had to apologize to everyone for it.

Inject, BGE, use a ceramic "beer can" Turkey sitter with white wine and orange juice in the sitter, drip pan, and a little bit of apple wood smoke. I use a dry rub on the outside, too, but its probably unnecessary.

 

[dawgdoug1962]

Hmmm, smoking a turkey breast....FWIW.... don't inhale......

 

[seshomoru]

Spatchcock & Dry Brine. There is no other way.

Well, there are other ways, but they are vastly inferior.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/11/...-thanksgiving-fast-easy-way-spatchcocked.html

http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/11/quick-and-dirty-guide-to-brining-turkey-chicken-thanksgiving.html

Because science. And deliciousness. And it takes less than 90 minutes.

 

[dawgman42]

Soak in Dale's for a week.

Sooo good.

 

[Tin Cup Cowboy]

This. I prefer to spatchcock all turkey and chicken. Really don't consider any other method since learning how to do this.

http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/spatchcocking_and_butterflying_poultry.html

 

[patdog]

Never tried spathcooking, but dry brining and frying has worked well for me.

 

[DancingRabbit]

I'm sold. Let's Spatchcock USCe !!

nm

 

[mstateglfr]

This. I prefer to spatchcock all turkey and chicken. Really don't consider any other method since learning how to do this.

http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/spatchcocking_and_butterflying_poultry.html

Well, there are other ways, but they are vastly inferior.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/11/...-thanksgiving-fast-easy-way-spatchcocked.html

http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/11/quick-and-dirty-guide-to-brining-turkey-chicken-thanksgiving.html

Because science. And deliciousness. And it takes less than 90 minutes.

Absolutely. Spatchcock the crap outta birds. Quicker cooking and more even cooking. There is no downside.
Ive been on the amazingribs site many a time over the last however many years, but havent been to seriouseats. Thanks for the link, thatll be something to click around in this afternoon.

 

[seshomoru]

You need to get The Food Lab.

It's the book by Kenji Lopez-Alt, who did the Food Lab section on that website for years. MIT grad who decided to apply what he knew to food. It has recipes but it's not really a standard cook book. More like a what happens to food when you cook it certain ways and why. Everything from eggs to large cuts of meat.

I am obviously more excited about tailgating than the game.

 

[The Peeper]

I haven't tried the spatch method but will never cook another one w/out brining it first, so much better than relying on Butterball juice injection

 

[dawglawz]

Never spatchcocked a turkey, but it's the only way I cook a whole chicken.

A dry brine is soooo much easier than a wet/submerged brine for turkeys. If you enjoy the skin (who the 17 doesn't?), dry brining is the only way to go.

 

[Tin Cup Cowboy]

Much like Sesh says, science behind both of those sites. They both debunk a lot of thought/myths about cooking. Meathead Goldwin at amazing ribs uses a physicist in a lot of his work.

 

[MadDawg.sixpack]

The hard part is getting it lit.

 

[ByersFarm]

Don't 17 around. Brine.

 

[BulldogBlitz]

Where does one buy papers big enough to roll a turkey breast?