Finally A Turkey Breast Smoke to Brag About

Jackie

Jackie

New member
My previous turkey breasts that I smoked were a little too dry and too smokey.  After reading more posts I came up with this setup:
7.9 lb bone in turkey breast
brine 5 hours and rinse and dry
add olive oil and add Famous Dave's Chicken Seasoning Rub - outside and inside of skin
refrigerated overnight wrapped in plastic wrap
1.4 oz cherry with apple juice in pan
smoked 4.5 hours on 225 setting until 160 degree IT on the maverick.  My instant read thermometer had readings from 165 to 179.
Double wrapped and put in cooler with towels.  Only rested 20 minutes due to family demands.
The turkey was nice and white with great moisture and a great mild smoke flavor.
I appreciate all the forum advice. 
 
Nice work, Jackie!  I suspect the brine helped out with your success, as well as pulling the breast at 160.    How did the skin turn out?    The last breast that I did at 225F had some pretty decent skin when done, not rubbery.
 
The skin was not good.  It looked good but it was not crispy or tasty.
I will take pictures when I post in the future.
 
Jackie said:
The skin was not good.  It looked good but it was not crispy or tasty.
I will take pictures when I post in the future.
Click to expand...

Yeah, to be expected!  As soon as you come to peace with the fact you will never get crispy skin in these smokers, the happier you will be!  Check out my epiphany!

http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=2158.0
 
Jackie said:
My previous turkey breasts that I smoked were a little too dry and too smokey.  After reading more posts I came up with this setup:
7.9 lb bone in turkey breast
brine 5 hours and rinse and dry
add olive oil and add Famous Dave's Chicken Seasoning Rub - outside and inside of skin
refrigerated overnight wrapped in plastic wrap
1.4 oz cherry with apple juice in pan
smoked 4.5 hours on 225 setting until 160 degree IT on the maverick.  My instant read thermometer had readings from 165 to 179.
Double wrapped and put in cooler with towels.  Only rested 20 minutes due to family demands.
The turkey was nice and white with great moisture and a great mild smoke flavor.
I appreciate all the forum advice.
Click to expand...
Jackie,
Although we don't agree on our college of choice, I'm hoping you can give me some advice on your turkey breast smoke.  I'm going to do my first for Thanksgiving this year and was wondering if you bought the Famous Dave's rub locally (I also live the the Columbia, SC area)?
As far as applying the rub, did you pull the skin back, put on the rub and then cover the meat with the skin.
(Sorry for "stupid" questions, but this is my first try at a turkey.)
 
I always pull back poultry skin to expose the meat. This gets the flavor directly on the flesh. Don't forget to season inside the body cavity. If you work in small sections you shouldn't have any tearing, if you do close the gaps with tooth picks. I also tuck pats of butter or extra poultry fat in between the meat and skin while seasoning, this will melt and help keep it moist.
 
Brian,
I had a guy at work today tell me that he always removes the skin and puts on the rub so that the meat has maximum smoke exposure.  He has a propane smoker and says that he runs it at around 300 degrees for 2 to 2-1/2 hours for a turkey breast.  In your opinion, should I ignore his smoking advice or is his "process" different than most of the guys on this forum due to the type of smoker? (He did agree that it comes out of the smoker when the breast meat hits 160 degrees.)
 
I peal back the skin at the neck hole on both sides of the breast to access that meat. Also pull back the skin over the thigh and legs starting by the tail ], do one side at at time. I don't recommend removing the skin and discarding it. The skin holds in moisture. The smoke will flavor the meat beneath the skin, no worries about that.
 
If yo have an auber & performed the bypass, there would be no problem with 300 degrees.  Poultry favors the higher cook temps.  2.5 hours sounds about right but the only relevant # is IT.  160 is a good IT.  Your friends process is sound but I agree with Brian,  get rub under skin but keep skin on to aid in moisture retention.  The smoke will get to the meat.  If its not to your liking use more wood.  Keep the skin or feed it to the dog, personal choice.

I know quite a few people who do like your friend & remove the skin.  It not wrong, just another personal choice.  The chicken is good both ways but I think its better to focus on moistness on such a lean animal.
 
Ok, so you guys have convinced me to leave the skin on to retain moisture and try and get some of the rub up under the skin.
Now, I'm somewhat confused about the temperature of the smoker.  I understand that the IT should be 160, but I have seen anywhere from 225 to 300 for smoker temp.
I don't have an Auber (yet), so should I crank up the SI #2 as far as it will go (I think that is 240 or 250)?
(For a turkey breast, the Smoking Guide says 240 deg, 4-6 hours, 2-2.5 oz of wood to an IT of 165.)
Opinions??
 
I always crank mine all the way up (250) but i know it runs hotter than than that. Poultry takes smoke easly and does not favor long slow build up like pork or a more dense cut of meat.
 
Brian,
Thanks again for the information.
In your opinion, for an 8-10 lb. turkey breast, should I budget 4-6 hours to get to 160 IT?
 
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