How to Roast a Whole Turkey Breast (from Cooks Illustrated)
[Note from KC - although this refers to oven roasting, it can easily be converted to smoker use - just use two chimneys of hot coals to keep up the hot temps]
For flavorful, juicy meat and rich, crisp skin, brine the breast, loosen its skin, and roast it on high, then moderately low heat.
The challenge: Even for those who love turkey, roasting a whole bird is often more than people want to take on. Roasting a breast is a more manageable undertaking. The problem with breast meat is its tendency to be dry and flavorless. It can also be a challenge to get the breast to develop a crisp, golden brown skin. We wanted to develop a technique that would give us both moist, flavorful meat and tasty, crispy skin.
The solution: As proponents of brining poultry to boost flavor and moisture, our first thought was to brine the turkey, which involves soaking the bird in a solution of salted or salted and sugared water for a given length of time (spices and herbs can be added, too). We tried both the salt-only and the salt/sugar combination and favored the latter.
The next part of getting the meat right was determining the roasting time and temperature. We discovered that slow roasting at 325 degrees did the most to produce tender meat with just a trace of chew. The problem with slow roasting a turkey breast is that it does nothing for the skin; the skin on our turkey breast was pale and rubbery. Boosting the heat to 450 degrees for the first 30 minutes of roasting helped to brown and crisp the skin, but not evenly. Brushing the skin with butter helped, but we still weren’t all the way there yet.
We noticed that the crispiest part of the skin was where the skin had touched no meat—a small section that stretches across the two halves of the breast. We wondered if we could get the same effect all over the breast by releasing all of the skin from the meat. The answer was yes. A bit of finesse was required to accomplish this, but the beautifully browned and crisped bird that emerged from the oven was well worth it.
ROAST BRINED TURKEY BREAST WITH CRISP SKIN
Serves 6 to 8
If you are unable to purchase a turkey breast without a pop-up timer, leave it in place and ignore it. If removed, the timer will leave a gaping hole for juices to escape during roasting. If making an accompanying pan gravy, you may want to throw some carrots, celery, onions, and garlic in the roasting pan and refer to “Make-Ahead Pan Gravy.”
1 1/2 cups kosher salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 6- to 8-pound fresh, whole, bone-in, skin-on turkey breast, rinsed and prepared according to illustrations in Preparing a Turkey Breast for Roasting.
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, 3 tablespoons at room temperature, 1 tablespoon melted
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup white wine or chicken stock (optional)
1. Mix salt and sugar in 1 1/2 gallons cool water in large clean bucket or stockpot until completely dissolved. Set turkey breast in brine, making sure it is submerged. Cover and refrigerate 5 hours.
2 . Twenty minutes before roasting, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Mix room-temperature butter with pepper in small bowl. Set aside.
3. Remove turkey breast from brine and pat dry. Prepare breast for roasting, following Preparing a Turkey Breast for Roasting.
4. Place turkey breast in oven, wide neck end toward oven rear. Pour 1/2 cup water or optional white wine or stock over pan bottom to prevent drippings from burning. Roast 15 minutes, then rotate roasting pan. Roast until skin turns golden, 15 minutes longer. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees; continue to roast breast, rotating pan once, about halfway through cooking until internal temperature in deepest part of breast registers 160 to 165 degrees (depending on preference), 30 to 45 minutes longer.
5. Remove turkey breast from oven. Let stand 20 minutes. Carve and serve.
From http://www.cooksillustrated.com/article.asp?did=4054
[Note from KC - although this refers to oven roasting, it can easily be converted to smoker use - just use two chimneys of hot coals to keep up the hot temps]
For flavorful, juicy meat and rich, crisp skin, brine the breast, loosen its skin, and roast it on high, then moderately low heat.
The challenge: Even for those who love turkey, roasting a whole bird is often more than people want to take on. Roasting a breast is a more manageable undertaking. The problem with breast meat is its tendency to be dry and flavorless. It can also be a challenge to get the breast to develop a crisp, golden brown skin. We wanted to develop a technique that would give us both moist, flavorful meat and tasty, crispy skin.
The solution: As proponents of brining poultry to boost flavor and moisture, our first thought was to brine the turkey, which involves soaking the bird in a solution of salted or salted and sugared water for a given length of time (spices and herbs can be added, too). We tried both the salt-only and the salt/sugar combination and favored the latter.
The next part of getting the meat right was determining the roasting time and temperature. We discovered that slow roasting at 325 degrees did the most to produce tender meat with just a trace of chew. The problem with slow roasting a turkey breast is that it does nothing for the skin; the skin on our turkey breast was pale and rubbery. Boosting the heat to 450 degrees for the first 30 minutes of roasting helped to brown and crisp the skin, but not evenly. Brushing the skin with butter helped, but we still weren’t all the way there yet.
We noticed that the crispiest part of the skin was where the skin had touched no meat—a small section that stretches across the two halves of the breast. We wondered if we could get the same effect all over the breast by releasing all of the skin from the meat. The answer was yes. A bit of finesse was required to accomplish this, but the beautifully browned and crisped bird that emerged from the oven was well worth it.
ROAST BRINED TURKEY BREAST WITH CRISP SKIN
Serves 6 to 8
If you are unable to purchase a turkey breast without a pop-up timer, leave it in place and ignore it. If removed, the timer will leave a gaping hole for juices to escape during roasting. If making an accompanying pan gravy, you may want to throw some carrots, celery, onions, and garlic in the roasting pan and refer to “Make-Ahead Pan Gravy.”
1 1/2 cups kosher salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 6- to 8-pound fresh, whole, bone-in, skin-on turkey breast, rinsed and prepared according to illustrations in Preparing a Turkey Breast for Roasting.
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, 3 tablespoons at room temperature, 1 tablespoon melted
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup white wine or chicken stock (optional)
1. Mix salt and sugar in 1 1/2 gallons cool water in large clean bucket or stockpot until completely dissolved. Set turkey breast in brine, making sure it is submerged. Cover and refrigerate 5 hours.
2 . Twenty minutes before roasting, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Mix room-temperature butter with pepper in small bowl. Set aside.
3. Remove turkey breast from brine and pat dry. Prepare breast for roasting, following Preparing a Turkey Breast for Roasting.
4. Place turkey breast in oven, wide neck end toward oven rear. Pour 1/2 cup water or optional white wine or stock over pan bottom to prevent drippings from burning. Roast 15 minutes, then rotate roasting pan. Roast until skin turns golden, 15 minutes longer. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees; continue to roast breast, rotating pan once, about halfway through cooking until internal temperature in deepest part of breast registers 160 to 165 degrees (depending on preference), 30 to 45 minutes longer.
5. Remove turkey breast from oven. Let stand 20 minutes. Carve and serve.
From http://www.cooksillustrated.com/article.asp?did=4054
