Peter Gallagher
TVWBB Guru
I know what you're thinking. Turkey is ok, but typically it turns out dry and bland - Especially a totally lean, skinless breast. We set out on a mission with the goal of creating a delicious, flavorful, healthy-for-you turkey breast. We started out with a just under 4 pound, unenhanced, netted turkey breast. Unenhanced meaning the turkey was free from any added solution. No factory boob job for this honey.
The first thing that needed to be done was to get this chest into some brine. We we’re shooting for a good poultry brine with a salin reading of around 21 degrees. This would create a lighter salt taste, while introducing sufficient moisture to the bird.
I had read by adding cure, the turkey would take on a bit of a subtle ham flavor. Pork flavored turkey...are you kidding me? Who could resist. We brined our little Nerf football for 36 hours.
After brining we rinsed it well, and let it dry for 6 hours. Then we rubbed it down with a mixture of flake salt, cracked Tellicherry black pepper, sugar, minced orange peel, coriander, and turmeric.
On it goes. I stuck it on a rack, and poured about 2 cups of apple juice in the pan. I'm not sure if this did anything, but the idea was to keep the outside from drying out. We let it cook at 200 degrees until it reached 165 degrees. When it reached 130 degrees I hit with a glaze of whiskey and maple sugar. This shinned it up a bit, and added a layer of Stick-um in case Doris & I wanted to toss it around in the driveway during half time.
Success! though it may have been a hair salty for my tastes. Next time we'll crank down the saline to 19 degrees and see what happens. Still, it turned out pretty fabulous.
sliced and ready for some delicious turkey sammies!
