Turkey breast go smoke or rotisserie ?


 
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Tom Raveret

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Jennie O turkey nbreasts were on sale last week so I picked one up and it is thawing in my fridge and should be thawed by wednesday/thursday. this is one of those enhances pre injected breasts so I wont be brining this one but I'm looking for preferences and best practices for turkey breasts. My usual vote is rotisserie for poultry but I would love to hear from those of you who have been happy with your results smoking these. When done I will be deboning and slicing for sandwich meat for the rest of the week.

Thanks
 
I never used a rotisserie - but here is my experience:

I just did a 6# bone-in turkey breast on the WSM. I ran it at about 350 with an empty pan. It was not injected and I did not get a chance to brine (last minute cook).

I turned out a little dry but had great flavor. It was good hot for dinner, but I really enjoyed it cold sliced for sandwiches.

I'm sure it would have turned out better (juicier) if I had brined. Next time.
 
I smoke breasts at 250 or so to a 160-165 internal. I like alder or citrus for wood. I also like a spicy rub like this one, which is salt-free especially for brined birds.

But rotis breast is great too!
 
I usually do them the same way as Kevin, but with hickory. The last one I did I got to brine (about an hour a pound). It definately made a difference. Would like to know how one of those enhanced things comes out, I try to stay away from them, but if they're on sale ya gotta do what ya gotta do...they usually go on sale for 99 cents/# around year maybe twice a year. Can't beat it for sandwiches, especially when smoked turkey breast is like 6 bucks a pound....

By the way, Kevin, T of P was absolutely phenomonal last Friday nite....total Soul Fascination....

Rob
 
Tom,
I do mine low and slow 250*, until 160*. The only drawback if you normally eat the skin, you won't be able to with the low and slow method. The skin looks beautiful but comes out rubbery, but the meat is succulent! That is what is important!
 
True, Larry, skin's like rubber. But you can crisp it up in olive oil or butter on the stove--great with cocktails!
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Rob--I am so jealous. Been eons since I saw them. Glad you made it though!
 
Hi,

I just cooked an enhanced breast Sunday. I usually get the un-adulterated ones but these were the only ones available. I know that it's not recommended but I brined it for 4 hours anyway. I used Lawry's Seasoned Salt and dark brown sugar.

I used my Guru and the MM with about half a chimney on top of some lump. Several chunks of black cherry for the smoke and just salt and pepper for the rub. I set the Guru for 325° and in about 15 mins that's what I got. The cook was basically un-eventful but it sure did smell good !!!

I hate dry turkey so I took it off at 160° and let it rest for 30 mins. covered with foil. This bird was a dark mahogany color, I guess from the cherry wood and it was very, very juicy ! The best part was, the skin was crisp.

A very good cook all around.

AL
 
Well.... I'm not crazy about the rotisserie for tukey. Nothing wrong with them I just feel I can do better.

I love the boneless skinless breasts from this site. They come out like a rolled Turkey roast.

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/turkey1.html

Hint substitute the sugar in the rub with salt and you get something like turkey pastrami if you want.

If I'm going to do it on the grill (I use a smoker box) here's what I'd do any time before I'd put it on a rotisserie:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/4366

This is a truly awesome recipe. I've made it about 50 times. It's never let me down and I have friends and relatives "politely wondering" when I might be making it again.

Hope this helps.
 
well i am going to try to do it in the wsm even though my needs. Just started it with some sugar maple for wood

Rob, why do you say your not crazy about turkey on the rotisserie. My experience has been that the rotiserie is the perfect tool for most poultry and I can still get a nice smoke flavor into it. My rationale is the self basting nature of the fat from the bird basting it as it turns. Also I love good crisp skin.

I think this is a great debate about the better uses for the wsm and concede from the beginning there is now right answer. The different answers jsut give me more excuses to try different things in outdoor cooking!!!
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Hello Tom,

Thanks for asking. Maybe I'll learn something and any day that happens is a good day in my book.

First I'll say there is one type of turkey I do on the rotisserie that I *love* but it's a little unusual and I didn't want to confuse folks.

I love to bone a turkey or turkey breast, marinate it bag/tie it. Then spit cook it like a roast.

I'll also add I'm a huge fan of rotisseried chicken and duck. Especially duck.

That being said, when I do a whole tukey I tend to do pretty large ones 20 lbs +. Frankly, they're kind of hard to get balanced properly on the spit.

A couple of times I've ended up burning the birds because the balance has changed as the fat has burned off. AS the balance changed the spit wouldn't rotate the full 360 degrees and either the breast or the back took the full heat until I caught the problem. *bad*

As far as skin goes I've had really good results doing brined turkeys and cooking them breast up for the majority of the cook.

I start them off over medium direct heat for about 20 minutes more or less. Then I flip them once and leave them alone until it's time to baste or glaze.


Finally, I guess what it really comes down to is I just love that hickory smoked turkey with maple mustard glaze recipe I posted above. It's probably the best thing I've ever done on a grill.

So that's it. Nothing against poultry on a rotisserie. In fact I love poultry on the rotisserie. It's just when I'm doing a turkey I've found one thing I really, really like.

What's your favorite way to make turkey?
 
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