Whole turkey breasts.

[Arun L.]

Since it was just a few of us for Thanksgiving this year, my brother in law grilled whole turkey breasts, instead of buying a whole turkey.

They came out good.

Where can I find whole turkey breasts? I tried Safeway a few days ago, but couldn't find them.

 

[TonyS T-Bone]

I cooked an 8 pound breast that I ordered fresh from an IGA grocer in Chicago burbs. Just ask a good local butcher or 2 to direct you to a source. You're not going to see them at Costco for example. Usually have to order ahead. We only had 4 people, so I could have split the breast and froze half!

 

[Arun L.]

Thanks.

 

[Michael Richards]

Arun,
Are you looking for boneless skinless turkey breast or are you looking for Bone-in skin on breast like this one?
Before Thanksgiving I was would have been able to get the bonless skinless ones only at Sam's Club, but I can’t find them now. Before Thanksgiving I saw the bone in skin on breast like the 7lber I cooked on Thanksgiving at both my Local Wal Mart and, where I got this guy, my local grocery store Giant. I thought about trying to do one of these bone in skin on breast this past summer and my butcher buddy from Giant told me he could special order me one in, but that they only carry them around Thanksgiving. I ended up doing a whole chicken instead. I was able to find the boneless Turkey Breast at Sam's Club back in the spring, which I cooked on Easter, Texas style and loved it. Talking to a bbq buddy he said Sam's Club stocks those during BBQ season and Thanksgiving, but it is harder to find in the winter. He bought ten from Sam's Club before Thanksgiving. I just looked at my local Giant and they have some whole Turkeys left, but none of these just bone in skin on breast.

 

[Timothy F. Lewis]

Almost every larger grocery store around here has them almost all year round, frozen, of course. Around the holidays fresh can be found pretty easily. But, then again, we have quite a few turkey farms around too

 

[Arun L.]

I don't know if I want bone-in or boneless. I just want to be able to find something, first of all. I'll try a few other grocery stores; Walmart; and butcher shops.

 

[JimK]

The bone-in breasts seem to only show up at certain times of year around here. Stock up now - in a month or two they'll be scarce.

 

[Arun L.]

I found an 11.3 lb. bone in one today. A little bigger than I wanted, but I bought it.

 

[Arun L.]

Just asking, but can I still get "under the skin" of a turkey breast, and apply a compound butter? I did that last year when smoking a whole chicken, and I liked the results.

 

[Timothy F. Lewis]

If it’s got skin, you can get under it!

 

[Michael Richards]

I found an 11.3 lb. bone in one today. A little bigger than I wanted, but I bought it.

Congrats!

 

[BobbyG]

I did mine w olive oil and rub. Didnt dry out at all. Smoked oh my q3200. Smoker box w cherry and hickory.

 

[Cliff Bartlett]

Our Safeway will order just about anything you want. Usually takes a couple of days. Maybe that's just a local policy. I don't know but it might be worth a try. Our Winco ( they might just be west coast) carries them year round.

 

[Pat G]

Our Kroger usually carries the bone in breast. I tried this recipe, Franklin BBQ style, and it came out great.

Smoked Turkey Breast, Franklin Style

I wanted to try this recipe for a while, had a chance to Sunday. I got the recipe from here: https://www.virtualweberbullet.com/turkey-breast-central-texas-style/ I bought a full turkey breast and de-boned it. I will never be mistaken for a butcher. Applied 2:1 pepper to salt. I also...

tvwbb.com

 

[Arun L.]

Looks good. Should I always debone first, or does it depend on which recipe I'm following?

Looks like @Michael Richards recipe left it bone in.

 

[Arun L.]

The last time I did a whole turkey was in 2016. If I knew turkey breasts were available, I wouldn't have waited so long to do some form of turkey again. Seeing these recipes is making me want to try a few different things.

The good thing about these breasts is that they are large enough where I could try one thing on one, and another thing on the other.

 

[Michael Richards]

Looks good. Should I always debone first, or does it depend on which recipe I'm following?

Looks like @Michael Richards recipe left it bone in.

When I was able to get boneless skinless turkey breast I did a very very similar execution to Pat and really liked it a lot. This method is much more BBQ.
When I got the bone in skin on breast I followed this brine

Whole Turkey - Apple Brine - The Virtual Weber Bullet

Apple brined whole turkey smoked to perfection on the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker. Based on a 1999 recipe from a Weber cookbook.

www.virtualweberbullet.com

And smoked it at plus 300 on the WSM 14. This guy was what we think about as Thanksgiving dinner, that savory bird that went great with gravy and all the fixing. I would not have thought to de-boned the bone in breast. If these two options were both easier to find I would be cooking both a few more times a year.

 

[Arun L.]

I think I followed that same brine recipe in 2016. Good to know it will work with bone in breasts.

I had some trouble when it came to cooling the brine. It took a long time to get it to cool. Is there a different / easier way, other than a sink full of ice water?

What did you mean by "this method is much more BBQ", compared to what you did?

Also, do you think I could hang the breasts on this vertical roaster, even though vertical roasters are meant for whole poultry? Like if I half split it before putting it on the WSM.

 

[Michael Richards]

I think I followed that same brine recipe in 2016. Good to know it will work with bone in breasts.

I had some trouble when it came to cooling the brine. It took a long time to get it to cool. Is there a different / easier way, other than a sink full of ice water?

What did you mean by "this method is much more BBQ", compared to what you did?

Also, do you think I could hang the breasts on this vertical roaster, even though vertical roasters are meant for whole poultry? Like if I half split it before putting it on the WSM.

I think the vertical roaster would be a great idea, I had a little trouble getting mine to stand up on the grate. With the boneless skin turkey breast with salt and pepper on the smoker and wrapped in the butter the wood smoke flavor was the most dominant, then the salt and pepper and then the sweet rick butter. This I ate as served out of the foil, I could not ever imagine needing gravy. I served with homemade mac and cheese, potato salad and other spring goodies.
The apple brine on the smoker, the wood smoke flavor was amazing, but I needed/wanted the gravy and it went perfectly for Thanksgiving.

 

[Arun L.]

Thanks for the response.

And good to see that it might be possible to use this vertical roaster. I always use it with whole poultry, and if I can make it work with giant turkey breasts, that would be cool too. Since I like using it.

Someone I know calls that "the torture device".