Turkey Breast

Bruce,

That seems a little fast, however brined meats cook faster than raw meat.

Stuart

At 4:00 the turkey breast hit 153 degrees; and since I was't planning on eating until about 7, I took it out of the Smokette and put it into the refrig. right away. At 6:00 I put it into a 250 degree oven until 7:15. It was delicious; nice and juicy. Could I have just held it in the Smokette if I had turned the temp to 140? Does anyone have any idea if it would have dried out? Anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks, Bruce

Hi Bruce!!

Here is a tip I found out once I started doing competition cooking.....

We always try to prepare our meats 1-3 hours prior to judging..this gives us lots of wiggle room. If they do finish when we expected, we simply wrap tight in foil. Then wrap this in 2 old bath towels and store in a dry, empty cooler. I have held a brisket like this for 6 hours and it was still too hot to hold! Matter of fact, held one for 4 hours this last Sunday. This has worked on all of our meats..ribs, brisket and butt.

Should work on turkey as well.

One of the main advantages of the Cookshack line is that you can indeed use them as "holding ovens".

Depending on how long you're going to hold, I agree with Stogie, wrap in foil.

Unless of course you're wanting something with a crisper outside. I don't like Mushy ribs and readers of this forum have heard me say that and in my opinion if you leave something too long in foil, it seeps in the moisture.

If you need to, take it out of the foil and crisp the outside up on a grill.

For the turkey breast, lower the temp to 140 and I wouldn't have more than a hour to hour and a half without wrapping.

Works great.



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Smokin Okie
It's done when it's done
Cookshack BBQ Guide Page

Hey Bruce- what brine did you use? I would enjoy JUICY Turkey.

barbqr, I used about a gallon of water, or just enought to cover the breast, and
put in:
2/3 c. kosher salt
1 cup white wine
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 crushed bay leaves
about a tbsp. each of thyme and tarragon
1/2 cup soy sauce

It seems to come out really good with this brine. Just make sure you ALWAYS use either kosher or pickling salts, since I think these dissolve alot better in the water.
Good luck

Bruce
Did you boil your brine or did you just mix it all together and add the bird?

If you really want to get into the details...

There is a difference between Kosher Salt and Pickling Salt.

Pickling will desolve in cold water and has smaller granules.

Kosher is "chunkier" and withstands heat better, and it won't dissolve in cold water.

Depending on your brine, take these into account.

Kosher is a great salt to use for rubs and anything you grill so that it will withstand the higher temps before it breaks down.

Just some info, in case inquiring minds wanted to know.

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Smokin Okie
It's done when it's done
Cookshack BBQ Guide Page

Smokin' has a great point about kosher salt.When that is all you keep around the kitchen ,you forget you overlook mentioning the benefits.It is larger grains,so you can measure by feel or look and tend to oversalt less.You can see it when it cooks,so you know what you have done.It doesn't contain additives ,so it gives a cleaner flavor to drive your other flavors,rather than mask them.IMHO.

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Good Q 2 Ya,Tom.