Turkey Breast question

FlaPoolman

Doing an 8 pound breast today and looking for the best of both worlds, moist meat & crisp skin. Any ideas on time,temp-direct or indirect??
Thanks
Pat

Richard Fl

This works for me.

Turkey, Breast, Richard Fl


INGREDIENTS:
1 6 1/2 Lbs Turkey Breast, Bone In
Seasoning/Rub
2 Tbs Lawry's Chicken & Poultry Seasoning
2 Tbs Paprika, Spanish
2 Tbs Tone's Garlic & Herb Seasoning
Basting
3 Tbs Crushed Garlic
3-4 Ozs Butter




Preparation
1 Sprinkled the rub over and inside the skin and let set for 30 minutes
Cooking
1 Placed in large BGE, 350°F W/Plate Setter inverted, drip pan with 1 quart water, "V" rack. Placed bird in BGE W/aluminum foil to protect breast. Removed the foil last hour.
2 Allowed temperature to drop to 300°F and left alone for an hour. Basted after first hour W/Butter/ garlic mixture, continued to baste each half hour for a total cook time of 3 hours. The temperature varied from 275°F-300°F. Pulled @ 168°F internal. Total cooking time 3 hours.
3 Allowed to sit 45 minutes wrapped in foil. EGGcelent. Leftovers are going to become Eggchiladas W/red sauce.


Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 3 hours
Ready in: 4 hours

Recipe Type
Main Dish, Poultry

Recipe Source
Source: BGE Forum, Richard Fl, 2007/04/15

05/22/07-Did another tonight- Only took 2 hours between 275F & 325F. Basted W/Italian Salad Dressing after the first hour. Temp for meat got to 170F and pulled after 2 hours. Used pecan chips for smoke, not soaked. covered with foil whole cook so as not to burn skin. Left the drip pan out of this cook, perhaps that is the reason for the shorter cook time.

thirdeye

I brine all my turkey and chicken breasts. A minimum of 24 hours on the turkey breasts. Following that, I let them sit in the beer fridge at least 6 hours for the skin to dry out a little, this loss of moisture helps for crisping.

An indirect set-up is way easier to cook with, You can cook at 325° or so until the internal gets to 145° or 150°, then close down your vents to allow it to sneek up to 160°, remove and rest. The temp will still rise above 165° during the rest. An alternate method is to start around 275° so the meat has some time to take on some smoke, then ramp up the temp toward the end of the cook for the benefit of the skin. Pull it off at 160°.

Time is the tough answer, a few degrees difference with the pit temp can really effect the cook time. It's better to watch the thermometer.

Cooking very raised direct is another option, but it requires more attention and some turning too. It's probably best to start off with the indirect set-up until you get the hang of it.

FlaPoolman

Thanks Richard & Thirdeye. Too late to brine but I'll go with the 300-325 range indirect.
Thanks for the help
Pat