Needs some smoking advice

[Gr8bawana]

I need some advice from you guys that have a lot more experience than me with smoking, I'm just a beginner.
I've got half a breast from a home grown turkey that weighs about 10lbs. The whole bird weighed 45-50lbs dressed out. I want to smoke the breast and I'm wondering if I should remove the fat cap on it. It ranges anywhere between 1/2 and 3/4 inches. Will it make any difference?
I'll be making a simple brine and wonder if the fat will affect the absorption of the brine.
Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Fink]

When I do wild turkeys, breast only, I remove all the fat. I don't mind eating beef fat, but I just really don't like the fat on turkey. Biggest concern with smoking a breast only, with or without the fat, is going to be to make sure you DO NOT overcook. USDA says done temp is 165. If you pull that at 165, you might as well eat shoe leather. Pull it a little early, let it rest, and it'll still be tender and moist.

 

[Hilltop]

I agree with Fink on all points. I wrap mine in bacon and pull it just under 160.

 

[ore hunter]

that sounds like a big bird!!

 

[Slugz]

Fink x 3. We do exactly the same thing.

 

[Stay Sharp]

In the future you will want to get a needle and inject the brine deep into the fibers. It speeds up the brining and it makes sure the brine gets all the way in and this method ensures a moist final product.

 

[Work2hunt]

I agree with Fink and with Stay Sharp on there points. I would like to add one more. After the "smoking" portion of the process I like to wrap my chicken and turkey in tin foil. This allows for a moister product and the meat does not come out nearly as dry. Again, add the tin foil after smoking when you are "cooking" the meat to get it to the final temperature.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

The question I have is: do you just want some "smoky" flavor or do you want to smoke & cook it together as one process?

When I have always done poultry, I just wanted some of the smoky flavor. I take a whole chicken, turkey breast or other game bird, brine it, smoke for a couple of hours at around 150 degrees. Then finish on the rotisarie (sp?) on the BBQ. I sometimes stuff the body cavity with chopped apples or even some veggies and sew up with on the spit. Wrap bacon around the outside, especially on breasts as the tend to dry out.

If you remove the "fat cap" you will probably lose some of the skin which seals in the juices. I also thing the fat as it cooks will tend to baste the meat. if you don't like the flavor of the fat, then remove it keeping as much skin as possible. You can experiment with a lot of different flavorings in addition to smoke. I add raw brown sugar to the brine and also change the amount of salt in the brine.

Good luck, hope everything goes well.

 

[buckbull]

I typically will inject the meat with apple cider (if available) or apple juice and then coat the meat with some olive oil and roll in a dry rub. Injecting with brine, juice, etc makes a big difference.

 

[Gr8bawana]

I finally got around to smoking this turkey breast. It's half a breast and weighed 7.1 lbs before cooking. I brined it overnight and gave it one batch of applewood smoke for about an hour then left it in the smoker @225 for a toal of 4 1/2 hours til it reached an internal temp of 157 degrees and rested it for about 25 minutes and it climbed up to 166 degrees.
This is what it looked like after I removed the fat cap. It's juicy and delicious and not overly smoky.
Thanks for all your advice, I am a newbie at smoking afterall.

 

[ivorytip]

Damn, I'm hungry! Fink, send me a Turkey

 

[Hilltop]

One other tip I do is pour a heavy beer into my "water" bowl instead of using water. It adds a nice touch to the final flavor imo.

 

[Gr8bawana]

One other tip I do is pour a heavy beer into my "water" bowl instead of using water. It adds a nice touch to the final flavor imo.

I did put beer in the water pan as you suggest. It does give things a nice flavor.

 

[Fink]

Damn, I'm hungry! Fink, send me a Turkey

Come to western Kansas in 31 days, and you can take home a stack of turkeys! We had cashew turkey tonight for dinner, it's the best way to do wild turkey!