Smoked Turkey Breast Recipe

When you are doing a Thanksgiving dinner on a small scale, then a turkey breast is the perfect choice. A turkey breast along with a few good sides cannot only be delicious but it is also a lot less stressful and faster than doing a huge traditional style Thanksgiving dinner. This recipe is made by Rus Jones from Smoky Ribs BBQ using our Slow 'N Sear® Kettle Grill.

Ingredients

• 7 lb bone-in or boneless turkey breast
• Poultry seasoning, or as an option, you can use kosher salt only to dry brine
• Not Just For Beef Rub
• 2 sticks of butter
• Vegetables of your choice for side dishes

Prep

If you choose a bone in turkey breast as I did in this video, then the night before, you want to remove the small neck bone/back bone as shown in the video so the breast lays flat. Work your hand under the skin carefully as to not rip or puncture the skin. Work the skin back until the entire breast is exposed. Use the poultry seasoning of your choice or kosher salt to put an even layer all over the breast and the back as well. Stretch the skin back over the breast. Place on on wire rack on a cookie sheet and place into the refrigerator over night or at least 12 hours.

Once the turkey has been dry brined, remove it from the refrigerator and inject warm butter all into the breast, making injections about 1 inch apart. Take your hand and rub the butter on the skin from the injection to use as a binder. Now use the “Not Just For Beef” rub and put a light layer all over the turkey including the bottom.

Cook

Set up the SNS kettle grill to run at 275°F and place a few small chunks of smoking wood of your choice. Have the Drip 'N Griddle in place under the elevated cooking rack. Once you have dialed in the 275°F, place the turkey breast on the elevated rack. Insert a thermometer probe into the deepest part of the turkey breast to monitor internal temperature.

Once the internal temperature reaches 90°F in the turkey breast, place the vegetables on the roasting rack and put into the Drip & Griddle directly below the turkey breast.

Continue to smoke the turkey until it hits an internal temperature of 160°F. Remove the turkey breast and wrap tightly in aluminum foil and let rest. As an option you can wrap the vegetables in aluminum foil to reduce the amount of smoke and speed up the cooking process. Each recipe for the sides I made in this video are listed below.

Smoky Mashed Potatoes
Once the 8 potatoes are completely tender (Option: wrap them in foil after 1 hour of smoke), transfer them into a bowl and mash them with a potato masher. Add in a few knobs of butter and a 1/4 cup of heavy cream. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.

Smoked Candied Carrots
Once the 6 carrots are completely tender (Option: wrap in foil after 1 hour of smoke), dice them up into coins. In a pot on low heat, add in the carrots, 1/4 cup butter, 1/4 cup honey, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp of cinnamon, salt to taste.

Smoked Green Beans
Toss cleaned green beans in olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. (Beans will have a better taste and texture, if wrapped in foil after one hour of smoke). Let cook until fully tender.

Turkey Gravy
Since we used turkey breast with no renderings we elected to use a store bought turkey gravy packet. It was actually really good. Just follow the directions on the packet.

Enjoy!