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Smoked Turkey Breast
Smoked Turkey Breast
When I see a bone in turkey breast on sale for $.99/lb, I hop on that shit. You can pay up to $10/lb for good quality smoked turkey deli meat; so why not make it at home for a fraction of the price. Even if you don’t have a smoker, you can still brine the breast and roast it in the oven at 325 degrees for 15 minutes per lbs. The internal temp needs to read 165 degrees.Most bone in turkey breasts will weigh between 6-8lbs. For maximum flavor, I like to brine my turkey breasts for 12 hours; pretty much overnight. The turkey breast will need to be pat dry and let to rest at room temp for at least an hour before smoking. If you want to add anymore seasonings to the outside of the breast such as Cajun, lemon pepper, mix herbs, honey, etc, do so now. I left mine plain since there is plenty of flavor in the brine.The nice thing about poultry is that it will take on the flavor of whatever wood chips you choose gor smoking. I used a combination of oak and cherrywood. Smoke the turkey breast at 250 degrees for 3 hours. At the 3 hour mark of smoking, use a probe thermometer to monitor the internal temperature in the thickest part of the breast. You want the thermometer to read 165 degrees. Depending on the size of the breast, this can take an additional 15 minutes – 1 hour. Let the turkey breast rest for 30 minutes before serving.
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
- Probe Thermometer
Ingredients
- bone in turkey breast 6-8lbs
Brine
- 1 gallon water
- 1 cup sea salt
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 head garlic minced
- 1/2 medium onion chopped
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 1 tbsp thyme
Wood Chips
- oak wood chips
- cherrywood chips
Instructions
- Mix all of the brining ingredients together. Place the turkey breast in a gallon sized storage bag. Pour in the brine. Brine for 12 hours.
- Pat the turkey breast dry with paper towels. Let sit at room temp an hour before smoking.
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees according to the manufacturer’s directions. Place the turkey in the smoker. Smoke for 3 hours.
- At the 3 hour mark of smoking, use a probe thermometer to monitor the internal temperature in the thickest part of the breast. You want the thermometer to read 165 degrees. Depending on the size of the breast, this can take an additional 15 minutes – 1 hour.
- Let the turkey breast rest for up to 30 minutes before slicing.
Tips For Smoking A Bone-In Turkey Breast
- Brine bone in turkey breasts for 12 hours.
- Pat dry and let rest at room temp for at least an hour before smoking.
- If you want to add anymore seasonings to the outside of the breast such as cajun, lemon pepper, mix herbs, honey, etc, do so now.
- Smoke the turkey breast at 250 degrees for 3 hours. At the 3 hour mark of smoking, use a probe thermometer to monitor the internal temperature in the thickest part of the breast. You want the thermometer to read 165 degrees. Depending on the size of the breast, this can take an additional 15 minutes – 1 hour.
- Let the turkey breast rest for up to 30 minutes before slicing.
Alder Wood Hot Smoked Salmon
Alder Wood Hot Smoked Salmon
Smoked salmon is one of my absolute favorite foods, but it is god damn expensive for good quality. Now that I own a smoker, I can make smoked salmon for a fraction of the price. But what type of salmon do you want to smoke? Farm raised Norwegian Salmon is my favorite. It is rich and fatty and ideal for smoking. If you want to try something similar to Norwegian salmon but a little bit fancier, I would recommend using king salmon. Sockeye, coho, and keta salmon can also be smoked, but they have less fat content and tend to be a little dryer. That’s really up to what you are looking for.I purchased a whole side of salmon and cut it into 4-6 oz fillets. They will take less time to smoke this way instead of leaving the fillets whole. They got put into a basic brine of sea salt and brown sugar for 4 hours. After that, pat them dry with paper towels. They will need to dry out more in the refrigerator for another hour. If you want to have a specific flavor to the salmon other than plain, season them now. I seasoned half with gochugaru pepper and the other with minced garlic and cracked black pepper.Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Once smoking, throw in the salmon and turn down to 225 degrees. Using a probe thermometer to monitor the internal temperature, smoke until the fillets reach 150 degrees. This will take about 90 minutes. Pull the salmon from the smoker and let cool for 15 minutes before serving. The salmon will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week; 6 months in the freezer.
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
- Probe Thermometer
Ingredients
- 3-4 lbs farm raised salmon fillet cut into 4-6 oz fillets
Brine
- 1/2 gallon water
- 1/2 cup sea salt
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
Gochugaru Smoked Salmon
- gochugaru pepper flakes
Garlic Pepper Smoked Salmon
- 1 head garlic minced
- cracked black pepper
Wood Chips
- alder wood chips
Instructions
- Mix the brine ingredients together.
- Place the salmon fillets in a gallon sized storage bag with the brine. Brine the salmon for 4 hours.
- After brining, pat the salmon dry with paper towels. To make gochugaru smoked salmon, season the fillets with gochugaru pepper. To make garlic pepper smoked salmon, spread a layer of minced garlic over the salmon fillets. Season with cracked black pepper. Let the salmon dry out more on a rack, in the refrigerator for an hour.
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Once hot and smoking, place the salmon in the smoker. Turn the smoker down to 225 degrees. Using a probe thermometer to monitor the internal temperature, smoke until the salmon reaches 150 degrees. This will take around 90 minutes.
Tips For Smoking Salmon
- Farm raised salmon works best for smoking.
- Cut a whole fillet into 4-6 oz portions to allow for faster smoking time.
- Brine salmon fillets for 4 hours, max.
- Pat dry fillets with paper towels. If adding additional seasoning, do so now. Allow to dry out more on a rack in the refrigerator for an hour.
- Alder wood, cedar, applewood, cherrywood, hickory, and peach wood are all great for smoking salmon.
- Maintain a smoking temp between 200-225 degrees.
- Using a probe thermometer to monitor the internal temperature, smoke until the salmon reaches 150 degrees.
- Let rest for 15 minutes before serving.
Brazilian Style Collard Greens
Brazilian Style Collard Greens
When you think of collard greens, you think of how they are prepared down south: stewed with ham hocks or smoked turkey, cut with a little bit of vinegar. If you go further south, like South America, you will find that collard greens are sautéed with a ton of garlic. The Brazilian way is to cook them with diced bacon. This way of preparation only takes 10 minutes opposed to multiple hours of stewing. Collard greens pair great with any meat, especially feijoada.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 5 strips bacon chopped
- 2 bunches collard greens washed and chopped
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat up cooking oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Cook the bacon until 3/4 of the way through.
- Add in the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Toss in the collard greens and sauté for 3-4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Hickory Applewood Smoked Bacon
Tips For Smoking Bacon Pat your pork belly dry before dry rubbing. Do not skip adding the pink curing salts to the dry rub. Without them, you will just have smoked pork belly and not bacon. Store and cure the bellies in gallon sized storage …