Smoked Turkey Breast

When it comes to turkey, I prefer to cook pieces and parts rather than the whole bird. The legs, wings, and breasts are completely different in size, texture, and fat composition, so it’s really hard to cook a whole turkey and get the breasts fully done without turning the legs and wings to cardboard. But if you cook the pieces separately, it's a snap. (I'll post my recipe for smoked turkey legs a little later on—it's one of my favorites.)

Philosophically, in the name of maintaining control of ingredients and seasoning, I would prefer to cook a plain, raw turkey that hasn’t already been pre-brined or injected with flavoring. But those can be hard to find in your typical grocery store. The instructions here assume you are using a bone-in breast that is already brined in a salt solution.

If you are able to to find a natural, un-brined turkey you should dry brine (pre-salt) it first, sprinkling over it about one teaspoon of kosher salt for every pound of meat and letting it sit the refrigerator for two days before smoking. I skip that step with a pre-brined turkey since it's already been soaked in a salt solution.

Yes, you do have to plan several days ahead if you bought the turkey breast frozen, which is usually all I can find when it's not around Thanksgiving or Christmas . The package may say to allow one to three days in the refrigerator to thaw, but I’ve found I always need to go with the high end of the range. (The six-pound breast I cooked in the pictures accompanying this recipe was still fairly icy after two days and it needed a fully three to be fully thawed.)