Protein Pantry Pastrami-Style Turkey Breast

Ingredients

Turkey:

Spiced Brine:

Pastrami Rub:

Instructions

The Night Before:

  1. Put 1 quart of the water into a saucepan along with the brown sugar, salt, coriander, mustard seed, peppercorns, fennel, cinnamon, chile flakes, cloves, and bay leaves.
  2. Bring just to a simmer, stirring until the salt and sugar dissolve.
  3. Remove from the heat and add the remaining 1 quart cold water. Chill the brine completely.
  4. Put the turkey into a nonreactive container or large zip-top bag and pour the cold brine over it. Refrigerate 18-24 hours. USDA recommends keeping poultry refrigerated during brining.

Day of:

  1. Take the turkey out of the brine and discard the brine.
  2. Don't rinse the turkey. Just pat it extremely dry with paper towels.
  3. Mix all the rub ingredients and press the mixture generously over every surface of the breast.
  4. I don't think you need mustard or oil as a binder here. A slightly damp turkey surface should hold that coarse pepper-and-coriander mixture just fine.
  5. Into the smoker immediately
  6. Preheat to: 275°F
  7. I like a fairly restrained smoke for turkey. Apple, cherry, pecan, or a mild hickory would all work. I wouldn't bury this under mesquite.
  8. Put the breast and any tenderloins into the smoker.
  9. The original recipe smokes at 250°F and says it can take up to two hours. Moving to 275°F gives us some schedule insurance while still providing plenty of smoking time.

Cooking:

  1. Start checking the tenderloins after about 45 minutes. They're our secret weapon for the stream because they're likely to finish considerably before the breast.
  2. Check the breast beginning around 1 hour.
  3. Cook until the thickest part reaches 165°F. USDA's safe minimum temperature for poultry is 165°F.
  4. Remove and loosely tent with foil.
  5. Rest: 15-20 minutes
  6. For immediate tasting, slice thinly across the grain.
  7. Chill it before serious slicing
  8. Once cooled, refrigerate the breast until thoroughly cold — preferably overnight.
  9. A cold turkey breast will slice much thinner and cleaner than a warm one. If you've got a deli slicer, this is where it earns its keep.
  10. I would portion it into roughly 4-6 oz packages for refrigerator/freezer use.
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