Competition Style Turkey Breast
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Ingredients
- 1 8 lb turkey breast, boneless
- 1 bottle barbecue rub
- 2 c barbecue sauce
- 1 gallon turkey brine
- Turkey Brine
- 10 c water
- 8 c apple juice
- 1 1/2 c kosher salt
- 1/2 c brown sugar
- 2 tbsp peppercorns
- 2 tbsp mustard seed
- 6 cloves of garlic
- 1 white onion, quartered
- Peel of 1 orange
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 1 tbsp all spice
Directions
Prep
Begin your competition-style turkey breast by trimming off some thicker silver skin on the turkey breast and any large pockets around the edges. Brine overnight in the fridge. Season liberally with your rub of choice.
Smoke
Smoke at 300°F until the turkey breast hits an internal temp of 145°F. Glaze the full exterior with your warmed barbecue sauce and allow the sauce to set as the turkey reaches 162°F. Be careful not to disrupt your rub as you brush.
Rest & Serve
Remove from smoker and allow to rest for about 20 minutes. During this time, the temp of the turkey will carry it over the 165°F mark. Slice turkey into strips about the width of a pencil and brush each side with more of the sauce. Arrange in your turn-in box or devour!
Check out this video to see how this recipe comes together!
Note From The Author
If you have spent much time around the BBQ competition circuit lately, you know the awesome stuff that @turkeysmokebbq has been doing! Competition barbecue for a long time has consisted of the big three proteins (pork, beef and chicken) but now there is a new bird in town.
These big birds equal big flavor and these days might even earn you some big money. The folks over at Turkey Smoke are expanding competitions all over the U.S. and offering both beginner and legendary pitmasters the chance to cook and compete with this amazing protein. To honor this, I wanted to put together my recipe for competition-style turkey breast and share some of the techniques that I have learned that could help you get a walk-up yourself.
-Jared Pullman, How Low Can You Slow
