Texas-Style Smoked Turkey Breast
This Texas-style smoked turkey breast is brined for juiciness, smoked over post oak for an incredible flavor, and is finished in a ghee wrap for perfectly moist meat that's never dried out. You'll love its heavy pepper bark! Enjoy at Thanksgiving or use leftover meat for sliders and sandwiches.
Equipment
- Knitted Gloves
- leave-in probe thermometer recommended but optional
Ingredients
For the Brine (Optional)
- 1 gallon cold filtered water
- ½ cup kosher salt
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
- 2 cloves garlic
For the Texas-Style Rub
- 2 tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoon coarse black pepper
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon paprika optional for color
For the Turkey
- 1 whole turkey breast 5-10 pounds, either bone-in or boneless
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil or melted ghee to bind the rub to the meat
- ½ cup unsalted butter or ghee for wrapping
Instructions
Making the Brine (Optional)
- Bring 1 cup of the water to simmer with salt, sugar, bay leaves, peppercorns, and garlic until dissolved. Add the remaining cold water and cool completely.
- Submerge turkey breast in the brine, weighing it down with a plate if it floats to the top. Refrigerate for 4-12 hours.
- Rinse the turkey breast to remove the excess salt from the brine, then pat it completely dry with paper towels. This ensures you'll get a crispy skin and great bark.
Seasoning the Meat
- Make the rub by combining the salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika in small bowl.
- Coat turkey breast with avocado oil or ghee. Apply the seasoning rub liberally all over, pressing it into the meat. Let the turkey sit at room temperature for 20-30 minutes before smoking.
- Meanwhile, preheat your smoker to 250°F with post oak, hickory, or pecan wood. For a pellet grill, set it to 250°F and load your hopper with post oak, hickory, or pecan pellets. For an offset or charcoal smoker, build a clean-burning fire and add post oak, hickory, or pecan wood chunks. Adjust your vents to hold 250°F steady.
Smoking the Turkey Breast
- Place turkey breast skin side up (or smooth side up for boneless) on the smoker grate over the drip pan. Insert a leave-in probe thermometer into the thickest part. Smoke unwrapped until the internal temperature reaches 140°F, about 1.5-2.5 hours depending on size. Don't open the lid every 15 minutes; this slows down the cooking time.
- Lay out two sheets of heavy-duty aluminum foil on a work surface, overlapping them so they're big enough to wrap around the turkey breast. Remove the turkey from the smoker when it reaches 140°F. Working quickly so it doesn't cool down too much, place the meat on the foil and pour the melted ghee over the top and sides. Wrap the foil tightly around the meat to seal in the ghee.
- Return wrapped turkey to smoker. (You can bump the temp up to 275°F at this point if you want it to finish faster.) Smoke until its internal temperature reaches 158°F, another 45-60 minutes.
Resting & Serving
- Remove turkey at 158°F, then set it in a cooler or on a cutting board to rest for 20-30 minutes while wrapped. During this time, carryover heat will bring its internal temp to 165°F. If you skip this step and slice into the turkey right away, all the juices will run out onto the cutting board and the meat will be drier. Resting it for 20-30 minutes lets the juices settle back into the meat.
- Unwrap the turkey and slice it ½ inch thick with a sharp knife. If it's bone-in, cut along the bone to remove the meat in one piece, then slice it. If it's boneless, just slice it directly.
- Serve Texas-style on white bread with onions, pickles, and jalapeños, or use for Turkey Bacon Pesto Sliders.
Notes
- Brining is optional, but is recommended for larger breasts.
- Pull at 158°F and let carryover bring it to 165°F during rest—don't overcook or it'll dry out.
- The ghee wrap at 140°F is the key to juicy meat. Save the ghee and juices from the foil for gravy or basting.
- For a traditional taste, I recommend smoking with post oak, but hickory or pecan work great.
- Be sure to use wood chunks or splits, not chips, as chips burn too fast and produce inconsistent smoke. Chunks smolder for hours and give you steady, clean smoke. For a 2.5-4 hour cook, you'll need 3-4 chunks added throughout the smoke.
Nutrition
Serving: 1servingCalories: 198kcalCarbohydrates: 12gProtein: 15gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 54mgSodium: 6032mgPotassium: 224mgFiber: 1gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 311IUVitamin C: 0.3mgCalcium: 43mgIron: 1mg
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