It was a tough turkey season, between limited time and terrible weather, we fell short on most of our sits. The Ray boys (Greg and Eddie) finally got it done in Texas on one of our favorite ranches. It still wasn’t easy and it was just a jake that was curious about our calling but he ended up on our table which is what we were after!
This recipe/brine/glaze turned out great! The one thing I would have done differently is inject the bird with the brine as well. Even cooking on low in the smoker it can get dried out.
Give this one a try and let us know what you think.
We use RecTec pellet smokers/grills for all of our outdoor cooking and all of our wild game is processed using Made With Meat equipment.
Recipe by Greg Ray Hunted in Texas by Greg and Eddie Ray
For The Brine:
Ingredients:
- 1/2C Honey
- 1/2 C Bourbon (We used TX Bourbon)
- 1/2C Kosher Salt
- Orange Peel from 1 Orange
- Fresh Thyme
- Bay Leaves
For The Glaze:
Ingredients:
- 1/3C Honey
- 1/3C Orange Juice
- 1T Honey Mustard
- 1/2tsp Kosher Salt
- 3T Bourbon
Method:
For The Brine:
- Using half the water mix all ingredients together
- Simmer over Medium heat until honey and salt are dissolved
- Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
- Add the other half water
- Once water is completely cooled add skinned turkey breast. Make sure they are completely covered.
- Let brine for 12 to 24 hours
- Full disclosure, we poured half the mixture and all the spices/orange peels into two separate bags and utilized our chamber vac to help pull the brine into the meat
Method :
For The Glaze:
- Mix honey, all ingredients together and reduce to about half.
- You want the glaze to coat a spoon
- Apply part of the glaze before wrapping breast in foil
- Save other half for after the bird is fully cooked
For The Turkey:
- Pull the turkey from the brine
- Inject with part of the brine in the pan. (We left this step out for this particular bird and believe it would have put the moisture over the top)
- Pat dry and cover with favorite rub. We used Asian Persuasion because its profile matched really well with the brine and glaze
- Turn smoker on low, ours heated to 180F and place directly on the grill
- We smoked ours for 2.5 hours, added part of the glaze and then double wrapped in tin foil to help retain the moisture.
- Continue to cook until internal temp reaches 155F
- Flip breast over once, half way through this cooking section
- Open foil and let breast rest for 10 minutes
Tips:
Be sure to wrap tight in tin foil for the last part of cooking. You want to retain as much moisture as possible.
[wpurp-searchable-recipe]Honey Bourbon Wild Turkey – – – [/wpurp-searchable-recipe]
