turkey breasts for work

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MIKEMAC

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Just threw a couple of turkey breasts on the smoker for work tomorrow. I am trying some apple chips this time and a buttermilk brine that I got from the smoking-meat newsletter in my email this month. My question to anyone who can help is, once these breasts are done tonight, what is the best way for me to keep them til tomorrow at around noon? I want to impress my co-workers. Also my apple chips caught fire while I was warming up and had a nasty white, thick smoke which I waited to clear out. Am I using too much or is 240 degrees too hot for the apple chips. My hickory doesn't do this. Any help will be appreciated.
 
Ok, the smoke is under control and things are looking good. Only thing is, it's been a really long day and I forgot to oil the breasts before I put the rub on and put them on. Should this make any big difference?
 
Probably. We will have a gas grill at the shop tomorrow to warm things up. This is only my second time doing turkey and I kinda screwed the first one up. What are your thoughts? Warm on the grill or straight out of the fridge?
 
I would just serve it cold. Slice thin and serve with what ever sides you had planned.
 
Don't try to warm it up unless you have a vacuum sealer. If you do, remove the skin (it will not be any good anyways), seal it whole. Tomorrow drop the bag into a pot of gently boiling water for a few minutes to reheat, and slice. If you're serving as sammies, just slice cold.
 
Think I will serve it cold. Should I slice it up tonight while it's still warm or wait til tomorrow right before I serve it? I do have some 2.5 gallon ziplocks I can put them in or just wrap in foil overnight. Any suggestions on that?
 
Leave the breast whole and slice when cold. If you slice tonight you may lose too much moisture. Putting it in the ziplock bags overnight. I wouldn't use foil. That may dry out the breast.
 
Thank you all very much. These are kind of a test run for Thanksgiving. I do want my coworkers to enjoy what I make, but I really want to impress my family on Turkey day. They will get to eat it warm.
 
Here is what I do. We have a couple of electric roasters at our office. I have my turkey breasts wrapped in foil and put in fridge since pulling them off the egg the night before. I put them in the roasters with a little water in the bottom of the pan. That smoked turkey smell gets everybody stirred up the few hours before lunch. They are hot coming out of that roaster. Then slice and serve and obsorb all the compliments ;-) The previous poster is right about the skin; not a problem since the meat is awesome by itself.
 
Just an update. The turkey breasts turned out wonderful! I did serve them cold and removed the skin first. A couple of guys tried the skin and said it was kind of rubbery. One thing that I learned is that the top rack on my vertical smoker cooks faster than the bottom. I would have thought it would be different. I had the meat probe in the bottom breast and when it hit 159 degrees I thought I would check the top one. The coolest temperature I found in it was 167. That helps me for Thanksgiving dinner as I will now moniter the top breast throughout the cook and when it hits the desired temperature I will check the bottom one. I tried apple this time and it was delicious! I am trying today on a butt that has been on since 7 a.m.. Thank you all for your help.
 
Glad things worked out.:thumb: Butter-milk brine I do one myself. What herbs or spices do you add to the brine?
 
I kept it really simple. 1 gallon of rich buttermilk, 1 gallon of water, 2 cups of kosher salt and 6 tablespoons of Chef Paul Prudhomme's poultry magic. I am thinking of doing the exact same thing for Thursday because it was so good. I am very new to smoking and I haven't played around much with different rubs. Kinda scared to do it Thursday as I now have 23 people scheduled to be here.
 
I have been using kosmo's chicken soak it works. I cook my bird 300-325.
 
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