We have a small crowd this year, so I’m doing a free range boneless breast roast from Flannery. The roast is 4.5 lbs, and it has been dry brining since last night. I plan to BBQ it tomorrow - indirect heat, but I can’t find a definitive answer on what internal temp to pull it for a moist bird. I’ve seen everything from 160 to 175.
Any thoughts?
if it’s boneless breast, take it off at 145 and tent it loosely and let rest for 20+ minutes. with a big breast (that’s what she said) there will be significant carryover cooking (keep a probe thermometer in it the whole time to keep track). also, the brining will hasten the cooking. it goes from perfect to dry very quickly.
also, slice against the grain for best texture.
I cooked a brined, boneless turkey breast last weekend on the Weber Kettle, 4 1/2 pounds. Ran it indirect over actual hardwood hickory and not charcoal. I pulled it off the rig at 160 deg F and it was absolutely amazing. Great flavor due to hardwood and very, very moist due to brining. 145 is too low for poultry, regardless of carry over heat IMNSHO.
I’m with Tex. 155 to allow for carryover cooking maybe, but 145 is simply too low.
I agree somewhere between 155-165 and you should be golden
Thanks guys! 160 sounds about right, so I’ll pull it then.
Tex, how long did it take last weekend? I’m estimating 2 hours if I keep the fire small to hold a cooking temp of about 325.
If you need to push up the temps, like if you are running behind you can always foil it and it will cook much faster. We do this with pork butts, ribs and brisket if we are pushing a time limit and need it to speed up the process.
Right at two hours and 325 is the right temp.
The challenge with turkey is that the white meat is best in the 160-165 range and the dark meat is much better in the 170-175 range. The challenge is how to get the dark meat there without drying out the white meat. The Joy of Cooking (or maybe it is Cooks Illustrated) has an interesting technique where you cook the bird on its side (flipping every 30 minutes) so that the legs are in contact with the bottom of the (non-stick) roasting pan and cook more quickly. It actually works pretty well if your bird is in the 10-14 pound range.
160 was they way to go. It coasted to 165 while under tin foil. This was the most flavorful and moist turkey that I’ve ever had. I added a few cardamom seeds and thyme to the dry brine - both of which came through extremely well in the cooked meat.
As usual, Flannery products do not disappoint!
Sweet.
I ended up with the dark meat at 172. It was perfectly moist throughout the whole bird
I turned off our oven when when the Spanish Black’s thigh reached 150F (about an hour and 15 minutes}; it was held in the slowly cooling oven for 30 minutes and then tented under foil on the carving board for another 30 minutes. This gave enough time to finish the beets, beet greens, potatoes, and gravy. The small breast was still moist and the leg/thigh were done adequately.
Cooked the largest turkey in a turkey roaster. Hit 165 internal on middle of the breast, other temps were above that. Let it sit for 30 minutes and carved. Perfect moist buzzard, works every time.
One of the reasons I love brining the turkey is that you can push the final cooked temps a bit and still have a flavorful, moist turkey breast at 165 or 170.
Bruce
Sorry off topic Bill is that pic pre or post child for her???
About ten years pre.