Note from Seth: This post is sponsored by Gridiron Metal Works. Derrick is cool—just try not to think about the fact that shot-blocking centers are Michigan poison and his Boilers have a former hockey player who’s like 7’6”. Also try to think about the fact that Derrick sponsors this article and makes some bad-ass officially licensed grilling and decor products, where “makes” in this sentence actually means “CUTS HIGH-QUALITY STEEL WITH PRECISION LASERS,” so you can do your alma mater proud for years to come. Check out his stuff at gridironmetal.com, and maybe accidentally drop that link where people who buy you holiday gifts are looking.

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This recipe is a 3 for 1 kinda thing. I had a few days off work (Finally) and had some fun with a few turkey breasts. If you can find a local butcher that has boneless turkey breasts or if you can remove them from the whole turkey yourself, you are in good shape. I found these at my local Costco and they were fantastic. Whenever I eat at a BBQ restaurant, I ALWAYS order 2 things. First is brisket (This is where BBQ joints are judged for me) and smoked turkey breast. I know I am in the minority, but there is something about a perfectly smoked turkey breast that hits home with me. Go get yourself a few breasts and make things easy on Turkey day, then have some fun with the leftovers on GAMEDAY. Thanks again Derrick and GRIDIRONMETAL for sponsoring these posts.

INGREDIENTS :

• 2-5 LB Turkey Breast. (Boneless)
• Unsalted Butter
• Kosher Salt and Coarse Ground Pepper (1 part salt & 2 parts pepper)
• Mayo

[After THE JUMP: THANKS.]

DIRECTIONS:

Fire up your smoker until it hits 275 – 300 internal degrees. Add a few chunks of Pecan or Apple wood for this one. As the smoker is getting up to your desired temp, let’s prep the turkey breast. It couldn’t be any easier. I fired up my tailer Pit and my Kamado Joe for this one and a fun little experiment.

The turkey breast should come with the skin attached. Go ahead and remove this. Keep if for some turkey stock later, especially if you kept the rest of the carcass. It’s easy to do, just grab the skin and pull. If you need some help, grab a sharp knife and go to town.

I went at it with the awesome new knife of mine. A guy made it for me with a spine and skull combo and hand painted it with the winged helmet look on the skull. Added some Maize and Blue specs in the handle.

I like to remove this extra layer of skin as well. It’s not mandatory, but I like to keep it clean. Typically, I would refer to this as silver skin, but I don’t think this is really silver skin as it’s too thin and easy to pull apart. Go ahead and remove if you have the time. It only takes a few extra seconds.

Now give it a small slather of mayo to act as a binder and help keep our bird moist. This should only take a tablespoon or so per side, so you don’t need much. You will not taste this once the bird is done. It helps as a binder with the rub and also helps keep the bird juicy.

Now give it a healthy dose of your 1 part salt and 2 parts pepper rub. “Creeper” is always looking on from the background.

Today’s working space. I’m enjoying a little Traverse City Barrel Proof on this chilly day to help battle the dropping temps. It’s nearing 50. I do miss the winters up north.

Back to the cooking. Throw the turkey breast on the 275 degree pit and let her go for about 2 hours. We want the bark to set and get a nice color before our next step. This grate from GRIDIRONMETAL is still going strong and still looks beautiful after a few solid weeks of cooking on it. This thing is fantastic.

I also put one in my trailer pit and let it run for a few hours. This one will go pure TEXAS style and get nothing but Salt, Pepper, Butter and smoke. As you can see from the color below, this starts to hit that sexy brown color around the 90 minute mark.

Once the turkey breast hits about 145 degrees internal and the bark is set, it’s time to introduce the butter to the mix. You can go 2 routes on this next step. The first is the easiest and most common way to go. Melt some butter in the smoker and start the drizzle process.

Do not touch the turkey breast with the butter baster. We don’t want to remove any of that salt and pepper bark we worked so hard to get. Just let it drizzle over the top. If you want to put a foil boat around it, go ahead.

Continue drizzling until the turkey breast hits 160 degrees internal. I hit it about every 30 mins from 145 to 160 degrees internal. At 160 degrees, you can remove from the heat and loosely wrap in foil to rest. Look at that S & P bark below. Perfect!!!

The TEXAS Turkey breast is done a little differently, but yields even better results. Just my opinion. Remove the breast from the pit once the turkey reaches 150 degrees internal. As you can see below. We have great color and the bark is set.

Place 4 pats of unsalted butter on the foil. Place the turkey breast TOP SIDE DOWN or the side you removed the skin from. Make sure that is facing down and sitting on top of 4 pats of butter. Now, place 4 more pats of butter on the other side and wrap up tightly with foil. Place back on the pit and let go until it reaches 160 degrees internal. The top side should be facing down on the pit. This will only take about another hour to finish. The total cook time for this breast is about 3 hours.

When the TB hits 160 internal, remove from the heat and let rest for an hour. As you can see below, the color is there and it smell fantastic.

After letting rest for an hour, you can start slicing. You can see a slight pink smoke ring along the edges. This is from the cherry wood and pairs well with a gobbler.

As you can see, the salt and pepper and butter combo turns out a pretty and pretty tasty combo. These are great on sandwiches and also great in some leftover ideas.

I also tossed some leftover turkey into a pot pie and put it in into the pizza oven. This is not a bad way to enjoy leftovers.

But my favorite way to enjoy turkey day leftovers is to put it into a FATTIE and smoke it. Trust me, you will love this idea. I did this recipe a few years back and you can click on it here to see what we did. So TASTY!!! Click here for this Turkey Day FATTIE recipe. Don’t forget the gravy.

Now go enjoy the week with your family and let me know if try any of these recipes. Stay warm and enjoy The Game. GO Blue!!!! Follow me on Instagram at @GOBLUEBBQ for more fun recipes and Michigan chats.