Bacon Wrapped Turkey Breast Recipe
It’s that time of year where everyone starts looking for new turkey recipes for the holidays and this week I want to share with you my recipe for Bacon Wrapped Turkey Breast.
For this one I’m using a boneless turkey breast that you can find in most all grocery stores. Typically they come frozen, so you’ll need a little extra time to thaw in the refrigerator. Overnight should do the trick.
Once thawed, remove the turkey breast from the packaging and trim off the netting if present. This is used to maintain the shape of the breast since the bone has been removed. We’re going to use bacon to hold the breast shape because you can’t eat that netting and everyone knows bacon is delicious!
If you take the skin off, you’ll notice that both halves of the breast are present. Wrap the skin around both halves and place the breast in a shallow dish. Use your hands to shape the breast for now.
For added moisture I’m using my version of a butter injection. You can buy the creole butter injection from the store if you want, but it’s easy to make your own.
Creole Butter Injection:
- 1 can chicken broth
- 4 Tablespoons melted butter
- 2 Tablespoons Hot Sauce
- ½ teaspoon of Killer Hogs AP Rub (Salt, Pepper, & Garlic)
Mix the ingredients together and use as injection for Bacon Wrapped Turkey Breast. Shoot each side of the Turkey Breast with the injection moving the needle around in different spots. There’ll be some injection left over and some may even leak out of the breast. This is perfectly alright you just want to make sure you get plenty into the meat.
Season the outside skin of the turkey breast with a little more Killer Hog’s AP Rub. As in any of my recipes you can play with the flavors and make them your own. Adding different flavors to the injection or using different spices that go with poultry would be a good choice.
To make the “bacon netting” for the outside of the Bacon Wrapped Turkey Breast you’ll need about 1 ½ lbs of thick sliced bacon.
Use a sheet of parchment paper or wax paper and start weaving the slices of bacon together. Keep the slices as tight as possible to prevent gaps as it cooks.
Place the Turkey breast on a wire “chicken rack” and carefully center the bacon weave over the top. The parchment paper makes this task easy; just peel it off once the bacon is in place. Tuck the bacon edges under the breast as tight as possible to help keep the breast shape.
To smoke the breast you’ll need a grill or smoker set up for indirect cooking running at 300⁰. I’m using my Big Green Egg today, but any grill will work. Once the coals are ready, throw on 2-3 chunks of pecan wood for flavor.
The Turkey breast will cook on the wire rack the entire time. Just place it on the cooking grate as soon as the grill is up and running and close the lid.
Anytime you’re cooking turkey, internal temperature is the most important thing to monitor. White meat turkey needs to cook until an internal temp of 165⁰ is reached. Hold the smoker temp steady and cook the Bacon Wrapped Turkey Breast for 30 minutes. At this point you’ll need a good, wired probe thermometer to accurately measure internal temperature.
I’m using the new Smoke Thermometer from Thermoworks for this cook. If you haven’t seen the dude yet it’s probably because it’s brand new to the market. I really like what they’ve done with this thermometer. It’s the best wireless unit I’ve ever tried. Straight out of the box it is ready to roll.
As the breast cooks the bacon will begin to brown. Tent the Bacon Wrapped Turkey Breast with a sheet of aluminum foil once this happens to prevent it from getting too dark.
When the internal temperature hits 165⁰, remove the breast from the smoker and transfer it to your cutting board. Let it hang out for 10 minutes or so before carving.
You can slice this breast as thick or thin as you like. It’ll serve about 5-6 people and makes some killer Turkey Sandwiches!
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Bacon Wrapped Turkey Breast Recipe
Ingredients
- 4lb Boneless Turkey Breast (skin on)
- 1 ½ lbs Thick Sliced Bacon
- 14oz Chicken Broth
- 4 Tablespoons Butter melted
- 2 Tablespoons Hot Sauce
- 2 teaspoons Killer Hogs The AP Rub
Instructions
- Prepare Big Green Egg or other charcoal smoker for indirect cooking at 300⁰, add pecan wood chunks to the fire for smoke flavor.
- If necessary, thaw turkey breast in refrigerator for 24 hours. Remove Turkey breast from packaging. If present, remove netting from around the breast
- Combine Chicken Broth, Hot Sauce, melted butter, and ½ teaspoon of Killer Hogs The AP Rub
- Inject each half of Turkey breast with injection mixture. Season the outer skin with Killer Hogs The AP Rub.
- Arrange bacon slices on a sheet of parchment paper in a weave pattern.
- Place the Turkey breast on a wire rack
- Place the bacon weave over the turkey breast tucking the edges underneath the breast.
- Smoke the Turkey breast on the wire rack for 1 ½ hours or until internal temperature reaches 165⁰. As the bacon begins to brown tent the breast with aluminum foil to keep it from turning dark.
- Rest the Turkey Breast for 10 minutes on cutting board and slice into desired thickness.
Malcom Reed
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Bacon Wrapped Turkey Breast
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