# Boneless Turkey Breasts not as easy as I thought.



## Chiles (Jan 4, 2007)

Whew, I'm glad the holidays are over.  I signed up for a little more cooking than I intended.

The Turkey breasts I ordered turned out to be huge.  I ordered 20 boneless turkey breasts that were supposed to be between 4 and 7lbs each.  What arrived were pre-injected frozen balls of meat that weighed 10lbs.  Inside each ball were two breasts that were 5 lbs each!  OK, I can deal with it.  At least they included the skin wadded up on the bottom so I can reconstruct them.  I opted not to brine them because they were already injected.  I did rub them with a turkey rub I purchased on a post-thanksgiving sale.  With the mass of meat on my Lang 60, it took 6 hours at 300 degrees to bring them up to temp.  

They taste fantastic.  They were much better then I anticipated.  I still have three or four sitting in the freezer.    Take a peak at the temp differences from right to left, top to bottom of my cooker.


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## LarryWolfe (Jan 4, 2007)

Ahh one of my favorites, smoked turkey!!!  Wish I lived closer, I would have helped you eat them!!  Great looking boobs!!!!


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## Pigs On The Wing BBQ (Jan 4, 2007)

Pass me a Sammy please, looks great. Guess you know now where your hot spots are now on your pit.


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## Finney (Jan 4, 2007)

Looks good to me.  I'll take one of those sandwiches.


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## zilla (Jan 4, 2007)

Great job on a large cook man.  That can be tough to pull off.  If you would like to improve the finished color of those breasts just loosely wrap each breast in a double layer of well oiled cheese cloth. It catches a lot of the air borne particles that discolor the skin.  The results are impressive


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## wittdog (Jan 4, 2007)

Nice job that's a whole lotta turkeys..


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## Cliff H. (Jan 4, 2007)

I have been looking at the Lang site and also spoke with kickassbbq about his pit.

Do you have any issues with the pit itself ?

Would you buy another reverse flow ?


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## john pen (Jan 4, 2007)

Thats a lot of bird...good job !


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## john a (Jan 4, 2007)

A whole lotta cooking going on, looking good. Is that a ginger ale in the first pic?


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## Chiles (Jan 4, 2007)

I can honestly say at this point, having cooked in the last few months: 

200lbs of turkey
80lbs of ribs
four beer can chickens
21 racks of ribs
120 lbs of Boston Butts
6lbs of beef briskett

I really cannot see anything I would do different or could do to improve the Lang.  For the price, it is really well made.  Twice now I would have liked to have the Lang 84 vs the little 60 that I have.  I am limited on garage space so the 60 will do for now.  The lange is real forgiving on temp variations.  The temp holds very steady.  I have found that as long as I do not overload it, I can move items from right to left during the cooking process and have everything finnish at the same time.  I can also put the chickens on the firebox side and ribs on the cooler side.   I still have a loooong way to go, but I think now that I found this site... I am on the right track.

Food porn for the masses.

Chiles


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## Chiles (Jan 4, 2007)

Oops, almost forgot...

That was Jack Daniels and Northern Neck Gingerale in the first pic.  My personal favorite.

Chiles


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## Cliff H. (Jan 4, 2007)

Thanks for that info.


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## Nick Prochilo (Jan 4, 2007)

Whew, that's a lot of turkey!


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## Smokey_Joe (Jan 4, 2007)

Chiles said:
			
		

> I can honestly say at this point, having cooked in the last few months:
> 
> 200lbs of turkey
> 80lbs of ribs
> ...



That's about 480 lbs. of JUST BBQ'd things.... are you the cook for the U.S. ARMY ? or a large restaraunt ?

Who Q's that much food in a few months..(3 ?).. and for what reason ?


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## Chiles (Jan 4, 2007)

Smokey Joe,
When I first got the Lang, I was so exited that I had a cookout at the house.  That was 2 boston butts, 3 racks of ribs the briskette and two beer can chickens.  Oh yeah, and 8 chicken leg / theigh quarters.  I listened to everyones review and started focusing on what I liked to cook and what people liked to eat best.  Three weeks later I was invited to bring my cooker to one of my guests homes and cook for their open house / daughters birthday party.  8 boston butts and another 3 racks of ribs later... lets just say that this process has repeated itself several times.  180lbs of the turkey alone was for christmas presents.  I vacuum sealed them and one of my buddys and I had 20 each to deliver to friends, relatives and co-workers.  The rest is history.  Each time I fire up the cooker I put on ribs because people like them the best.  Twice I have cooked and had the ribs completely dissapear before I even had one.  

That's why I do it.  Strictly for fun and to watch people smile while they eat.  Most of my guy friends are in the 250 plus pound club so we can put away a lot of food.  Computers pay the bills, food and friends are what I want to do on the weekends.

Speaking of which... 

How long is a turkey breast good for in the fridge if it was vacuum sealed as soon as it was cool?

Chiles


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## Nick Prochilo (Jan 4, 2007)

Chiles said:
			
		

> Smokey Joe,
> When I first got the Lang, I was so exited that I had a cookout at the house.  That was 2 boston butts, 3 racks of ribs the briskette and two beer can chickens.  Oh yeah, and 8 chicken leg / theigh quarters.  I listened to everyones review and started focusing on what I liked to cook and what people liked to eat best.  Three weeks later I was invited to bring my cooker to one of my guests homes and cook for their open house / daughters birthday party.  8 boston butts and another 3 racks of ribs later... lets just say that this process has repeated itself several times.  180lbs of the turkey alone was for christmas presents.  I vacuum sealed them and one of my buddys and I had 20 each to deliver to friends, relatives and co-workers.  The rest is history.  Each time I fire up the cooker I put on ribs because people like them the best.  Twice I have cooked and had the ribs completely dissapear before I even had one.
> 
> That's why I do it.  Strictly for fun and to watch people smile while they eat.  Most of my guy friends are in the 250 plus pound club so we can put away a lot of food.  Computers pay the bills, food and friends are what I want to do on the weekends.
> ...



You and Larry could be best friend!


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## Gary in VA (Jan 4, 2007)

Great looking cook Chiles.  I will admit turkeys are not my specialty... I just raise em so I don't cook and eat them much.  go figure.

Just one of those things I haven't practiced enough... I have done a few for people and they liked them.. I just need to practice and put my own twist on them.


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## Rub the Butt (Jan 4, 2007)

I imagine it took alotta beer to support that much cookin ! LOL

______________________

Todd
Rub the Butt BBQ

Custom offset stick burner


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## Bill The Grill Guy (Jan 4, 2007)

Chiles said:
			
		

> How long is a turkey breast good for in the fridge if it was vacuum sealed as soon as it was cool?
> 
> Chiles



I tell my clients that smoked turkeys are good for 10 days in the fridge.  Some people freeze them.  I wouldnt, due to drying them out but the vac bags may keep that from happnin.

Nice cook there.  LOVE the pics.


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## Puff1 (Jan 4, 2007)

Chiles, that is alot of bird you got goin' on  
Thanks for all the info on the cooker


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## Finney (Jan 4, 2007)

Nick Prochilo said:
			
		

> Chiles said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Except Larry hates computers.  :P


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## LarryWolfe (Jan 5, 2007)

Bill The Grill Guy said:
			
		

> I tell my clients that smoked turkeys are good for 10 days in the fridge.  Some people freeze them.  I wouldnt, due to drying them out but the vac bags may keep that from happnin.



My father would agree with you 100% about the turkeys being good for 10 days in the fridge.  [smilie=a_holyshit.gif]  

However in no way would I never think about eating a turkey or anyother type of meat that has been in the fridge for 5 days, much less 10, unless it was cured.  That's just my opinion though, plus I don't wanna get sick or make anyone else sick.

I stopped selling whole smoked turkeys to people unless I could cook it the day before they planned on eating it.  I've now switched to vacuum sealing and freezing the cut up bird and the customers seem to like it even better.  They receive 4 bags from a whole turkey, two bags each containing half the breast, one bag with 2 legs and 1 bag with thigh meat and wings for soups.  They say they really prefer this because most people don't eat a whole turkey in on setting.  I have a single mother that orders turkeys on a regular basis that pops a bag containing the half breast in a pot of water when she gets home and her and her daughter have dinner and then sandwiches for lunch the next day.  Make it real convenient.  

BTW, vacuum sealing and freezing keeps the turkey as moist as it was when you cooked it.  However, overheating it in a boiling water for too long will overcook it and dry it out.


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## Chiles (Jan 5, 2007)

Mike,
Thanks for the information.  

I work in Columbus, Ohio during the week and spend time in Dayton at Wright Patt.  Ever been to City BBQ in  Columbus?

Chiles


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