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If you’re not cooking for a large crowd for Thanksgiving, roasting a whole turkey might seem like such a waste. This brined roasted turkey breast might bethe best option for you!
Brined Roasted Turkey Breast
We love turkey and we find ourselves roasting or barbecuing some all year round. Because let’s be honest here, turkey isn’t just for Thanksgiving and Christmas! But turkey can dry out even if you cook it low and slow. Plus, most times a whole turkey is a bit too much for us, it’s just not justifying the time and efforts involved. This brined roasted turkey breast recipe will solve all problems.
Brining will add moisture and if you add flavoring to your brine, it will give you a deliciously flavored turkey meat too. A brined roasted turkey breast will turn out tender and juicy on the inside, with a beautiful, slightly crisp skin if you decide to keep the skin on. As I’m watching calories these days, I removed the skin but the outside of my turkey breast still got the right amount of crispiness, just as I needed.
As for the rub in this brined turkey breast recipe, I used chili and paprika powder, dry thyme, black pepper, sugar and brown sugar but you could obviously adapt it to your liking. I think a little orange zest would also work wonders to this recipe. And don’t even get me started on garlic! If you are a garlic freak as myself, you know what I’m talking about; pure heaven!
So if you’re looking for some versatile, flavorful turkey recipe, this brined roasted turkey breast is it. Give it a try, you will want to make this over and over again, not just at Thanksgiving! We served this with a cranberry orange sauce which recipe I’ll be sharing tomorrow, so stay tuned.
Brined Roasted Turkey Breast Recipe
Ingredients:
For the brine:
1/3 cup salt
1 cup boiling water
1 cup ice cubes
cold water to cover turkey
3 lbs turkey breast, boneless and skinless (you can keep both bone and skin on if you prefer)
For the rub:
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika powder
1 tsp dry thyme powder
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp vegetable oil
cranberry orange sauce for serving (recipe follows)
Place salt and boilingwater in a tall pot. Stir until salt dissolves. Add ice cubes and stir until water is cold. Place turkey in pot and add enough cold water to cover. Stir brine around turkey, cover pot and refrigerate overnight (anything between 12 and 24 hrs works).
Preheat oven to 350 C = 180 C
Make the rub: mix dry ingredients, in a bowl then stir in oil.
Remove turkey from brine and pat dry with paper towels. Rub spice mixture over breast then place in foil pan.
Place pan in the middle of the ovenand cook for about 1 1⁄2 hours, bastingevery half an hour.
Remove turkey to a cutting board and let rest for 20 minutes before slicing.
Serve with cranberry orange sauce.
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5 from 8 votes
Brined Roasted Turkey Breast
Author: Petro Neagu
Ingredients
For the brine:
1/3cupsalt
1cupboiling water
1cupice cubes
cold water to cover turkey
3lbsturkey breastboneless and skinless (you can keep both bone and skin on if you prefer)
For the rub:
1tspchili powder
1tsppaprika powder
1tspdry thyme powder
1tspsugar
1tspbrown sugar
1/2tspground black pepper
1tbspvegetable oil
cranberry orange sauce for servingrecipe follows
You will also need:
tall pot
foil pan
basting brush
Instructions
Place salt and boiling water in a tall pot. Stir until salt dissolves. Add ice cubes and stir until water is cold. Place turkey in pot and add enough cold water to cover. Stir brine around turkey, cover pot and refrigerate overnight (anything between 12 and 24 hrs works).
Preheat oven to 350 C = 180 C
Make the rub: mix dry ingredients, in a bowl then stir in oil.
Remove turkey from brine and pat dry with paper towels. Rub spice mixture over breast then place in foil pan.
Place pan in the middle of the oven and cook for about 1 1?2 hours, basting every half an hour.
Remove turkey to a cutting board and let rest for 20 minutes before slicing.
For flavorful, juicy meat and rich, crisp skin, brine the breast, loosen its skin, and roast it on high, then moderately low heat. The challenge: Even for those who love turkey, roasting a whole bird is often more than people want to take on. Roasting a breast is a more manageable undertaking.
And if you're wondering, no—you don't need to rinse the bird, whether it's been dry-brined or wet-brined, before adding more seasoning and roasting. Again, the bird needs to be dry, and Youngman also notes "it's not particularly sanitary to wash meat in the sink."
Brining for too long can result in meat that tastes overly-salty and has a spongy texture. If you're not ready to roast the bird after 18 hours, remove it from the brine, rinse it, pat it dry, and refrigerate for up to two days.
Safely discard brine. Either rinse your turkey under running water or let it sit in a pot or sink of cold water for 10 minutes to remove excess salt. After rinsing or soaking, thoroughly pat turkey dry with paper towels. Then, cook according to your preferred cooking method.
Place your bone-in turkey breast into the mixture (depending on its size, you may need to pour out a little so it doesn't overflow!) so that it's fully submerged in the brine solution. Cover and store in the fridge overnight, for 12 to 24 hours.
Place that volume of water in a container large enough to hold the brine and the meat. Add 1 tablespoon of salt for every cup of water you used and mix until the salt is completely dissolved. For example, if you are using 1 gallon (16 cups) of water, add 16 tablespoons (1 cup) of salt.
Do you season turkey after brining? Brine is very salt-rich, so there's no reason to add salt to a brined turkey. You can add your favorite dry rub, herbs or spices to the turkey after it brines, or you can add flavor to the turkey later by serving it with a compound butter.
But a brined turkey that is not rinsed would be too salty to eat. Brining slows down the growth of bacteria but does not kill it, said Linda Harris, a microbiologist at the University of California, Davis. She and other food scientists have been trying to get Americans to stop rinsing poultry since the late 1990's.
Once the dry-brining waiting period is up, there is no need to rinse off the surface of your food. The meat will not be overly salty, and rinsing the surface with water will undo all of the surface-drying achieved by the dry-brine process. That, in turn, will prevent browning.
The amount of time will depend on the type of brine you use; however, do not brine any longer than two days and always keep the turkey and brine refrigerated (at 40°F or less). Remove turkey from brine after the recommended time.
Butterball Fresh Whole Turkey is all natural*, never frozen, gluten free, and raised without hormones on American farms. Every fresh turkey is pre-brined before packaging for meat that's always tender and juicy. *All natural means minimally processed and no artificial ingredients.
Add herb sprigs, if using. Place the turkey in the brine, breast side down. Add more water if the turkey isn't completely submerged in the liquid. Place the bucket in the refrigerator for at least 10 to 12 hours or overnight.
After 12 to 18 hours, remove the turkey, dry carefully with paper towels, and roast. For crisper skin, brine a couple days in advance, and let your turkey air-dry at least overnight and up to two nights, uncovered, in the refrigerator on a rack set in a rimmed baking sheet.
Should I Brine My Turkey? Brining a turkey is totally optional. If you're short on time or just want the most straight-forward method to roast a turkey, skip the brining step and just use the Simple Roasted Turkey method. Some people swear that brining yields the most tender, juicy meat, but it takes planning ahead.
Brining them would only add more salt to the turkey, which could make it too salty. However, if you want to brine your Butterball turkey for extra flavor and moisture, you can do so. Just be sure to use a brine solution that has a lower salt content than the one used for non-injected turkeys.
We pre-brine directly in the breast meat ensuring you can take the turkey from the packaging to your pan without a lot of additional preparation before cooking and enjoy the most tender and juicy turkey possible.
Yes, brining helps to bring some moisture to the white meat, but a long time in a salt solution won't mean a juicier meat. Therefore, I suggest brining turkey breast for no longer than 4 hours for smaller pieces and up to 7 hours for larger breast pieces. Also, it's easy to overcook your meat.
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