Cooking a turkey breast so it's moist

[David A. Goldfarb]

Season and butter inside and out, roast on a rack starting at 400F for 20 min, and turn down to 325F. Turn it over about 30-40 min into the cooking time, and then back the other way about 30-40 minutes after that. Baste every half hour once you've got enough fat to baste with. Remove at 160F internal temperature. Don't overcook it, and it won't be dry.

The skin should be nice and crispy, but if cholesterol concerns prohibit, well, such is life.

To slice, remove the breasts from the bone first using a long flexible boning knife and slice across the grain.

Edited January 8, 2011 by David A. Goldfarb (log)

[Kim Shook]

Steven - I serve 35-50 people turkey and the works every Christmas Eve. Doing everything required for that many people is impossible, so a few years ago, I experimented on doing turkey ahead of time. I end up with tender, moist breast meat every single time. I never got the reactions that I do now when I roasted a whole turkey. I use whatever turkey breast they have at my regular store - nothing fancy and I'm guessing that they are mostly the so-called 'pre-brined' ones. I roast mine in a Nesco, which you probably don't have and don't want to run out and get for this. I'd just use a covered roaster with a little chicken broth in the bottom. 350 degrees until JUST done. Cool slightly and slice. Store in a plastic bag with a little chicken broth. I reheat it in a slow cooker (again, with a little chicken broth) before serving. This turkey is good hot or cold. Extremely simple - BUT I almost never have leftover turkey!

[gfweb]

What's a Nesco?

[Keith_W]

There are two important steps to ensure a moist breast:

1. Brined. Most of the brining suggestions posted above sound reasonable to me. Brining does change the texture of the meat. It makes it more "homogenous" and less stringy. You may or may not like it. I love it.

2. Not overcooked (i.e. do not go above 65C/170F). This means the whole breast, not just the center. If you use ANY high heat method, you WILL end up overcooking the exterior before the interior reaches the desired level of done-ness.

In addition, there are a number of additional tips:

3. Cook meat on the bone wherever possible. Application of heat will cause the muscle to contract and squeeze out juices. Leaving meat on the bone minimizes muscle contraction.

4. Consider placing butter under the skin if roasting the whole bird. The butter protects the breast and crisps up the skin.

Here is a turducken I made for Christmas a few weeks ago. Tunnel boned, stuffed, then slow roasted. At the end, the turkey was smoked for an hour then skin crisped up by pouring hot oil over it.

Edited January 9, 2011 by Keith_W (log)

[Kim Shook]

What's a Nesco?

This. It is called a roaster, but we've used it like a giant slow cooker and a warming oven besides roasting.

[HowardLi]

Does the breast have to be in one piece?

[Fat Guy]

Are you asking me? If so, I don't need it to be in one piece.

[Pam R]

Dinner last night: carrots, onion and celery in the bottom of a roasting pan, enough water to come up 1/2"- 3/4". I used a turkey crown (double breast, on the bone, skin on). Seasoned and placed on top of the vegetables. Cover the whole thing with a lid or aluminium foil and roast/steam at 400F until it reaches 165F or so. (There'll be some carry over cooking as it rests.) No crisp skin, but the breast stays moist.