Tristan Henry is a lifelong Oregonian and perennial student of…
This recipe is the building block of SO much wild food freedom. Just be
careful with your newfound power, or you may find yourself looking
down your nose at the poor folks in line at the deli counter. To be clear, this brine
also works with any white meat fowl. You can stock your larders and
stack your sandwiches with anything from pheasant to chukar, as long as
you keep a close eye on the thermometer.
Smoked Wild Turkey Breast
Equipment
- Smoker
- meat thermometer
- kitchen scale
Ingredients
- 1 whole wild turkey breast
- 1/2 cup kosher salt
- 1/2 cup sugar preferably brown sugar
Instructions
- With a kitchen scale, weigh out your turkey meat.
- Weigh 1.5 percent by weight of salt
- Weigh 1.5 percent by weight of sugar
- Combine and spread evenly over all sides of your meat and seal in aresealable bag with as much air squeezed out as possible
- Refrigerate this for 2 days to over a week – because the salt is meteredin precise proportion to the meat, there is no risk of the meat beingover-salted
- Remove the meat from it’s bag or container, rinse and pat dry & placeon a 200 degree smoker. ( if you’re smoking smaller birds, drop thesmoker to 180 to extend the cook time and expose your meat to alittle more smoke)
- When the internal temp reaches 155 (and absolutely no higher than165) remove your breast and allow to cool – If maximum moistureretention is your goal, chill overnight in the freezer before slicing in.
Tristan Henry is a lifelong Oregonian and perennial student of wild food and wild places. Tristan spent his youth in wetlands and on farms of rural western Oregon, where he cultivated a sense for stewardship and love for cooking. After college, he relocated to central Oregon, where he manages a small advertising agency, co-chairs the Oregon Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, chases elk with his bow, and wanders the hills with his wife and dog in search of food and fun.