Corned Turkey Breast

[Cook_in_Colorado]

4.5lb turkey breast - bone-in, brined for 2.5 days
4oz olive wood (my first time using this wood)
225 degrees on #3 for about 4 hours - IT 165

I don't usually notice the aroma of the brine but this was amazing.  I've never used pickling spice in a brine but will in the future.

My recipe said to brine 3-5 days, but I forgot to start it sooner, and I made this for St Patrick's Day.

The finished product was unbelievable. 

My dogs would not leave the kitchen, after receiving the first taste. 

I allowed it to cool before slicing as I wanted shaved pieces for a "Rachel" sandwich.  This is my new go-to for deli meat. 
 
Corning (brine) recipe: 
8c water
1c kosher salt
4T brown sugar
2T pickling spice (recipe below)
4 cloves garlic, minced

pickling spice:
2 T mustard seed
1 T whole allspice
2 t coriander seeds
2 whole cloves
1 t ground ginger
1 t crushed red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf, crumbled
2 inches cinnamon stick - grind smaller

 

[old sarge]

I don’t smoke poultry being a fan of pork and beef but that looks fantastic. I may give that a try. Where did you get the olive wood?

 

[SuperDave]

You had a real high salt ratio in your brine.  It wasn't salty tasting?

 

[Cook_in_Colorado]

I ordered olive wood from a German man off of Etsy.  He must do crafts with the wood and then sells the scraps.  It took awhile for the wood to arrive, but the pieces are the perfect size for smoking.  As the wood started to smoke, my house smelled almost like when mesquite gets going. 

I don’t smoke poultry being a fan of pork and beef but that looks fantastic. I may give that a try. Where did you get the olive wood?

 

[Cook_in_Colorado]

It didn't taste salty at all.  Perhaps I failed to achieve "corning" but the smoke flavor is amazing, with no salty flavor. 

You had a real high salt ratio in your brine.  It wasn't salty tasting?

 

[Pork Belly]

Looking at that brine, personally I would use more water and more sugar. As long as your happy.

 

[Pork Belly]

I failed to achieve "corning"

Can't be Corned without Nitrate. It will be a tasty brine turkey but not corned (cured).

 

[old sarge]

Thanks for the info on the wood. Smells like mesquite?  I would have never guessed. Technically and historically, any meat preserved by corning, that is using salt the size of which approximates the kernels of corn is considered corned. I reckon it was used as a preservative before refrigeration.  Nitrates that are added tinker with the myoglobin and give the meat the red color.

 

[DivotMaker]

Bet it was good, Deb!  Whoever wrote the recipe did misname it; corned refers to cured, which requires nitrates (pink curing salt).  I agree about pickling spices - they impart a great deal of flavor in a brine.  I use 1 cup of kosher salt to a gallon of water in my own brines, for what it's worth.  Poultry brines very quickly, too.

All in all, it looks really good!