How to Smoke a Turkey Breast on the Grill

Looking for a slice of Thanksgiving any time of the year, in less than two hours?

Cooking a whole turkey is an ordeal. There’s a lot of prep work, it takes days to thaw (while it consumes your entire refrigerator), and then it takes hours to cook. Done right, it’s delicious and totally worth the effort. But still, an ordeal.

A turkey breast, on the other hand, thaws overnight, doesn’t take up too much fridge space, and can be smoked in less than two hours (just enough time to make corn bread dressing while it smokes, but that’s a recipe for another day . . . stay tuned).

With just a little prep work, you can have a moist, juicy, flavorful smoked turkey any day of the year – give it a shot!

Ingredients:

1 turkey breast (about 4-5 pounds)
2 tablespoons butter

Brine ingredients:

Water (about 2 quarts – enough to cover the whole breast)
½ cup salt
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup lemon juice (or two lemons, cut in half and squeezed)
1 tablespoon dried rosemary (or 2 sprigs fresh rosemary)
1 tablespoon dried thyme (or 2 sprigs fresh)

Rub ingredients:

1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon herbed poultry seasoning

Directions:

1.    The night before you’re planning to smoke the turkey, mix the brining ingredients in a large bowl and submerge the turkey. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
2.    When you’re ready to cook, fill a chimney starter with charcoal and begin to heat the coals. Soak wood chunks in water.
3.    While the charcoal is getting hot, prep the turkey. Remove it from the brine, and discard solution. Pat the turkey dry. Rub it with the butter, then sprinkle generously with salt, pepper, herbed poultry seasoning and paprika (feel free to mix up the spices to get the flavor you want).
4.    When the coals are ready, set up your grill for indirect heat (like you would for BBQ pork shoulder). Place charcoal on one side of the grill. Place a drip pan on the other side, next to the goals. Place soaked wood chunks directly on the charcoal, then add the grill grate.
5.    Place the turkey above the drip pan, on the opposite side of the grill from the charcoal and wood. Cover the grill, with the holes in the lid directly above the turkey.

6.    Smoke turkey, covered, for 40 minutes. Rotate the turkey 180 degrees, add newly soaked wood chunks, and recover.
7.    Smoke turkey another 40 minutes. Rotate turkey again, add more wood chunks, and insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the breast, not touching the bone.
8.    Continue smoking turkey until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Remove turkey from the grill. Let rest for 15 minutes before carving. Enjoy!

If you like this recipe, please be sure to click on the links below to share it! And don’t forget to follow @youcangrillthat on Twitter!

Pulled Pork Leftover Edition – Carnitas Burritos!

I’ve been smoking A LOT of pork shoulders lately, and while I could eat BBQ pork sandwiches just about every day, it’s always nice to have a little variety. Of course, when you’ve already done the work of smoking the shoulder, you’re looking for a recipe for the leftovers that’s quick and easy. For leftover pulled pork, it’s hard to beat carnitas burritos.

I’m going to keep this recipe pretty vague. In fact, it’s not really a recipe so much as a suggestion – if you have leftover pork, make some burritos. That said, here’s what I used:

Ingredients

Leftover smoked pork shoulder (here’s my recipe for smoking BBQ pork on the grill)
One can of black beans
1 cup of white rice, cooked according to package directions
Shredded cheese
Salsa of your choice (here’s a great recipe for salsa with grilled corn)
Plain Greek yogurt – a tasty, healthy substitute for sour cream. Bet you won’t taste the difference!
Tortillas, warmed on stove, grill, or in microwave
Lettuce (grilled if you want!)

Directions

1.    Directions? Seriously? Ok, I’ll play along. Place tortilla on plate. Pile all other ingredients high. Wrap up in tortilla. Eat!

If you like this “recipe,” please be sure to click on the links below to share it! And don’t forget to follow @youcangrillthat on Twitter!

Peanut Butter, Apple and Oatmeal Cookies – for Dogs!

When I grill, my dog Mollie is always my number one grilling buddy. Don’t worry; she doesn’t handle the food, though not for a lack of trying. Her primary jobs, in addition to keeping me company, are protecting the grill from squirrels, making sure that anything I spill gets cleaned up right away, and barking at any potential intruders into our backyard.

However, she’s always devastated when the food comes off the grill and she doesn’t get to eat. The unfairness of it all! She toils away for hours helping prepare what certainly smells like a delicious meal, and she doesn’t even a taste? That’s just wrong.

So for her birthday, I cooked some cookies on the grill that were just for Mollie. These are really healthy treats for dogs, and she LOVED them. I’m sure your four-legged friends will too.

Mollie attacking her kong to get a cookie out!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 egg
½ cup unsweetened apple sauce
2 tablespoons molasses
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 apple, cored and finely chopped (or grated)
Nonstick cooking spray

Directions:

1.    Mix the peanut butter, egg, apple sauce and molasses well.
2.    Add the apple and dry ingredients and mix well.
3.    Spoon cookie dough onto well-greased baking sheet (one you don’t mind putting right on the grill).
4.    Heat your charcoal and spread the coals into one layer covering the bottom of the grill.
5.    Place the cookie sheet in the center of the grill. Cook for about 5 minutes, covered. Flip the cookies over, and cook for another 5 minutes. They should be nice and crispy on the outside, but still chewy on the inside.
6.    Remove the cookies from the grill, and let them cool for at least 20 minutes. Then serve!

If you like this recipe, please be sure to click on the links below to share it! And don’t forget to follow @youcangrillthat on Twitter!