Foolproof Turkey Breast Recipes

Steps:

• Heat water for brine in a 6-quart pot over medium heat until steam begins to rise to the surface. Stir in kosher salt and sugar until dissolved. Add liquid smoke, peppercorns, garlic, rosemary, thyme, sage, and smoked paprika. Immediately remove from heat, cover, and let rest and bring to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Do not refrigerate to cool.
• Place each turkey breast in a zip-top freezer bag. Evenly divide the brine, herbs, and garlic between the bags. Remove excess air, seal, and put into the refrigerator, 24 to 36 hours before you roast your turkey breast.
• Remove turkey from brine, pat dry, and let rest for 30 minutes. Pour brine through a strainer; discard brine but reserve garlic and herbs.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
• At the same time, mix softened butter with rosemary, thyme, sage, garlic, black pepper, and paprika for herb butter. Set aside.
• Arrange carrots, celery, bell peppers, onions, and reserved garlic and herbs from the brine in the bottom of a roasting pan. Rub about 1/4 of the herb butter on each breast under the skin. Don't remove the skin. Rub the rest of the butter on top of the skin. Arrange the breasts in the roasting pan on top of the aromatic veggie rack; add chicken stock to the bottom of the pan.
• Roast in the center of the preheated oven until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of each breast reads 160 degrees F (71 degrees C), 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Remove from the oven, cover loosely with a foil tent, and let rest for 15 minutes. The internal temp will rise above 165 degrees F (74 degrees C) during this rest.

Steps:

• Place turkey or turkey breast in a roasting pan.
• (I use a disposable roasting pan) Combine melted butter and chicken broth.
• Pour over turkey.
• Rub mayonnaise all over turkey's exterior.
• Salt and pepper lightly if desired.
• Roast at 300°-325°F until internal temperature reaches 170°F on an instant read thermometer. (I raise the temperature to 350° for the last approximate 30-45 minutes to crisp skin).
• (I roast my 18-20 lbs. fresh turkey at 250°F in a convection oven. It takes about 4 hours to reach the correct temperature.).
• Remove from oven and let sit for about 30 minutes before slicing.
• Note: because the butter and broth are for making gravy, if you need to make a lot of gravy, double the amount of both.
• To make gravy: pour pan drippings into a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add 1 Tbls. cornstarch per cup of broth/drippings to 1/4 cup cold water. (You'll usually need 2-3 Tbls) Mix well to dissolve. Stir cornstarch mixture into broth and stir until thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste. If too thin, dissolve more cornstarch in water and add until desired thickness. If too thick, add water or more broth to thin.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Mix 1/4 cup butter, garlic, paprika, Italian seasoning, garlic and herb seasoning, salt, and black pepper in a bowl. Place turkey breast with skin side up into a roasting pan. Loosen skin with your fingers; brush half the butter mixture over the turkey breast and underneath the skin. Reserve remaining butter mixture. Tent turkey breast loosely with aluminum foil.
• Roast in the preheated oven for 1 hour; baste turkey breast with remaining butter mixture. Return to oven and roast until the juices run clear and an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast, not touching bone, reads 165 degrees F (65 degrees C), about 30 more minutes. Let turkey breast rest 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
• While turkey is resting, transfer pan drippings to a skillet. Skim off excess grease, leaving about 1 tablespoon in skillet. Place skillet over low heat; cook and stir shallot in turkey grease until opaque, about 5 minutes. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in skillet with shallot and whisk in white wine, scraping any browned bits of food from skillet. Whisk in chicken stock and flour until smooth. Bring to a simmer, whisking constantly, until thickened. For a creamier, lighter gravy, whisk in half-and-half.

Steps:

• Directions WATCH Watch how to make this recipe. Remove the legs and wings from the turkey, or have your butcher do it. Reserve for stock. Put turkey breast into a large pot or doubled up clean plastic bag. When brine mixture is completely cooled, pour over turkey and place in refrigerator for 12 hours. Rinse under clear cool water for 5 minutes, drain well and pat dry with paper towels. In a small bowl, combine dried spices and lemon zest. Rub turkey with canola oil, lightly sprinkle rub on turkey, any extra rub can be placeed in cavity. Cover loosely, refrigerate for 4 hours. Remove from refrigerator and let rest on counter for 15 minutes Preheat oven to 425 degrees F while turkey is resting. In a large, deep baking pan, fitted with a rack, place turkey breast side down and roast for 35 minutes. Carefully turn turkey over and reduce heat to 375 degrees F. Continue to roast turkey for 1 hour 45 minutes or until temperature at the deepest part of the breast reads 170 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. Make sure to check bird every 15 minutes after first hour has passed. Take out of oven, loosely tent with foil, let rest in pan for 10 minutes. Carve and serve immediately. For Brine: In a large stock pot, combine 3 quarts water, 1 cup kosher salt, brown sugar, molasses, sage leaves and peppercorns. Heat until salt dissolves, remove from heat. Add in 3 quarts cool water and 8 cups ice.