Grill-Roasted Turkey Breast for Gas Grill
By Venzie
Bone-in, skin-on turkey breasts cook relatively quickly, but most recipes still produce dry meat, bland flavor, and soggy skin. For a grill-roasted turkey breast recipe that turned out smoky, well seasoned, and juicy, we seasoned the turkey throughout using an overnight salt rub. We then wiped the skin dry and pierced it (to allow some of the fat to drain away), then applied a second rub just before grilling, which created a crisp, coffee-colored skin.
Ingredients
- 1 whole, bone-in, skin-on turkey breast (about 5 pounds)
- 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon table salt
- 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup wood chips, preferably hickory
Preparation
Step 1
Serves 6 to 8
During cooking, resist the urge to peek under the lid, as heat will escape and prolong the cooking time
1. Rinse turkey and pat dry with paper towels. Mix 2 tablespoons brown sugar and salt in bowl. Loosen skin from turkey and rub with sugar and salt mixture, following photos 1 and 2. Tightly wrap turkey with plastic wrap, place on plate, and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.
2. Unwrap turkey and pat dry with paper towels. Mix remaining tablespoon brown sugar and pepper in bowl. Rub mixture under and over turkey breast skin. Using skewer, pierce turkey skin all over, following photo 3.
3. Soak wood chips in bowl of water to cover for 15 minutes, seal in foil packet (see related Tip), and place over primary burner. Turn all burners to high and close lid, keeping grill covered until wood chips begin to smoke, about 15 minutes. Scrape cooking grate clean. Leave primary burner on high and turn off all other burners. Place turkey breast (skin side up) on cool part of grill.
4. Cover and grill, (rotating breast, still skin side up, halfway through cooking) until skin is well browned and crisp and thickest part of meat registers 160 degrees on instant-read thermometer, about 1 1/2 hours. Adjust primary burner as necessary to maintain temperature of 350 to 375 degrees. Wearing oven mitts or using wad of paper towels, transfer breast to cutting board, cover loosely with foil, and let rest for 20 minutes. Carve and serve.
A Smokin' Gas Grill
A charcoal grill is the traditional choice when you want to use wood chips to produce flavorful smoke. It takes some ingenuity to use wood chips on a gas grill (tossing them onto the burners results in immediate combustion and little smoke), but we've developed a method that produces good results.
1. MAKE A PACKET
Place the soaked and drained chips in the center of an 8-inch square piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Fold the foil over the chips and crimp all sides to seal well.
2. CUT SLITS
Using a paring knife, cut slits in top of the foil packet and place it directly on the primary burner (the burner that will remain on during the entire cooking time). When protected in this way, the chips should smoke for 30 to 40 minutes.
Three Steps to Crispier Skin
Don't be tempted to rub the turkey breast with both salt and pepper at the outset. The salt rub is left on overnight to fully season the turkey, but it dissolves and causes moisture to bead up on the skin that will inhibit crisping. Wiping away the moisture avoids this problem, but you wouldn't want to wipe away the pepper. Wait to pepper the turkey until it has been patted dry and is ready for the grill.
1. Lift Once Using your hands, carefully loosen the skin from the meat.
2. Season Twice Massage the brown sugar and salt on and under the skin. After refrigerating the bird overnight, wipe away excess moisture on the skin, then season again with brown sugar and pepper.
3. Skewer All Over Use a skewer to poke numerous holes in the skin so the fat can render easily.