Whiskey Maple Butter Turkey Breast
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
As the Thanksgiving Turkey season draws near and my kids are all grown up, it gets harder for me to cook a whole turkey as my parties are getting smaller and I have too much leftover bird to eat. I've done several smoked turkey recipes including a Tangilicious turkey, Turkey Lollipops, an outrageous MooOinkDuckTucken. For this year, I've decided to simplify things as I got invited to a Thanksgiving party so I’m spared a whole lot of hard work! I plan to bring a platter of sliced turkey breast but I'm going to take it to the next level with a whiskey maple butter injection.
You can cook this turkey breast recipe in the oven but I wanted a bit of barbecue flavor so I cooked it indirect in my Weber Kettle to get some smoke before finishing it in my oven. Once the turkey has some color and the crust is formed, it's tightly wrapped in foil with melted butter. This minimizes the breast drying out and lets the breast meat marinate in its own juices and infuse with butter flavor. The injection has a hint of whiskey (I used Chivas Regal as I raided my adult son’s liquor stash (he’ll never miss a half cup anyway); but any whiskey or bourbon would work) with some sweet maple syrup which really brings out the flavor of the turkey meat. The addition of black pepper to my SYD Chicken Rub also adds another dimension of peppery goodness. Try it as it's simple to do and I know you and your guests will be pleased with the results.
You can cook this turkey breast recipe in the oven but I wanted a bit of barbecue flavor so I cooked it indirect in my Weber Kettle to get some smoke before finishing it in my oven. Once the turkey has some color and the crust is formed, it's tightly wrapped in foil with melted butter. This minimizes the breast drying out and lets the breast meat marinate in its own juices and infuse with butter flavor. The injection has a hint of whiskey (I used Chivas Regal as I raided my adult son’s liquor stash (he’ll never miss a half cup anyway); but any whiskey or bourbon would work) with some sweet maple syrup which really brings out the flavor of the turkey meat. The addition of black pepper to my SYD Chicken Rub also adds another dimension of peppery goodness. Try it as it's simple to do and I know you and your guests will be pleased with the results.
Author: Harry Soo
Recipe type: Entree
Cuisine: American
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
- 4 large boneless turkey breast, unsmoked, unbrined, uninjected
- ¼ cup your favorite whiskey or bourbon
- 1 pound unsalted butter, melted
- 2 cups of chicken stock
- 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
- ½ teaspoon rosemary, chopped
- 2 tablespoons good maple syrup
- 1-1/2 tablespoons per breast of SYD Chicken Rub
- 1 tablespoons coarse ground black pepper
Instructions
- Flambé ¼ cup of whiskey until alcohol burns off
- Add 2 cups of chicken stock and ½ lb melted butter
- Add two springs of fresh thyme and a touch of fresh rosemary
- Boil and reduce liquid in half
- Add some maple syrup to sweeten to taste
- Cool to room temperature before injecting into turkey breast using a marinade injector
- Apply medium coat of SYD Chicken Rub mixed with black pepper (2 + 1 ratio)
- Smoke in 250F pit skin side up for about 2-3 hours to get some golden brown color
- Remove and wrap turkey breast skin side down in two layers of foil with ½ lb melted butter
- Cook in 250F oven until internal is about 160F (about another hour)
- Let it cool until internal temp is 150F before slicing against the grain
- Serve with your favorite side dishes
