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sliced and plated smoked turketta

Smoked Stuffed Turkey (Turketta) Recipe

This is a twist on the Italian porchetta, but with turkey.
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Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Course: Dinner, Lunch, Main Course
Cuisine: American

Ingredients
  

  • 1 whole turkey breast, bone in
  • Simon & Garfunkel Rub
  •  Morton Coarse Kosher Salt  (read more about the science of salt here)
  • 1 batch drunken cranberries
  • 2 medium onions, chopped into quarters, skin on
  • 2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped into 1" chunks
  • 2 stalks of celery, chopped into 1" chunks
  • 1/4 cup dried mushrooms
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 1 cup apple juice
  • 2 tablespoons dried thyme
  • 1 tablespoon dried sage

Method 

  1. Prep. Carefully remove the skin from the breast trying to keep it from tearing.
  2. Stretch it out, inside up, on a cutting board and sprinkle the Simon & Garfunkel Rub on it.
  3. Remove each breast lobe from the bones by sliding a flexible knife along the keelbone and down the ribs. I use a fileting knife Then flip it over and remove the tenderloin, a muscle that is loosely attached with a thick tough white tendon in it.
  4. Remove the tendon from the tenderloins and freeze them for another meal. The make a great grilled turkey sandwich.
  5. Sprinkle salt on both sides of the meat and place the breast lobes on the skin, thin sides overlapping.
  6. Pile the drunken cranberry stuffing in the middle. Slip butcher twine under the skin, roll it up and tie it off. Try to cover the ends so the stuffing doesn't spill out.
  7. Once you have it hogtied, sprinkle on some salt and more rub.
  8. Fire up. Chop up the carcass and throw it in a drip pan with any other trim. Add the celery, carrots, onions, mushrooms, herbs, and wine in a drip pan. Fill it up with water or chicken stock. No salt yet. Fire up your smoker or set up your grill in 2 zones. Place the drip pan under the grate on the indirect side and get the temp stabilized at about 325°F in indirect heat.
  9. Cook. Place the meat above the drip pan on the indirect side, add some wood for smoke, and close the lid. When the meat hits about 150°F, lift out the drip pan, strain it, skim off excess fat, taste the stock, boil it down if you want to concentrate it, and season it with salt only after it is the proper richness.
  10. Serve. When the meat hits 160°F, remove it and carve it into 1/2" thick slices. And don't forget to remove the string!

Notes

About the salt. Remember, kosher salt is half the concentration of table salt so if you use table salt, use half as much. Click here to read more about salt and how it works.
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