Turkey Crown - need to brine?

[Chris__M]

I am spending Christmas Day with friends, so am not doing an all-out Christmas Dinner this year. However, I do like to have a bit of Turkey in the house, so I've had my eye open for a Turkey Crown. I managed to pick up one today, which was marked down, as its sell by date was 24 Dec. As I am planning to cook it on Thursday or Friday, for cold cuts, this was not a problem.

I may end up just slamming it in the oven, but I wouldn't mind trying to smoking it. Since it is a crown - i.e. only breast meat - is there any real need to brine it? My general understanding is that brining the turkey helps keep the breast moist while taking the whole bird to the right temperature for the legs and thighs. As I don't have any dark meat to worry about, I wondered if I could dispense with brining.

[All Weather Griller]

Hi Chris,

I must confess when ever I have smoked a Turkey I have never brined it. I only started smoking them about 3 years or so back and a chef buddy of mine said not to bother if I'm cooking it at a low temp on a water smoker.

I have since dispensed with the water pan, but to date haven't brined and they always come out juicy and tender.

I'm sure others on the forum will have a wider experience to draw from i.e having brined for smoking before. I may give it a go this year for grins though.

Cheers

Adie

[Chris__M]

Cheers - I'll give it a try without brining then.

I had to laugh, I popped back to Tescos later in the day, to find the reduced Turkey Crowns back to their original price, with the "reduced" stickers clearly removed.

Guess someone finally realised that a sell-by date of Dec 24 isn't a problem for an item that is intended for Christmas Day.

Anyway, I got my bargain!

[Chris__M]

Cheers.

Fairly certain this one is not enhanced. It is a free range Bronze crown, and the labelling says nothing but that.

I thought 15 quid for 1.9 kg was pretty reasonable!

Butter under the skin makes good sense, but I am actually not a great fan of chicken or turkey skin, crisp or otherwise, so I am planning to cut the skin back from the breast, rub with butter, then recover with a good streaky bacon.

I have the day off tomorrow, so it is going on the smoker first thing in the morning, along with a spiced silverside beef joint from Riverfords - http://www.riverford.co.uk/sacrewell/sh ... side_15kg/

That should keep me and any guests in cold cuts for the holidays!

Merry Xmas everyone.

[Chris__M]

Pictures of today's cook.

Although this is for Boxing Day, I have had a taste from both joints, and very good they are too!