We are going to roast off a stuffed turkey breast. I've already shown y'all how to do
a brine, and I've got the articles up posted on how to brine for a turkey. Those are on
the website. In this case we're doing just the breast. We're going to do a little different
than southerners are used to; we're going to stuff it. I just finished off a batch of
stuffing. I've got most of it over here in a casserole dish, but I've let this chill
really well so I can put it in my bird.
I took my bird out of the brine this morning, and I've given him several hours in the cooler
on this rack to . . . to do what? He air dries. That'll make sure the skin is really crispy.
I've got my cold stuffing. Look here; when you're doing just the turkey breast, you have
this big open . . . see? The tricky thing is to stuff it all in there without letting
it fall out, but that's why we're using this baking rack setup. That's all you're doing,
is just shoving it in there.
When you put stuffing in a bird, you want it to be very loose. You don't want to pack
it in there. The reason is it's going to get full of . . . that's about right. It's going
to get full of raw poultry juices. Already, it's already done. See? It's now contaminated.
When you cook it, you're going to put whatever you got left right here, in the neck. He just
goes in here like this. When you cook it, you want it to be able to fully come up to
temperature; 165°; that's the safety. Wait, wait, wait. There we go. We got turkey hands
and the sleeves are falling. There we go.
You want it to come up to 165°, and that means inside the stuffing, as well. If you
pack it in there too tightly, chances are it's not going to get above that safety point.
Because we brined it, we don't need to add any additional seasonings. I used thyme, rosemary,
garlic, and sage in this particular time. I mimicked some of those flavors in my stuffing.
All we're going to do here is get him greasy. We're going to get him nice and buttered up
all over his skin. Because this is a breast and we don't have to worry about dark meat
being done at one temperature and the light meat being done at another. I'm not doing
the 500° and then turning it down to 350°. I'm putting him in there at 350°. After an
hour, I'm going to put a thermometer right here, in this pit part. I'm going to roast
it until it gets to 165°.
This was 8½ pounds, I think; right under a 10-pound breast. It was a big one. It's
anywhere from 15 minutes to 20 minutes per pound to do any type of turkey. The reason
you can't get more accurate than that is because it's impossible to know exactly how accurate
your oven is, what the ambient temperature in the room is, how well it will maintain
its heat, whether or not the door will be opened, and how cold your turkey was going
in. You've got a wide margin. For that reason, you have to have a thermometer, 165°. Do
I say that often enough? When it hits that temperature, it's perfect. You don't have
to worry about times, you don't have to worry about charts, you don't have to worry that
it's done. You know it's going to be perfect.
My oven's preheated. I'm going to stick him in there. I'm going to wash my buttery turkey
hands and I'll be back. Then I'll show you where to put the thermometer. I'll be back
in a few minutes, though.
We've been in here . . . it's been about 45 minutes; it's not exact. One thing I got to
say about if roasting out just a turkey breast, there's far less fat than if you do the whole
thing. In this case, despite the fact that we brined him, you're probably going to want
to baste. See? Even with the brine, if you can see just the little tiny bit. He had a
good bit of butter on him to start out with. You can use a turkey baster. Of course I don't
have one. I just use a spoon.
What you're looking for is the thickest part of the breast, which is right about in there.
You want to insert the probe of the thermometer until you're in the center of that, but without
hitting the bone, which is going to be right about there. I can tell when I've got a good
spot because I can watch the read-out on my thermometer, and I can find the coldest spot.
That's exactly where I want it, because the coldest spot is what I need to rise the most.
I've got my alarm set for 165°. I guess about every 30 minutes or so, I'll be back to baste
it. Other than that, I'm going to let it stay in here and do its own pretty little thing,
rotating a little so I get brown on all sides. I'll be back.
Our stuffed turkey breast got basted off a couple more times with the pan drippings.
It hit 165°. I just pulled it off, and I've been letting it sit here ever since. I know
he's rested enough and he's ready to carve. He's reached a maximum of a 173°. Since then,
it has started falling, so we're pretty good to go. We know when it's on the down side
with temperature, it's okay to carve. Probably be a little better if I let it get back below
165°, but I'm not going to.
You remember we brined this off. I told you about air drying to get really crispy skin.
I want to show you something. [inaudible: 06:02] That's okay. Just listen. It is good,
it's really good. I'm going to come in here and . . . I know, I've got to fix this before
I serve it. I'm going to sneak, if I don't burn my fingers. Under here, we have all of
that yummy stuffing which has hot, hot, hot baked off in there and absorbed all the juices
from the turkey. All the little effort, which none of its hard, just takes a little thought.
In brining and basting and letting it air dry, this is why you do it. Let's see. Oh,
my gosh. You need to come in here and get this because . . . yes, I'm burning my fingers,
but can you see the juices? See that? Look, look, look, look. No, you don't want him on
the platter, you want him to stay in the meat. We've rested, so it's going to be really juicy,
especially because we've brined it. Look at that. Can you see it? Are you getting it?
Wait. Let me get out of the way. Look. It doesn't get any better than that. That, mon
ami, is perfect: Juicy, succulent, and absolutely delicious. Roasted, stuffed turkey breast.