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Spring Turkey Recipe

Smoked Wild Turkey Breast with Rhubarb Barbecue Sauce
Apr 17, 2015 #hunting #biggame 

Spring turkey season is here, and we’d like to celebrate by sharing an awesome wild turkey barbeque recipe from our friends and wild game food fanatics over at Weston Products. The use of rhubarb, a common spring ingredient, in this barbeque sauce is brilliant. Paired with the smoked breast from this year’s tom, you’ve got a meal that will definitely impress. All recipe and photo cred goes to Weston Products!

Ingredients

  • Turkey
  • 3 lb turkey breast

  • Rub for Marinating
  • 1 tablespoon cracked black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon basil
  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder

  • Brine/Marinade
  • 1 cup water
  • 4 tablespoons cup kosher salt
  • 4 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cracked black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder

  • Rub for Smoking
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • Rhubarb Barbecue Sauce
  • 1 cup rhubarb compote
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • ½ teaspoon dry mustard
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon onion powder

  • Garnish
  • Handful of watercress

Step One: Brine Your Turkey

Coat your turkey with the marinating rub. Mix ingredients for the brine. Reserve ½ cup of the brine in the refrigerator (this will be the marinade you inject the turkey with while smoking). Place the coated turkey breast into a vacuum sealer bag or zip-lock bag, and pour the remaining ½ cup of brine over the turkey. Seal, and allow it to marinate in the fridge overnight.

Step Two: Smoke It

Soak your wood chips in cold water for at least 30 minutes. Preheat your smoker to 250°F.

Remove the turkey breast from the marinade and rinse gently under cold water. Coat it with the paprika-basil rub. Once the smoker is pre-heated, place the breast in your smoker with the side dampers half open and the top damper just cracked.

Smoke the turkey breast for 4-6 hours, or until the internal temperature of the turkey is 165° and no more. Change out your wood chips every hour. Every time you change out the wood chips, inject the breast with a little of the brine that you reserved using a marinade injector.

Step Three: Prepare the BBQ Sauce

While the turkey breast smokes, prepare your sauce. To make the rhubarb compote, place two cups of rhubarb (chopped into one inch pieces) into a pot with 1 ½ cups sugar and ¼ cup water. Mix with a wooden spoon to coat the rhubarb with the syrup.

Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer the rhubarb 30 minutes or until it falls apart. Use a strainer to separate the compote from the cordial. Use your pestle to mash the compote to a pulp.

Combine the barbecue sauce ingredients in a food processor until the ingredients are smooth.

Spread the sauce over a piece of foil. The sauce should be spread about an inch thick. Place into your Smoker and smoke at 250° for 10-15 minutes. Stir it so that the smoky top layer marries the less smoky bottom.

Step Four: Serve

Serve the wild turkey breasts sliced, smothered in rhubarb BBQ sauce, and topped with some watercress (or whatever garden greens you have on hand).

Weston Products

Weston produces specialty food processing products that are ideal for hunters, anglers and wild game enthusiasts everywhere. For more great recipes, visit blog.westonproducts.com

Author
Ryan McSparran
Littleton, Colorado