Mexican Roadside Turkey

This past Cinco de Mayo, I was just going to BBQ a turkey breast.  But, I we were invited to a friends for a Cinco de Mayo celebration, so I decided to go Mexican.  After a short search on the Internet, I found a great recipe for Mexican Roadside Chicken that I adapted to make Mexican Roadside Turkey...

Here is the recipe that I found: Mexican Roadside Chicken.  It combines vinegar, garlic, and various spices into a great baste for your poultry of choice.  The only difference is that I smoked the turkey and did not grill.

First, I made a batch of my stand by poultry brine:

BOS's Chicken Brine:

Ingredients:

1 gallon Water
¾ cup Kosher Salt
¾ cup Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Granulated Garlic
2 Tbsp Chili Powder
¼ cup Orange Juice
⅛ cup Worcestershire Sauce

Mix and bring to boil.  Cool and place in frig overnight.

I then let the breast go for an overnight swim.  The next afternoon, I pulled the turkey breast from the brine and patted dry.   Then, I rubbed olive oil all over to promote a crispy skin.  

While the beast was coming up to room temperature, I lit the smoker and brought to a temperature of 350 F.  Once at temperature, I put two pieces of pecan in the ash pan for some smoke.  While I was waiting on the smoker to come to temperature, I mixed my basting liquid...

I place the breast on the middle rack, skin side down and basted.  Then, I flipped over and basted the skin side.   I then basted after 30 and 60 minutes.  Total cook time to get to 160 F internal was 1 hour and 20 minutes...

When done, I double wrapped in foil and placed in a cooler to keep warm during the driver over to our friends place.  Sorry, no sliced pictures.  I can tell you that the bird was outstanding.  Moist and juicy.  the cider vinegar mixes nicely with the Mexican spices for a tasty treat.  I will be trying this with a chicken on the grill.

Thanks for stopping by...

Bill