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Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,891
Registered: ‎03-11-2010

Re: What Is THE best way to cook a TURKEY BREAST?

For the past several years, our family has gone to a great restaurant for Thanksgiving. However, when I did all the prep for Thanksgiving years ago, I used a baking pan plus a separate piece to house the turkey, lifted above the trinity of carrots, onion, and celery. I liked to stuff the bird because that created the most delicious turkey-juice-infused stuffing. I was very careful to avoid the problems associated with a stuffed turkey and no-one ever got sick. We all enjoyed the most delicious stuffing. Add to that my candied yams, string bean/cream of mushroom soup/fried onion casserole, mashed potatoes, and home made apple pie dessert, and everyone was happy and full.

 

I am having knee replacement surgery on Nov. 30. I can’t wait to get rid of any and all medical frights. My family will be here for Thanksgiving and one of my children will return for my surgery, I am thoroughly miserable, in pain 24/7, and hoping the surgery will ultimately allow me to return to my normal, active life.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 15,007
Registered: ‎03-11-2010

Re: What Is THE best way to cook a TURKEY BREAST?


@BornToShop wrote:

DH & I have been reborn again ever since we got the Masterbuilt Butterball  Indoor XXL Turkey Electric Fryer.  I can honestly say if we fried shoe leather in that thing, it would come out awesome, lol.  


@BornToShop

 

If you have an Academy Sports they have the huge 3 gallon peanut oil for $20.

We used to use ours a lot. 

Have not bought any peanut oil since before I bought the Air Fryer. The bottle I had was rancid & had to throw it out. Never had that happen before. LOL!!!

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,193
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: What Is THE best way to cook a TURKEY BREAST?

@Nightowlz, thanks for the peanut oil find!  I just sent DH there to pick some up.  Best price I have seen so far is $12.99 a gallon @ Publix.  

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,109
Registered: ‎04-14-2013

Re: What Is THE best way to cook a TURKEY BREAST?

Best to you, @chickenbutt.  Wishing you well.👋🏻

Cogito ergo sum
Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,927
Registered: ‎02-20-2016

Re: What Is THE best way to cook a TURKEY BREAST?

The same way I cook a large turkey: rinse the turkey, salt it liberally then wrap it in heavy aluminum foil. (Cut a slat in the foil.)

 

Put the turkey in a roasting pan. Let it cook in the oven (very hot at first, then lower the heat and fold back the foil so the bird can brown).

 

That's it!

Honored Contributor
Posts: 69,805
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: What Is THE best way to cook a TURKEY BREAST?

 

 

 


@LTT1 wrote:

@Sooner

 

The Helen Corbett way...

essentially 

Brown it at 450 until golden

then baste and cook on 325 until the leg wiggles



@LTT1. Apparently you're not a biology teacher.  Breasts don't have legs.  (pardon but couldn't resist)

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment
Honored Contributor
Posts: 69,805
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: What Is THE best way to cook a TURKEY BREAST?


@Vivian Florimond wrote:

For the past several years, our family has gone to a great restaurant for Thanksgiving. However, when I did all the prep for Thanksgiving years ago, I used a baking pan plus a separate piece to house the turkey, lifted above the trinity of carrots, onion, and celery. I liked to stuff the bird because that created the most delicious turkey-juice-infused stuffing. I was very careful to avoid the problems associated with a stuffed turkey and no-one ever got sick. We all enjoyed the most delicious stuffing. Add to that my candied yams, string bean/cream of mushroom soup/fried onion casserole, mashed potatoes, and home made apple pie dessert, and everyone was happy and full.

 

I am having knee replacement surgery on Nov. 30. I can’t wait to get rid of any and all medical frights. My family will be here for Thanksgiving and one of my children will return for my surgery, I am thoroughly miserable, in pain 24/7, and hoping the surgery will ultimately allow me to return to my normal, active life.


@Vivian.   By Thanksgiving 2018, you'll be so sprightly that you'll give up the restaurant meals and will be skipping through the kitchen.  The surgery probably won't be nearly as bad as what you've built up in your mind.  I had a TKR in 2011, and couldnt believe it wasn't more painful than it was.  Wish you the best of luck.

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment
Honored Contributor
Posts: 24,208
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: What Is THE best way to cook a TURKEY BREAST?

I've got a 6.6 lb frozen breast this year. I just buy the cheapest breast I can find and Acme had them on sale in October for $.99 per pound. I've been cooking Thanksgiving for around 40 years now and I've tried a variety of turkeys and they all taste like turkey to me. Because of that I just go with whichever brand is cheapest. Since I buy frozen, I try to buy one that's frozen in the best shape. A frozen turkey with a flat spot likely thawed out somewhere along the way and refroze. Likewise those that are oddly shaped, likely thawed out at some point and then refroze. You want a nice, symmetrical turkey that has no flat spots. (Stores tend to stack them high and deep, so high that sometimes the upper turkeys aren't kept as cold as ideal.) Turkeys are typically flash frozen while hanging on a rack, so they should be symmetrical with no flat spots.

 

I cook mine the boring old Butterball way. It'll go into the fridge later today or tomorrow to thaw and by Thursday morning there will likely be still a bit of frostiness in it. I'll then wash it down, remove any bits and pieces stashed inside. Dry it off using some paper towels. Get some butter under the skin and rub more on the top to give me stuff to baste with down the road. I'll line my roasting pan with foil to make cleanup easier add the rack to the foil lined pan, and then I'll spray down the rack with cooking spray to make cleanup later a bit easier and plop the breast onto the rack. A bit of salt and freshly ground pepper and then into a 325 degree oven until it's done. I'll pop in every now and then and give it a baste and see how it's looking. If it browns too fast, I'll tent it with foil.

 

I'll be fighting off my youngest cat Callie while I have the turkey out as she loves raw anything. Then I'll be tripping over my older cat Lizzie, who loves the smell of the Chlorox Cleanup that I use to clean up anything and everything within reach of the raw turkey. Lizzie will be rolling on the table/counters/floor afterwards. She really loves the smell of the Chlorox Cleanup. I have to really wipe the surfaces dry after spraying or she'd become a lighter shade of grey. 

 

I think people make cooking a turkey way, way too complicated. Maybe if I cooked five different turkeys at the same time I'd taste a difference between them, but as long as a turkey tastes like a turkey, I'm happy. Nearly all turkeys come injected these days so brining is counter-productive. The injected stuff makes it hard to have a dry turkey unless you vastly overcook it. I just find cooking a turkey about the easiest thing possible. Just relax, keep it simple, don't stress out, and you'll be fine. It's not rocket science. 

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,202
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: What Is THE best way to cook a TURKEY BREAST?


@chrystaltree wrote:

Pretty much the same way I would cook a turkey.  This year, I bought a 6 lb frozen turkey breast because it's a small group and my daughter is bringing a ham.  After thawing, the turkey breast

 

Preheat oven to 375

Coat turkey breast with olive oil,  rub inside with butter

Sprinkle desired herbs on top (I like olive powder, onion powder and some thyme)

Roast for 2 to 2 1/2 hours


 

This method.

 

I always buy fresh (no hormones). Since my daughter is also cooking a whole, farm-raised turkey, I just got the breast for DH & me.

 

Instead of EVOO, I'll put the butter under the skin, ala Ina, and on the underside, and the one recipe I read suggested putting the turkey atop a medley of vegetables to discard later on. I was considering what medley I want for flavor. Fresh rosemary for sure...onion, maybe a little lemon...

 

Use a thermometer (165 degrees) and don't forget to let it rest!

Honored Contributor
Posts: 32,684
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: What Is THE best way to cook a TURKEY BREAST?

Thanks for the great suggestions!  I love them all and sometimes you want or need to do something different in the way you cook one of these, so the different methods are VERY helpful!!!