Bacon Wrapped Turkey Breast.  A Wood Pellet Grill Recipe

Bacon Wrapped Turkey Breast is a real treat. It’s a lot  easier to work with than a whole turkey. When done right I think that brining is the key to doing it well. You can infuse various flavor profiles in any direction when you are feeling adventurous. We were thinking maple bacon and then thought apple. HEY, these blend deliciously together. I’ll tell you it was tender and juicy with a “Kiss of Smoke” and a apple-maple pellet mix.

And the sandwiches were so good!!!

Prep Time: 1 hour, then let brine overnight
Cook Time: 3 hours @ 250 degrees (120c)

Ingredients:Bacon Wrapped Turkey Breast

1 turkey breast (we trimmed ours from a 13 pound turkey)
1 pound maple bacon
Pete’s Firehouse Santa Maria Rub
Dried crushed garlic, to taste
Coarse ground black pepper, to taste

Ingredients: Maple- Apple Brine

4 cups Cran- Apple juice
2 cups maple syrup
2 cups dark brown sugar
2 cups kosher salt
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup garlic powder
¼ cup ground cumin
¼ cup red pepper flakes
¼ cup onion powder
¼ cup dried crushed garlic
¼ cup Liquid Smoke
2 Tbsp. of ‘cracked’ black peppercorns
2 Tbsp. of Worcestershire sauce
2 gallons of cold water

Directions: Bacon Wrapped Turkey Breast

After an overnight bath in the brine rinse the breast off and pat dry. Next, do your bacon weave. I did my bacon weave on a small cutting board.

After applying the rub on your turkey breast the easiest way to put the bacon on it is to lay the breast upside down on the bacon. Place your plate on top of the turkey, now carefully lift the cutting board and plate and flip it. If you are lucky your bird with the bacon weave are now on your plate. Now season to taste with the pepper and garlic.

Preheat your grill to low heat 250 degrees (120c) and turn off one side so you will be cooking with indirect heat. So after the grill comes up to temp and burns clean turn it back down to 250 degrees (120c). Place your turkey directly onto the grill and just let it hang out in the smoke and get happy for 3 hours or so.

When the turkey reaches an internal temp of 165 degrees (75c) USDA safe but I like 175 degrees (80c) because I like how the meat flakes apart at this temp. Pull it off the grill, cover and let it rest for 10 minutes or so before serving. I use a Maverick ProTemp Instant Read Thermometer for checking meat temperatures.

Note: I get a lot of questions about the kind of pellets you can use with a recipe. Keep in mind that a recipe is just an outline. Some you need to follow closely like when you are making bread, but most you can do anything you can dream, our favorite way to cook. Feel free to mix and match the pellets until you find a combination you really like. Also you are only smoking at temps less than 250 degrees (122c), anything higher is cooking and there will not be much if any smoke so it does not matter what kind of pellet you are using.

Do Your Bacon Weave

Season Your Breast

Bacon Wrapped Turkey Breast
A Wood Pellet Grill Recipe

Do Your Bacon Wrap and Season to Taste with the Pepper and Garlic

Directions: Brine

I like to use an ice chest your bird will fit in. Line the bottom of the ice chest with ice packs. For easy clean up put a large trash bag over the ice packs in your ice chest. Place your turkey in the trash bag in the ice chest and then put your brine together.

Add all your brine seasonings with about a quart of water into a sauce pan, heat to a low boil. You are melting the sugar and salt while the heat releases the oils from the rest of your spices. When smooth let cool and pour your brine solution into the trash bag with your turkey, add cold water to make about two gallons of brine to completely cover your bird. I tied the bag shut and put the lid on the ice chest overnight. The next day I pulled it out rinsed the turkey and patted it dry. I put a light coat of olive oil on it and sprinkled with our rub.

Let’s Eat!!!

Thank you to Date Night Doins & Ken for this awesome pellet grill recipe