HOW TO COOK A SPLIT TURKEY BREAST RECIPES

Steps:

• Transfer the turkey to a roasting pan. Transfer the turkey breast to a roasting rack set in a roasting pan, or place on top of vegetables in a skillet or other baking dish. Set aside while the oven heats.
• Preheat the oven to 450°F. Arrange a oven rack in the bottom third of the oven and heat the oven to 450°F.
• Rub the turkey breast with butter and seasonings. Pat the skin of the turkey breast dry with paper towels. Rub the turkey breast all over with the butter or oil. If desired, loosen the skin and rub some butter into the meat under the skin as well. Season the breast all over with salt and pepper (with some under the skin, if desired). Rub the seasonings into the skin. If you're cooking a half-breast, pull the skin to cover the meat as much as possible.
• Lower the oven to 350°F and roast the turkey for 1 hour. Place the turkey in the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 350°F. Roast for 1 hour, then begin checking the temperature.
• Check the turkey's temperature. The turkey is done when it reaches 165°F in the thickest part of the breast meat. Start checking after 1 hour of roasting and continue checking every 10 to 15 minutes until the breast is cooked through.
• Cover the turkey to prevent over-browning. If the skin over the breast meat begins to brown too darkly toward the end of cooking, cover it with aluminum foil to prevent scorching.
• Rest the turkey. When cooked, remove the turkey from the oven and cover it loosely with foil. Let the turkey rest for 15 to 20 minutes; this gives the juices time to redistribute and the turkey time to firm up. (Pour the drippings and juices from the pan into a measuring cup for making gravy!)
• Carve the turkey. Transfer the turkey to a clean cutting board. Starting at the breast bone, carve the turkey. Continue carving, keeping your knife as close to the ribs as possible, until the whole breast is carved from the bone; some meat will still be left on the bone. Once no longer attached to the bone, slice the breast crosswise into slices.

Steps:

• Using your spice mill or pestle and mortar, grind together your peppercorns and transfer to your medium mixing bowl. Add the rest of your dry brining ingredients and sieve through your fingers to ensure all components are mixed and the powder looks like a homogenous mixture.
• Place your turkey breast, skin side up on the wire rack set on top of your baking sheet lined with tin foil. You can either grab handfuls of your salt mixture and sprinkle onto the breast. You won’t need to use all of the mixture so expect some to be left in the bowl. Make sure to rub the salt mixture into the meat without ‘massaging’ it; which can break down the meat fibers. Some of the salt mixture will inevitably end up on the baking tray so don’t fret.
• Leave the turkey breast uncovered in the refrigerator for 24 hours to dry out the skin and allow for the brine mixture to penetrate the meat.
• Separate the turkey and the wire rack and rinse out any juices left by the turkey. Replace the foil and place the breast back onto the wire rack, in the tray. The extra foil makes it so much easier to clean up after the fact.
• We recommend leaving the breast out of the refrigerator for an hour or 2 before cooking, to allow it to come up to room temperature and reduce overall cooking time.
• While your turkey breast is resting outside of the refrigerator, mix your glaze components in the small saucepan and place them over a medium heat. Stir the mixture occasionally to ensure all of the sugar is dissolved. After about 10 minutes the glaze should thicken and barely coat the back of a spoon. Remove it from the heat and make sure it is ready to be used in the cooking process.
• Preheat the oven to 425 °F.
• Rub your, now room temperature, turkey breast down with some oil and pour a cup of water into the bottom of the baking tray, we like to throw a halved head of garlic and some of the orange into the water to add some extra aromatics to the breast.
• Place your turkey in the center of the preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes or until the skin is mostly golden brown.
• Reduce the oven temperature to 300 °F and cover the turkey in the first layer of glaze and don’t be stingy.
• Continue cooking the turkey at this lowered temperature for another 50 minutes to an hour or until the thickest part of the breast registers 150 °F (the turkey will continue to come up to temperature during the resting phase). Make sure to reglaze your turkey every 20 minutes and refill the water in the baking tray ½ a cup at a time.
• The skin should be deep golden brown and shiny. Transfer the turkey to a cutting board; tent loosely with foil. Allow to rest up to 1 hour for the best results.