cook the turkey on the grill.....and cut up a butternuts quash and drizzle with oil, sprinkle some salt and chopped garlic, a few chopped green onions and some poblano or other mild pepper, wrap it in foil and put that on the grill too....serve with black beans and rice.
I hate turkey in a crock pot!
Linda C

You might want to wrap the turkey breast in foil before putting it on the grill also - it can get very dry if you do not. If possible, put some butter under the skin to help with basting. You can poke holes in the foil to get some of the smoke flavor.

If you don't want to wrap the breast in foil, you can put it in a small roasting pan and tent it with foil. If do this, I recommend basting it every 15 to 20 minutes or at least spritzing it with water.

If you want to make a Southwestern style turkey breast, you can wrap it in dried chilies (any combination of Ancho, Pasilla, Guajillo) that have been soaked in water and then wrap that in foil for cooking on the grill. You can save the water that the chilies have soaked in for basting or for making chili sauce.

If you feel compelled to cook it in a crockpot, you can add whole dried chilies (listed above), and that will make a chili sauce for it. Also add onion, garlic, and oregano for seasoning to the pot. I also add achiote paste to the mix for a Yucatecan flavor, but it is not necessary.

Lars

I cooked a turkey breast recently in the crockpot using the Sticky Chicken recipe. Rub with the seasonings the night before, plop it in the crockpot all day. You could cut sweet potatoes or butternut in large chunks and add them too. Add some chunks of cabbage or some brussel sprouts and you've got the whole meal in there!!

I wouldn't worry about the extra .5 lb. It'll cook just fine! I know "all day" sounds like too long for breast meat, but it's not! The salt in the rub keeps it moist.
It creates it's own juice (which makes a great base for soup from the leftovers!

For me, the grill requires way too much babysitting for a piece the size of a turkey breast and since mine's gas, I'm not gaining all the wonderful smokiness without adding wood chips or something.

I AM rather lazy at times and I love the tender, juiciness of the Sticky Chicken method.

Deanna

You don't have to GRILL on a grill! Several years ago, I had stove where burners worked fine but oven died. Because of its age, decided repairing it would be a little silly. Replacing it was not immediately in my budget, so I did without and "indoor" oven. As long as you can fit a pan in and close the lid, you can pretty much "roast" a turkey outdoors... that way you'll have nice brown bits to make gravy. Only down side was that I had no idea what the temp was... not that that really mattered. I even baked a cake out on the grill... and it didn't taste or smell like BBQ!

Interesting about using our gas grill like a little oven. But I am so lazy, and I have to work all day tomorrow before they come over. I never have the bad results LindaC seems to get in the crockpot. Poultry comes out melt in your mouth tender and flavorful when I do it. But then I don't cook it for hours and this is a roast, so maybe a little different. I did a pork loin in the crockpot once, that was good!

I would be worried about it drying out on the grill, I'm thinking the outside would cook before the inside. Maybe not, I dunno. I know I don't want to stand there and fuss with it. Maybe BF will.

What's sticky chicken? I found some tomato jelly that didn't set up and I'm thinking about using that for the turkey sauce, maybe jazzing it up. I've had good luck using hot pepper jelly that didn't set up as a glaze for chicken.

Lars, that meal sounds yum!

Klseiverd, my situation is very similar to yours. I think I may have to experiment and bake something on the grill. At the very least something like apple crisp.

A turkey breast on the grill won't be dry if it's not over cooked.

Cut it up and make a turkey curry!

If dryness is the fear, could you braise it in the crockpot?

Here's the sticky chicken recipe that I use and I use a crockpot for this.

Here is a link that might be useful: sticky chicken

Well, the only time I've ever experienced "dry" poultry is when I followed LindaC's directions and baked it in the oven. Honestly, I don't think modern poultry gets that dry unless you do something horrible to it. When I first had to cook a whole turkey for the family at Thanksgiving I was super paranoid about it being "dry" because I had experienced a dry turkey the year before at a friend's. She roasted it in one of those bags, you know the ones that are supposed to keep the turkey moist. I think she waaaay over cooked it. One year my mom served up a dry turkey but that was because my aunt and grandma were an hour and a half late for dinner. So I've kinda lost my fear of dry poultry, but I do think that if I was cooking it on the grill I'd have to watch it closely and I have to work today. I love the ease of throwing stuff in the crockpot and having a yummy meal four or five hours later. I think I'm going to put some onions and celery on the bottom of the pot, rinse out the jar of chopped garlic that's in the fridge with some vegetable boullion, season the turkey with some lemon pepper and salt, throw the tomato jelly over it and top the whole thing off with sweet potatoes and turnips and the last of my garden jalepenos. After it is cooked I'll reduce the sauce and maybe add a dash of chipotle to it.

That way I can reserve the grill for making apple crisp.

Stuartwanda I just saw the recipe you posted for the "sticky chicken." Thanks! That rub will be even better than what I was planning. I think I am going to make up a batch for BF to use when he grills chicken breasts, which is quite often. I don't like traditional poultry seasoning because I am not a fan of sage. I think that's why I don't like traditional Thanksgiving turkey with dressing, it's the sage taste. Oddly I love the smell of sage, just not the taste. I grow it in my garden, it's also a beautiful plant to look at.

I cook turkey breast halves on the gas grill more often than I make them in the oven. I use a medium-low heat with the grill cover down and test them with a meat thermometer to make sure they're not overcooked.

I do turn them occasionally and baste with the same "wash" most of the fire companies spray on the birds for their benefit chicken barbeques - 1 cup of cider vinegar mixed with 1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce, 1 tsp. each paprika and salt and 1/2 tsp. black pepper.

Some fall squash and your bean salad would be fine with it. Don't get tangled up with the idea of Thanksgiving dinner and just think of a menu to serve with a big chicken breast. LOL

Ugh! I'm thawing out the turkey this morning and I now notice that it is a Butterball turkey and has been injected with a "savory herb" seasoning (along with all kinds of salt, sugar and other chemicals). No wonder it was so cheap. I wasn't looking at the front when I bought it, just the back. So I think I'm going to hold off on the spices, probably no point, but still add the tomato jelly and maybe some salsa for a bit of a contrast to the "savory herbs," (which probably means way too much sage and garlic for my taste.) This does make a case for trying to roast it on the grill though, since you can't hardly dry out those turkeys if you try.

I have also roasted turkey on the grill many times with great success. Low flame, in a pan tented with foil and I always place a pan of water on the opposite burner. Creates a moist cooking atmosphere, and the turkey does not dry out.

Good luck, hope your dinner is fabulous! (I know it will be....)

Linda

I'd probably sear the outside and put it in the crock for a couple hours. I've seen a recommendation to ball up some foil to prop up the meat out of the juices. Seems like a good idea, since the liquid can make it soggy. I've had bad results with slow cooking really well trimmed boneless skinless white meat, but any other kind seems to work fine.

Lpink,

"I have some kick butt southwestern bean salad but I'm having a hard time getting my brain around a SW style meal featuring turkey."

I know you've got a Butterball that probably won't be the best for your idea of a Southwest inspired turkey but, for future reference, you were on a good track. In Mexico, it's traditional to serve turkey with mole sauce. No worries about featuring turkey in a SW meal.

Whatever you decide, hope dinner is yummy.

/tricia

I grill half turkey breasts routinely and they always come out looking like Ruthanna's picture. With a thermometer, the meat is never dry--just yummy!

Mmmm, Mmmm Tricia! I'll definately be experimenting again. I can get real turkey parts at the farm market (that's a misnomer, the produce doesn't come from local farms for the most part, but the meat is MUCH more varied than what I find at the grocery store). I should add more turkey to our meal rotation, as BF likes to take turkey sandwiches to work. We only eat fish and poultry, and even that rarely. BF is convinced beef and pork aggravate his gout. I'll probably like turkey a lot better if I prepare it in ways other than the standard Thanksgiving style. I made grilled turkey thighs once for a barbecue, I marinated them overnight in a yogurt marinade with Mediterannean spices, boy that was yummy!

It isn't lack of moisture when cooking that makes a turkey breast dry....it's over cooking.
Lpink if your roast turkey was dry...it was over done...pure and simple. And that's the beauty of cookinga turkey breast, you can stop cooking when the breast is done and not have to wait for the dark meat ( which takes longer) and risk overcooking the breast.

Glad to see it can be made in a 6 qt. Nesco Roaster. I will try it that way - with turkey thighs and legs I think!

Up North Teresa

Update: I roasted the turkey on my small Weber gas grill. It took two hours on med. I didn't have a small roasting pan so I used a 9 inch cake pan. There wasn't room on the grill for a pan of water with the other pan on there so I took an old aluminum cake pan and put it inside the steel cake pan, and filled the steel one with some water, creating something akin to a bain marie. The turkey came out fine but it was an injected Butteball so I didn't care for the taste. Not much I could have done to counter the salty chemically taste of the brine, which also gives it a weird texture, IMHO. The tomato jelly did add an interesting note. The vegetables that I put around the breast ended up kinda boiling in the juices/brine, which I didn't like either, since boiled carrots and turnips are not something I like. I do like roasted or stir fried, which is what I'll have to do until I get a new oven. The sweet potatoes I did whole wrapped in foil, they turned out good.

On the frustrating side, the company bailed out anyway. It was BF's son and his girlfriend and new baby but she got in a fender bender on the way home from work so that put an end to that. They tend to do this a lot, they way over extend themselves and then have to cancel. I was skeptical anyway about them coming over for dinner on a weeknight, particularly since she's working 8 hours, commuting for two more, and I think still trying to nurse her two month old. Poor kids, they both work full time and still have a hard time financially. This was to make up for last weekend when they bailed again due to the girlfriend wanting to spend it all with her family. I can understand though, they are the ones helping her care for the baby while she's at work.

I can't wait to try this turkey roasting thing again, but next time I'll spring for something a little higher priced, like maybe some split breasts with the bones in. Now what to do with a bunch of leftover boiled turnips . . .

I use my 6 qt roaster to do whole boneless turkeys or boneless turkey breasts. I rub them with olive oil, rosemary and thyme, put in the roaster frozen and let them cook. They are always nice and moist, plus slice nicely for dinner or sandwiches.

I've done the crockpot and grill methods but my favorite is the woodstove. I have a large shallow, rectangular cast iron roasting pan with a cover. I split the turkey breast so it's butterflied. I throw some olive oil in the pan and toss in onions, garlic, celery, and carrots. Rub the turkey breast on both sides with a little olive oil then salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder and some times a little tomato powder. Place the breast bone side down on top of the veggies. Then depending on the temperature the woodstove is running at, I either put the pan directly on the stove if the temp is low or on a rack if it's high. (It all depends on how much heat the house needs.) Then I head off to work. The turkey is always perfect when I get home. The only problem is the darn pan and contents are so heavy I need help getting it on and off the stove. DS stocks the stove with wood during the day and he can handle it fine but I guess I'm a weakling!

Too late for turkey advice. But mine would have been similar to some of the other advice you received.

I've often roasted chickens and turkeys on the grill. I roast over indirect high heat even on the grill.

You can't blame the method for dry meat. As Linda mentioned, a dry turkey means over cooked turkey.

The texture of meat cooked in a crockpot is not that of "Roasted meat". Doesn't mean it can't be good. It just isn't roasted.

I recently bought a Nesco 6 Qt roaster. I still need to test drive a "roast" chicken.

Here is a suggestion for using up your leftover turnips.

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

Turnip (Rutabaga) Puff Surprise
===============================
Recipe: From Gini in Sault Ste. Marie

3 cups hot mashed turnips
(or a combination of potatoes and turnips)
2 tablespoons butter
2 eggs
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon brown sugar
. Mix the butter into the Turnip, beat in eggs. Mix flour, baking
powder, salt, pepper and sugar together and add to turnip mixture.

Pour into a Grease 1 quart casserole and bake at 350�F for about 25
minutes.

This dish, Tacchino Tonnato, is more of a summery dish, but it is simply the best turkey breast I've ever eaten. It's Julia Child's adaptation of the classic roast-veal-in-tuna-sauce, vitello tonnato, in which she substitutes turkey breast for the hard to find and expensive veal roast. (Turkey breast is much cheaper and more tender, and it works very well.) You may wish to save this recipe for next summer.

This really is ideal for hot weather, especially for a luncheon for several people. You make the entire recipe a day or two in advance: the day of the luncheon, all you have to do is take the dish out of the fridge and, if desired, decorate it a bit. You can serve this dish with a salad, or make sandwiches with it, or just eat it plain. Delicious. If you don't like capers, leave them out; it'll still taste great.

I'm reproducing the recipe exactly as Julia has it, but I would note that when I made it I found that the Dijon mustard tended to overpower the other ingredients; even though she calls for 2 to 3 tablespoons, I'd start with only 1 tablespoon and add a little more if needed. (I know it takes chutzpah to overrule Julia, but there you have it.) While it calls for poached turkey breast (and her directions for poaching a turkey breast follows the sauce recipe) if you just want to try out the sauce, you can 'cheat' and go to the deli and get several slices of precooked turkey breast and use that. (I've done that; works great, although it ends up costing about three times as much as poaching a turkey breast on your own.) She makes the point that you don't serve it as sliced turkey with a sauce on the side; you need to smear each slice with the sauce and let the slices absorb the flavors for a day or two.

You can make the sauce in either a blender or a food processor. If you have a food processor, though, the sauce is extremely easy to make. In fact, my Cuisinart has a push-tube with a hole in it that is designed to drip oil at just the right speed for emulsifying with the other ingredients. Don't be intimidated by the recipe--for the most part, you dump everything in the processor and let it do the work. If you can make mayonnaise in the blender or the food processor, you can easily make this recipe.

Tacchino Tonnato from Julia Child's The Way to Cook
(Cold Sliced turkey breast in tuna and anchovy sauce) For 8 or more servings

1 - 7 oz tin (1 cup) tuna packed in water, drained
1 - 2oz tin of flat fillets of anchovies packed in olive oil, drained
One-fourth cup capers, squeezed dry
The grated peel of one half lemon
2 to 3 tbsp Dijon-type prepared mustard (you may wish to start with just one and add more if needed)
1 large clove of garlic, pureed, then mashed to a very fine paste with one-fourth tsp salt
4 egg yolks
1 to 1 1/2 cups or more virgin olive oil
Drops of lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground white pepper

One 6-pound poached turkey breast (recipe follows this one) or 16 to 20 generous but thin slices of cooked turkey breast
Decorations: 1/3 cup capers, drained; coarsely chopped parsley; lemon wedges

The sauce. Puree the tuna, anchovies, capers, lemon peel, mustard and garlic paste in the machine, then add the egg yolks and puree several seconds, until the mixture has thickened. Finally, with the motor running, start adding the oil in a very thin stream of droplets, and continue without pause until three-fourths of a cup of oil has gone in and the sauce has thickened into a heavy cream. It will not be as thick as mayonnaise, but should hold itself in creamy suspension. Process in one-half cup more of oil, depending on how thick a sauce you wish to have. Season carefully to taste with lemon juice, salt and pepper; the sauce should have character, but should not be too strong in taste or it will kill off the turkey.

Slicing the turkey. If you are using a poached turkey breast, discard the skin. Carefully remove in one piece the whole side of each breast from the carcass. Cut the meat at a slant crosswise (across the grain) into elegant slices less than 1/8 inch thick.

Assembling. Spoon a layer of sauce in the bottom of a serving platter, and arrange the turkey on top, spreading each slice with a coating of sauce. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 to 48 hours before serving.

Serving. Let the platter sit at room temperature for 20 minutes to take off the chill. Meanwhile sprinkle on the capers and parsley, and decorate with lemon wedges.

Poached Turkey Breast

Set up a 6-pound bone-in breast of turkey breast up in a kettle just large enough to hold it comfortably, surround it with 1 cup each of chopped carrots, onions and celery, and a large herb bouquet. Pour in 2 cups of chicken broth, 1 cup of dry white French vermouth or dry white wine, and enough water to cover the breast by 1/2 inch. Bring to the simmer on top of the stove; skim off the gray scum, which will continue to rise for several minutes. Salt lightly, then cover the pot loosely and maintain at the bare simmer for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, adding a little boiling water if the liquid evaporates to expose the turkey. It's done when a meat thermometer, pushed in to the thickest part of the meat near the shoulder (but not touching bone) reads 162 to 165 F. Let the turkey cool in its broth for at least 30 minutes.

Refrigerate uncovered; when chilled, remove the turkey to a covered container.

How interesting Arley! I saw Lidia Bastianich make a poached chicken once which inspired me to try it. It was good and the plus side was the broth for chicken soup which is one of BF's favorites. I'm sure we could do the same with turkey! This would definately be superb for a summer barbecue! We're having Indian Summer now!

Here's a similar recipe I found online using a bain marie which I want to try again.

Here is a link that might be useful: Oil poached chicken with capers, lemons and black olives

I have not made this but it is in my "to try" file. I'm pretty certain I got it from Penzy's:

SLOW COOKER TURKEY

1 turkey breast (6-7 lbs.)
1 Cup apple cider
2 TURKISH BAY LEAVES
1 TB. SMOKED SPANISH PAPRIKA or
HUNGARIAN SWEET PAPRIKA
1 TB. POULTRY SEASONING
1 1/2 tsp. CRACKED BLACK PEPPER
2 tsp. KOSHER FLAKE SALT

Wash and dry the turkey breast and place in a slow cooker. Pour the apple cider in the bottom of the slow cooker. Add the BAY LEAVES. Combine the SPICES and rub over the top of the turkey breast. Cover the slow cooker and cook on low until the turkey breast is done, usually 4-5 hours. The resulting spicy juices are a great low-fat gravy to serve over mashed potatoes.

Prep. time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 4-5 hours
Serves: 10