More meal prep: turkey breast on the grill

I like to do large batch cooking when I have time to make it easier during the week. This past weekend, I cooked bacon (covered in this post with meatballs) and smoked 5 pounds of salmon (this post). I also cooked a turkey breast on the grill for sandwich meat.

Since we both work away from home, we take lunches nearly every day. Bulk cooking like this is less expensive than buying meat at the deli.

The first step was to decide what flavors I wanted for my turkey. You can marinate the meat or use a dry rub. I just put some salt and black pepper on this one and then used hickory chips to add some smoky flavor.

I started by getting some charcoal ready to go. Soaking your wood chips lets them burn more slowly and produce more smoke. Use a small bowl or a plastic bag and soak the chips while the charcoal is heating.

I moved the charcoal to the sides of the grill and put an aluminum pan in the center of the grill to catch the drippings. I then added some chips to the fire and put the meat on to cook.

You want the fire to be medium hot. My Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook has a section of tips that discuss how to determine how hot the fire is when grilling.

This is a 3 pound turkey breast from the local grocery. It works well for sandwiches or an easy dinner.

I check the grill periodically and add more charcoal and chips as needed. It takes 2 1/2 to 3 hours to cook this size turkey breast depending on how hot the fire is and the ambient air temperature. I don’t like the fire to be too hot or the outside gets overdone before the middle is cooked. Test the temperature with a meat thermometer.

Once the meat is done, let it rest for a bit before you slice it. The meat will hold the juices better. If you are making gravy, you can use the pan drippings. In this case, I wasn’t making gravy, so my dog got the drippings on his dinner. (Why yes, he is a little spoiled).

If you are cooking a bunch of meat like this and want to freeze it already sliced, be sure to wrap it tightly. It’s best to eat it within a month, but we rarely have it last that long.

I also cooked a beef roast on Sunday and sliced up the leftovers for sandwiches too.

Now I may have to look at getting a meat slicer!