Smoker Honey-Glazed Breast of Turkey
Submitted by jpottsfamd
Smoked turkey breast glazed with honey, dry sherry, butter, and lemon juice. Marinated overnight and hickory-smoked until golden, juicy, and deeply flavored.
YIELD
1 servingPREP
30 minCOOK
3 hrsREADY
11 hrsThis honey-glazed turkey breast gets marinated in a warm mixture of honey, dry sherry, butter, lemon juice, and salt, then smoked over hickory until the skin turns lacquered and golden. The longer you marinate, the better. Overnight is good, but a few days with regular turning is even better for deeper flavor penetration.
The honey-sherry glaze caramelizes beautifully in the smoker, building up a sticky, sweet-savory bark on the outside while the hickory smoke perfumes the meat all the way through. Baste once more near the end of the smoke for an extra layer of gloss.
The water pan in the smoker is where you can get creative. Adding white wine, onion, celery, lemon halves, garlic, and bay leaves to the water creates aromatic steam that keeps the breast moist and adds subtle flavor.
Pro Tips
- Cool the honey mixture completely before pouring it over the turkey. Hot glaze starts cooking the surface and creates an uneven marinate.
- Soak hickory blocks in water for at least an hour before smoking. Dry wood flares up and produces bitter, acrid smoke instead of clean, gentle smoke.
- Use a meat thermometer. Turkey breast is done at 165°F (74°C) internally. Pull it at 160°F (71°C) and let it rest; carryover heat finishes the job.
- If reheating sliced turkey later, pour hot gravy over it rather than reheating in the oven, which dries it out.
Variations
- Swap hickory for apple or cherry wood for a milder, sweeter smoke flavor.
- Use maple syrup instead of honey for a deeper, more autumnal glaze.
- Add a teaspoon of smoked paprika and cayenne to the glaze for a spicy-sweet version.
Ingredients
Directions
Rinse turkey breast and pat dry.
Heat honey, sherry and butter in a saucepan.
Remove from heat, stir in lemon juice and salt (and the few drops of Liquid Smoke).
Pour honey mixture (we recommend you cool the mixture thoroughly first) over turkey breast and let stand, covered, in refrigerator for 3 to 5 hours (we think overnight is much better, several days is okay, too, turning at least twice a day).
Place turkey breast on smoker grid and baste.
Baste once again when almost done.
See below for times: Charcoal Smoker: Use 7 pounds charcoal, 4 quarts hot water (we make a portion of this white wine, and put in an onion, a few celery stalks, a lemon cut in half, a few cloves of garlic and a couple bay leaves), 2 wood sticks (we use about 4 to 6 hickory blocks, soaked for at least an hour in water), and smoke 3 to 4 hours. (Stop about ½ hour early if you plan to reheat at a later time in the oven; we don’t usually do this, but rather pour hot gravy over the sliced turkey if we want it warm.)
Electric Smoker: Use 4 quarts hot water (see recommendations for charcoal smoker for our suggestions), 2 wood sticks (ditto) and smoke 2½ to 3½ hours.
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