Recipe(tried): Roast Brined Turkey Breast with Crisp Skin

This was juicy and delicious - I think it would work for a rolled breast, but it would be easy to cook a whole breast and then take it off the bone after cooking. I find the breast comes prepped, but just in case I have inluded the text - it came with pictures but I can't include them. This is a Cook's Illustrated recipe. I used the veggies in the pan, and found that the sauce was made, I did not need to do anything else.

How to Roast a Whole Turkey Breast

For flavorful, juicy meat and rich, crisp skin, brine the breast, loosen its skin and roast it on high, then moderately low heat.

ROAST BRINED TURKEY BREAST WITH CRISP SKIN

Serves 6 to 8

If you are unable to purchase a turkey breast without a pop-up timer, leave it in place and ignore it. If removed, the timer will leave a gaping hole for juices to escape during roasting. If making an accompanying pan gravy, you may want to throw some carrots, celery, onions, and garlic in the roasting pan and refer to "Make-Ahead Pan Gravy."

1 1/2 cups kosher salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 6- to 8-pound fresh, whole, bone-in, skin-on turkey breast, rinsed and prepared according to illustrations, "Preparing a Turkey Breast for Roasting," below.

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, 3 tablespoons at room temperature, 1 tablespoon melted
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup white wine or chicken stock (optional)

1. Mix salt and sugar in 11/2 gallons cool water in large clean bucket or stockpot until completely dissolved. Set turkey breast in brine, making sure it is submerged. Cover and refrigerate 5 hours.

2 . Twenty minutes before roasting, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Mix room-temperature butter with pepper in small bowl. Set aside.

3. Remove turkey breast from brine and pat dry. Prepare breast for roasting. Following "Preparing a Turkey Breast for Roasting," below.

4. Place turkey breast in oven, wide neck end toward oven rear. Pour 1/2 cup water or optional white wine or stock over pan bottom to prevent drippings from burning. Roast 15 minutes, then rotate roasting pan. Roast until skin turns golden, 15 minutes longer. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees; continue to roast breast, rotating pan once, about halfway through cooking until internal temperature in deepest part of breast registers 160 to 165 degrees (depending on preference), 30 to 45 minutes longer.

5. Remove turkey breast from oven. Let stand 20 minutes. Carve and serve.

Preparing a Turkey Breast for Roasting
Roasting a Whole Turkey Breast


1. Cut out the remaining portion of the neck and reserve it for another use.


2. Remove the wishbone to facilitate carving.


3. Cut off the extra flap of skin at the neck end, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Cut the flap in half and set it aside.


Being careful not to tear the delicate membrane around the perimeter of the breast, release the skin on either side of the breastbone to form two pockets.


Shove a piece of reserved skin flap under the released skin on either side of the breastbone point.

Rub seasoned butter under released skin; brush the breast skin with the remaining butter.


Place the prepared turkey, skin side up, on a lightly oiled oven rack set in a roasting pan. Position the breast so that the narrow pointed end sits lower on the rack than the larger neck end.