Go to the Recipe: Roast Turkey Crown
Is there any advantage to doing this as opposed to SVing the breast then searing (or searzalling) the skin? I'd like to keep the oven free for the sides, and reheating the white and dark meat if cooked a day in advance would be made a lot easier, I'm assuming...
That would work, in fact I have done this the past two years - but something was lacking.... the scent of Thanksgiving that my family members associated with the holiday was missing from the house because the bird did not roast in the oven. The ChefSteps method allows you to have the best of both worlds.
any tips for removing the breast from the crown without destroying it?
Before or after cooking it?
When it comes to other poultry, would you approach a goose in the same way? I guess mostly with regards to the brining. Thanks...
I always do 2 birds and smoke one of them at the same temp.
This allows for the beautifully amber smoked breast to be at the table and the wonderful smell of the roasted one in the house.
Only problem is getting everyone to leave after dinner lol!
Happy holidays to all!
Barry,
Too funny. I do the exact same thing, I smoke one and roast the other! This year, I will give ChefSteps' turkey prep a shot for my roasted turkey...Happy Holidays!
I've immersion-brined a goose before, and after doing that, I would recommend going the injection route as described here instead. I think that would work better for crisper skin, not to mention you don't have to find a huge bag to brine it in.
A sharp knife.
This recipe was awesome!!
WOW! Thank you, ChefSteps!! You made my Thanksgiving.
The breast meat on the crown was so tender and flavorful!
I credit the brine and the low cooking temperature.
Awesome!
Would love some feedback on a couple issues I'd like to improve for next Thanksgiving:
(1) The drumettes weren't great... While they fancied up the presentation, they were a little pink, lacking in flavor, and not as tender, maybe even a little chewy. Does it sound like they were undercooked? Perhaps they just tasted less yummy and less tender because I hadn't injected them with brine? I will try injecting them with some brine next time.
(2) The skin was a disappointment. Despite roasting at 450F convection for 20 minutes instead of the final 10 in the recipe, it wasn't brown and beautiful like Will's gorgeous photo below, but instead it was still a little on the blonde side. I was expecting crisp, crackly skin, but instead it was like a thin sheet of hard plastic or like a cheese rind. I couldn't snap any off. I couldn't even slice through it. I had to remove the whole sheet of skin and toss it. My theory is maybe I dried it out too long... I butchered and injected the brine into the turkey Monday midnight and left it in the fridge uncovered to dry. Then I cooked it Thursday noon. But the directions above say to leave a max of two days uncovered in fridge. Could that be the problem? The extra 12 hours in the fridge just dried it out too much? I do remember it being surprisingly firm when I pushed my thermometer into the bird prior to cooking. Another thought: I basted with ghee a handful of times while the bird was cooking and twice at the end when I was browning it, but maybe I should have basted it more frequently?
Prepared today with a 7kg free range turkey. Amazing! also followed your advice on the gravy. Guests were blown away. Juicy and tender as nothing I've ever tried before. Only difference were cooking time and temps, as I use a steam combined oven (I set it at 25% steam, 130C, core temperature probe at 65C).
Colour was similar to that in the picture, although I would have preferred that of Will's here How did you get that wonderful colour?
rubbing a little baking soda on the skin before baking will improve browning.
I did this and it turned out perfectly, The only thing I did differently is I sous vide the crown and then baked it in the oven long enough to give it a beautiful golden brown texture. I took a before photo, but forgot to do an after photo as I had a house full of hungry people wanting to eat!
Hello. Could you tell me the best temperature and time for perfect turkey breast sous vide? Thanks :-)
once it hits 145 wouldn't you want to hold it there for a 14 mins to pasteurize? or would it just retain enough heat or even go up enough by the time you serve it that it'll pasteurize anyway just by letting it rest?
I like it. After it cooked,I ask my mom to taste it. She says that it is juicy and the chicken is not that dry.
Hi Jonathan, how long did you sous vide the crown for?
I want to sous vide the Turkey Crown. Whats the best temperature and for long? How should I brown it (deep fry, 500 oven or seat on pan)?
THANK YOU
Can I still stuff this like a normal turkey? My grandmother is dead set on having the stuffing in the turkey and I already told her I would do that, but I really want to try this.
Hi Megan, unfortunately there's not as there is not an ideal place for the stuffing to go in this recipe. We hope this doesn't cause too big of a rift!
Hi Lena, we recommend shooting for a core temp of 63 or 64C for three hours at least (but this is very dependent on the size of your turkey). To brown it, put in the oven at 500F for about 10-15 minutes. Ultimately though, recommend low temperature cooking the bird all the way through in the oven rather than sous vide cooking it, but please let us know how it turns out if you give it a try.
i've read that the core temp of turkey breast should be between 160-165 F. you recommend 145. why?
The FDA recommends cooking poultry to 165 F (white meat) even though the pathogen with the highest resistance to temperature dies at 140...the 25 degree difference is because of fluctuations in people's ovens. Most ovens are not accurate to their settings and by hitting 165 for a few seconds they feel most people (even those with ovens 20-25 degrees off) will make the bird safe. If youve ever heard of the temperature danger zone (between 40 and 140 degrees F) you would know that above 140 foods become safe...its kind of the magic number. And it is safe to cook foods even lower than that if their core temps are held for longer periods. You can kill off bacteria fast with high heat or slower with lower heat for longer times. SO....to answer your question...145 F is the target for two reasons...ONE, carry-over cooking, the internal temp will continue to rise even after being taken out of the oven, the larger the food mass, the larger the rise in temp...and TWO... Doneness is a function of temperature. Many people believe it is temp and time but as far as finished texture and juiciness go it is just temp...so when you hit your target internal temp...you are done.
Megan, cooking stuffing in a bird is a terrible idea.. I would recommend cooking it outside the bird then stuffing it before service. If she is not there during the cooking process she will never know and your dressing will be even better. And since the bottom of the bird is cut away before cooking the stuffing/dressing will be underneath it, not really in it.
If I wanted to season the brine what might you suggest using?
Made it and the roulade for Christmas Day dinner. It came out perfectly delicious. For once, I didn't have to struggle to balance for breast/dark meat temperature.
I ran into two issues; the first was my assumptions that the cling wrap I use at home is not wide enough to make the roulade. It was quite a challenge using the shorter width by overlapping. It worked at the end. For the home cook, finding the wider cling wrap without spending a fortune from at a restaurant supplier is not a good option.
The second issue: when I neatly carved out the breasts then sliced them as shown in the photo, assembling the sliced breast back onto the crown was impossible; they would not stay in place. I ended up leaving out the carcass and simply arranging the slices on the platter. I'm wondering if I'm not doing something right?
Thanks for the great recipe Chefsteps, the family were very impressed! I rolled the meat from each leg individually, seasoning inside and wrapping without Activa. Cooked them sous vide and they held together just fine for the final roasting in the oven.
Knowing that Chefsteps is highly committed to sous vide cooking makes me question while we sous vide the legs why we don't do the same with the breast? Is there any special reason for that? According to J.Kenji López-Alt (Serious Eats) baking powder also makes skin super crispy. Do you have any experience with this method?
Thanks
Are you sure of the cooking time? I read on other places that it takes about 20mn per pound at 250F.
For a 14 lbs bird it would be 4h 40mn. Please advise.
If you used a whole bird, not broken down then the cooking time would be more because of the difference in mass to surface area. I imagine the crown would take about as much time as a spatchcocked bird, which is usually about half the time of a whole bird. So 2-3 hours seems about right for a crown off of a 14lb bird compared to 4h 40m for the whole bird.
Did you smoke the crown or a whole bird? I want to smoke a crown and am looking for time and temp suggestions, maybe 250 F until I get inside to 145 just like in the oven. Thoughts?
To be honest with you, time means nothing. Multiple variables will affect the true time of the bird most notably the accurate reading on your oven. The better option is to set a probe thermometer in the bird to gauge when the bird is done. I believe it is 161 F but you can check on that. Once the temp reaches pull the bird out and it is ready.
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My bird was 14 pounds... I cooked it for 4 hours and it reached 162, then seared it on roast in the oven at 475 for 10....make sure your pan is on the bottom rack of your oven... The bird was amazing, moist, delicious. I made 1 substitution of duck fat instead of clarified butter... Best white meat ever.
I would like to do the slow cooking step a day in advance. Is that possible?
it is, pull it out and let it sit on the counter for an hour before you start the high temp roast.
I hear brush with some vinegar on the skin then heavy on salt can make the turkey skin very crispy. Do you think this will work?
For brown/crispy, I think you want to eliminate acid.
how long can I hold the turkey at room temp after the first cooking step?
No more than 3 hours.
I was skeptical whether a reverse sear method would work on a turkey crown. Oh ye of little faith! It was perfect, crown came out bronzed with crispy crackling skin with juicy flesh underneath.
I dry brined the crown about 24 hours before cooking and left uncovered in the fridge. Used the chicken stock to baste for first hour. Was done in about 2.5 hours for a 7lb crown. The sear with clarified butter worked perfectly. Added some rosemary on the skin at this stage more for looks than anything else. All in all it was delicious, thank you!
I am cooking for a crowd, some of whom are white meat only eaters (no comment….) So I will roast a crown in addition to a whole bird. If I were to roast the crown the day before, how would you recommend that I bring it to temp on Thanksgiving Day?
I would go with a 215°f oven until you reach a core that is up to about 130. Or drop the whole thing in a 130°f sous vide bath in a bag, give it an hour or so until its up to 130°f then a light roast in the oven to finish.
I have 2 questions:
I have bought a 8lb bone in Turkey crown. I am using your "Turkey Crown" recipe.
1. In your "brining poultry" page you are shown using a plastic syringe. I have a metal injector I received as a gift which has a sharp needle that I believe is used for BBQ. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VNF976G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Will this work as well or will the sharp needle damage the skin/meat in some way? Should I lift the skin to inject the brine or pierce the skin to inject the brine?
2. I am also planning to rub a 3 tsp Diamond Kosher salt to 1 tsp baking powder on the skin to enhance the crispiness. Saw a Kenji Lopez-Alt post on this. Any comments or caution on using this technique?
Any idea what size crown one can cook in the smart oven pro? (i.e., what’s the largest?)
Hi, I’ve used this recipe years ago and it came out great. However I’m back to this recipe and using a much bigger bird (~26lb total). Any recommendation on cooking time for the crown? Legs will be sous vide separately. Thanks!
