Smoked Wild Turkey with Rhubarb Barbecue Sauce Recipe

This is a juicy, smoky wild turkey breast with a simple, savory rub and an outstanding smoked BBQ sauce made from locally grown rhubarb, topped with local watercress. Turkey recipes don't get much more fresh than this... or much more delicious. Oh yeah, we made you margaritas too. Click here for the recipe for that there Rhubarb Ginger Margarita. 

- Ingredients -

Turkey 
3 lb turkey breast

Rub for Marinating
1 tablespoon cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon basil
¼ teaspoon garlic powder

Brine/Marinade
1 cup water
4 tablespoons cup kosher salt
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dried basil
¼ teaspoon garlic powder

Rub for Smoking
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dried basil

Rhubarb Compote & Cordial (use the cordial in this Rhubarb Margarita recipe)
2 lbs rhubarb, cut into one-inch pieces
1 ½ cups sugar
¼ cup water

Rhubarb Barbecue Sauce
1 cup rhubarb compote
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
½ teaspoon dry mustard
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon onion powder

Garnish
Handful of watercress

- Tools - 
Weston Vacuum Sealer + Gallon Vac Bag
Weston Smoker + wood smoking chips
Weston Marinade Injector
Weston Cone Strainer + Pestle Set
Weston Manual Kitchen Mixer


Step One | Brine your Bird 
[Why? Because you want it moist and tender don't you? Thought so, just listen to us, you really don't want to skip this step, okay.]

Coat your bird with the marinating rub. Mix ingredients for the brine. Reserve ½ cup of the brine in the refrigerator (this will be the marinade you inject the turkey with while smoking). Place the coated turkey breast into a Vacuum Sealer Bag and pour the remaining ½ cup of brine over the turkey in the bag. Vacuum Seal and allow to marinate in the fridge overnight.

We used the Weston Professional Advantage Vacuum Sealer on this one

Step Two | Smoke 

Soak your wood chips in cold water for at least 30 minutes. Preheat the Smoker to 250°F.

Remove the turkey breast from the vacuum sealer bag and rinse gently under cold water for 5 minutes. Coat it with the paprika-basil rub. Once the smoker is pre-heated, place the breast in your smoker with the side dampers half open and the top damper just cracked.

Before.

Smoke 4-6 hours or until the internal temperature of the turkey is 165° —  no more. Change out your wood chips every hour.  Every time you change out the wood chips, inject the breast with a little of the brine that you reserved using a Marinade Injector.

The smoke is rollin' in this Weston 30" Propane Smoker

After.

Our Smoked Wild Turkey Breast is ready to be sliced

Step Three | Prepare the BBQ Sauce

While the turkey breast smokes, prepare your sauce. To make the rhubarb compote, place two cups of rhubarb (chopped into one inch pieces) into a pot with 1 ½ cups sugar and ¼ cup water. Mix with a wooden spoon to coat the rhubarb with the syrup.

Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer the rhubarb 30 minutes or until it falls apart. Use a Cone Strainer to separate the compote from the cordial.You can use the cordial in this Margarita recipe. Use your pestle to mash the compote to a pulp.

The stringy rhubarb compote sits in the Weston Cone Strainer as the cordial drips below

Combine the barbecue sauce ingredients in a Manual Kitchen Kit with the chopper attachment inserted. Turn the handle to mix the ingredients together well.

Before.

After.

Spread the sauce over a piece of foil. The sauce should be spread about an inch thick. Place into your Smoker and smoke at 250° for 10-15 minutes. Stir it so that the smoky top layer marries the less smoky bottom.

The Smoked Rhubarb BBQ will be a little less pink and a little more brown when it's done

Step Four | Serve

Serve the wild turkey breasts sliced, smothered in rhubarb BBQ sauce, and topped with some watercress (or whatever local green you have on hand).