2

This evening I intend to grill a 3 pound turkey breast over indirect heat. I've brined the turkey and am intending to inject it with a butter injection concoction. Does a brined and injected turkey breast need to be basted?

ahsteele
  • 2,598
  • 15
  • 40
  • 50

2 Answers2

3

I generally find that basting while grilling is less about keeping the internal meat moist and more about preventing outside from scorching. If you've brined and injected the turkey breast, I'd say you are fine as long as the exterior isn't browning too quickly.

jalbee
  • 1,061
  • 6
  • 12
  • 1
    I agree with Jalbee, if the exterior is browning too quickly, you can lower the heat and cover the turkey with aluminium foil instead of basting. – BaffledCook Jul 16 '12 at 08:15
1

A turkey breast of that size will cook fairly quickly. With a brine and injection, there is no need to baste it. Even without brining and injecting, I would still question the need.

However, you might want to brush it with butter near the end of cooking, when you're about 5-10f from your target temperature, as you may end up wanting more browning.

Sean Hart
  • 6,102
  • 18
  • 28
  • +1 Great idea on brushing it with butter towards the end of cooking for incrased browning! – ahsteele Jul 16 '12 at 17:29
  • Do it on an as-needed basis. You may or may not be happy with how it looks toward the end of cooking, so a little butter can fix that if necessary. – Sean Hart Jul 16 '12 at 20:49