Description
Every charcuterie board needs one thing that is not pork, and this is ours. A whole turkey breast, cured and hot-smoked over wood by our master butchers at Jovan Foods in Mitcham. It is the leanest item in the Gold Seal deli range by some distance, and the one that gets eaten first by anyone avoiding pork or watching the fat.
How it is made
- The cut. A whole breast, kept as one muscle rather than re-formed from offcuts. Turkey breast is almost pure lean protein, with practically no fat running through it.
- Curing. Cured with salt and curing salt and given time under refrigeration to equalise. Curing does two jobs on a lean bird: it seasons right through, and it holds moisture in a muscle that has no fat to do that job for it.
- Drying. Hung until the surface goes tacky so the smoke bonds evenly.
- Hot smoking. Smoked over wood, gently. Turkey takes smoke far more readily than pork does — there is no fat to buffer it — so it is kept restrained, aromatic rather than heavy.
- Cooking. Brought to a safe core temperature slowly and stopped there. This is the part everyone gets wrong with turkey: a few degrees past done and a lean breast turns dry and cottony. Low and slow is the whole trick.
- Chilling. Cooled straight down and held at or below 5°C.
How to eat it
Ready to eat, straight from the fridge. Slice it thin for sandwiches, wraps and boards; cut it thicker for a plate with a sharp relish; or dice it into salads and soups. It is the natural partner to our krauts and pickles — the acidity plays well against a lean, smoky meat.
The card
- Storage: keep refrigerated, maximum 5°C.
- Format: whole breast joint, or by weight in 1kg, 500g, 250g and 100g — unsliced, sliced or diced to your spec.
- Made by: Jovan Foods Ltd, Mitcham, Surrey (UK MT 015) for the Big Apple Hot Dogs Gold Seal range.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.