Help on turkey pastrami

[Smokin Don]

I can't find fresh turkey breasts here, only frozen. I have a 3 pound boneless breast, 20% solution added. The pastrami recipe I want to use calls for brining and then cure. I was thinking I would soak it to get rid of the salt & then follow the recipe. Any thoughts on this is appreciated. Don

[TentHunteR]

You can try soaking it first, but I'm not sure it will make much difference. If it was really high in salt/sodium like bacon or corned beef then soaking would remove some of the salt, but not all.

It also depends on what else the injection contained and was for. If it contained phosphates to tenderize, then the phosphates already had the effect and soaking it first won't make any difference. In layman's terms once the salt and or phosphate has bound to the protein structure and had a denaturing effect, it can't go back, no matter how much soaking you do.


Another option is to see if you can find fresh thighs. I think they make better turkey pastrami than breasts anyway.

[Hub]

I totally agree with TentHunteR -- the damage cannot be undone.  However, you can get creative with it and still have some good eats.  How about (1) soaking in water to desalinate it, then (2) lightly injecting it with some interesting flavors like garlic, cumin, sage, and onion, then (3) rubbing it with some pastrami-like outer spices like coriander, pepper and salt.  Finally, smoke it moderately heavy in a strong flavor like hickory.

Given your touch for this kind of stuff I'll bet you'll get it right 

Hub 

[Smokin Don]

Thanks for the input TH & Hub, that's kinda what I thought. I am going to a back up recipe I think should be good and it just calls for a 24 hour cure. Don