Last Mother’s Day, I just cooked an easy dinner of Butterball Turkey Breast. It was already brined so the end result was juicy and already seasoned. I also used a slow cooker so cooking it was really a no-brainer!
BUTTERBALL TURKEY
I bought the Butterball Turkey at S&R, it was on promo for P699.00.
Now, I have heard of Butterball Turkey from the US – it is one of the brands that specialize in turkey, especially for Thanksgiving. I have never cooked turkey before, but I have watched a lot of TV shows talking about how difficult it was to cook turkey for thanksgiving. But here was a smaller piece of turkey that I could make, and for me, it felt less daunting to try. I was actually excited to cook turkey for the first time!
To cook the turkey, from the freezer, I moved it to the refrigerator to thaw for about 1 and a half days.
When it was time to cook it, I removed the plastic netting and plastic wrapper. I chose to cook it via slow cooker. Here are the roasting times and instructions:
Here is what the package contains: a piece of skinless turkey breast that is trussed up, and a packet of gravy. They turkey breast has a thin layer of fat on top, but that’s okay, I think it will help keep the turkey moist while cooking.
These are the instructions for the gravy. Keep the gravy in the refrigerator while the turkey is slow cooking.
The turkey is trussed with twine netting, it is non-plastic and okay for cooking. I put the turkey in the slow cooker, fat side up so that the fat will drip down the turkey and keep it from drying out, turned the slow cooker on at the low setting, put the lid on, and that was it!
After 2 hours, I checked the center of the turkey with a meat thermometer, and the temperature was just around 140F. I let it cook for another 2 hours and checked the temperature again, and it was already around 165F, just the right temperature for turkey. That means it’s cooked!
The reason I chose to use a slow cooker is because it’s harder to overcook the turkey with a slow cooker. Even if I had left the turkey cooking for another hour or two, it would still be okay. Whereas with regular baking, even an extra 30 minutes might make the turkey dry and overcooked.
The only problem with the slow cooker is that it doesn’t brown the top of the turkey, so my turkey was still a bit light-looking. I put the turkey under the broiler for about 5 minutes to brown, and for the areas that did not brown enough, I just used my kitchen torch to brown it. Then I carefully cut the strings and pulled off the truss. Voila!
The part that didn’t brown at the top was where I inserted the meat thermometer. Some of the turkey juices ran out and made the area wet, preventing it from browning. Next time, I think I would try to avoid sticking a meat thermometer into it and will just rely on the cooking time.
After cooking, I let the turkey rest for about 10 minutes before slicing. While waiting, I just made the gravy following the directions. The turkey breast was juicy and cooked through.
I also prepared other sides like mashed roasted vegetables, a salad, soup, rice, etc… This was a very easy Sunday dinner, and the star of the show, the turkey breast, couldn’t have been easier! Another thing that’s great about it is that there is no waste – the whole piece is meat – there are no bones. Everything is edible.
It does not look like a very big piece, but since it was pure meat, we didn’t even finish half! Each of us got maybe 2-3 slices and we could’t eat more.
The leftover turkey breast slices made really good sandwich fillings the next few days. Since I didn’t have any cranberry sauce, I just made do with a very thin layer of strawberry jam or other red jam, some mayo, a few leafy greens between two slices of bread. You can also use the leftover turkey in salads, etc…
Making turkey like this is actually not as difficult or as scary as I feared. 
It was actually easy, but looks good served, and people will think I slaved the whole day for this turkey, but I didn’t! It’s just the right size for a family of 4-6 people, and I don’t have any problem storing leftovers since the size is very compact and there are no bones to worry about. It is also easy to eat for children or senior citizens, and for anybody who just doesn’t like having to deal with bones.
If you have an occasion coming up, consider making this turkey breast. It’s easy, and so much healthier than beef or pork!
