Crockpot Turkey

As I mentioned in my previous post, I made a turkey breast in the crockpot the other day. It was very good, but there are a few things I might do differently next time. I meant to take a picture of it and be all cool like that, but I forgot (shows how cool I really am), so I will just post the recipe.

Crock-pot Turkey Breast

1 turkey breast (6 to 6-1/2 pounds) - (honestly, I don't even know how big ours was.)
2 tsp vegetable oil - (I didn't measure this. I just used enough to coat the turkey.)
Salt and pepper, to taste - (I used a TON of pepper.)
1 medium onion
4 garlic cloves - (I used 6 cloves because my husband is obsessed with garlic.)
1 stick of butter

Remove all of the packaging from the turkey breast. Mine had a gravy packet, and it was wrapped in netting. You can also remove excess skin if you want, I did. Rinse the turkey and pat it dry with paper towels. Rub the turkey all over with oil. Sprinkle the breast lightly with salt and pepper to personal preference. I basically covered mine in pepper because I enjoy cracked-pepper turkey.

Place the breast, meaty side up, into a slow cooker.

Peel the onion, cut it into quarters, and place the pieces around the edges of the pot. Peel the garlic cloves and place them around the sides of the cooker. Melt the stick of butter and pour it over the turkey. Cover the cooker and cook the breast on low for 9 hours, or until the meat thermometer registers 170 degrees. I waited the full 9 hours, and it was actually well past 170 degrees. I probably should have checked it sooner. Remove the breast from the cooker and wait at least 10 minutes before slicing. (The internal temperature will continue to rise). Discard the vegetables in the cooker. Serve the breast sliced, with or without skin.

You can use the drippings to make gravy if you want. The gravy packet that came with the turkey suggested mixing some in with that, so I tried that method. It turned out pretty well.

Note: If the turkey breast is not frozen, check for doneness (170 degrees) with a meat thermometer after 7-1/2 to 8 hours of cooking on low. Be sure to wash your hands well with soap and water immediately after handling raw poultry. Wash sink and counter surfaces the meat touches with soap and hot water.

If you do not use the entire turkey in the meal you can refrigerate, covered for 24 hours before chopping the meat and freezing. Place the meat in a freezer-weight plastic bag and freeze for up to 2 weeks.

Adjustments:

I saw some recipes that called for chicken broth to be poured in the slow cooker prior to putting the turkey breast in there. I had every intention of doing this but it turned out that I didn't have any. I will probably try that next time to see what it adds to the recipe. I may stick to the 4 cloves of garlic instead of the 6 next time. However, I will have to ask my garlic-obsessed husband about it first.

Overall, I thought it was very good. It may not be the slow-cooker turkey recipe that I always use, but it was quite tasty.