Slow Cooker Bone-In Turkey Breast

Pat the turkey breast dry; set aside momentarily.

To a small bowl, add the softened butter, garlic, all herbs, salt, pepper, and stir with a small spoon to combine and mix evenly. Tips - I really recommend fresh herbs however if you don't have all of them as fresh herbs and need to use some dried herbs from your pantry, it's fine. Use half the quantity of dried herbs compared to fresh. For example, use 1 teaspoon dried thyme rather in place of 2 teaspoons fresh thyme. I use 2 teaspoons salt (maybe more) because I am not brining this turkey first in saltwater, and I use reduced sodium broth, but to ensure the turkey tastes amazing, I find it does need a solid 2 teaspoons salt, but salt is a very personal thing. You can always add more salt later on if you're very sensitive to salt and want to use less salt to begin with.

Rub the seasoned butter mixture all over the turkey breast including on top, underneath, and you can gently rub a bit in between the underneath the flap of skin and the actual meat, taking care not to rip the skin. Tip - The only way to really add the butter rub is with clean hands. Wear kitchen gloves if you'd like.

Place the turkey on top of the onion chunks.

Add the orange juice, reduced sodium chicken broth, and place the lid on the slow cooker.

You can slow cook on HIGH for about 3 hours, or on LOW for about 5 hours. Tips - Resist the urge to keep opening the lid and peek on it. That let's the heat out and just delays the cooking process unnecessarily. Turkey breast is safe to consume when the internal temperature is 160F. In order to know that, I advise not guessing. Instead use a digital thermometer. You can pull the turkey from the slow cooker when the temp is about 155F. The internal temp will continue to rise even out of the slow cooker to the safe level of 160F. When taking the temp, make sure to go into the deepest part of the meat, but do not hit bone because the reading will be inaccurate.

Rest the turkey for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing it if you are not moving on to the next steps, which are all optional.

Crispy Skin, optional - If you want crispy skin, it's easily accomplished. Preheat your broiler to 500F or high broil, and move a wire rack to approximately the second highest rung in the oven. Tip - Make sure to eyeball the space it so that when you place your turkey breast (usually pretty thick) on a baking sheet, it has clearance to enter the oven and not actually touch the broiler. Do this before the oven and broiler get screaming hot.

Place the cooked turkey breast on a baking sheet and place it on the pre-positioned oven rack and broil for about 5 minutes, or until the skin is as golden and crisped as desired. Tips - Broiling comes with a huge caveat: DO NOT WALK AWAY from your kitchen, DO NOT TURN YOUR BACK ON YOUR OVEN, do no get distracted or start another task or prep work that you plan to do ‘real quick’ because broilers are HOT.  You can easily burn and ruin your turkey breast in 1 minute flat, and at that point, your holiday meal is definitely not going to be the smashing success you were hoping. Watch the turkey extremely closely!

After the turkey skin is as golden as desired, remove the sheet pan from the oven, and allow the turkey to rest for 5 to 10 minutes. If you're making gravy, this is perfect.

Gravy, optional - Strain the cooking juices/broth that have accumulated in the basin of the slow cooker into a 2-cup glass measuring cup. Tips - Straining is necessary because you don't want onion chunks in the finished gravy. However, the ceramic basin of the slow cooker is heavy and it'll be hot - be careful. If you need to dunk a 1/2 cup measuring cup in and dole out the broth 1/2-cup at a time, do it. I personally don't flip the whole thing over. It's tricky, hot, heavy, and you risk hot broth going everywhere!

If you don't have 2 cups of cooking juices/broth, add additional reduced sodium chicken broth from a carton or can so that you have 2 cups; set aside.

To a high-sided medium saucepan, add the butter, and heat over medium-high heat to melt.

Add the flour to the melted butter, and cook for 1 minute; whisk the entire time. Tips - This is called a roux and is necessary so that later on the gravy thickens properly. Don't shortcut this step or your gravy will not thicken and will have a terrible raw flour taste.

Slowly drizzle in the 2 cups of broth into the roux, whisking the entire time so that your gravy doesn't have lumps later.

Turn the heat to medium or medium-low, and continue gently simmering the gravy for about 5 minutes, or until it has thickened. Whisk nearly constantly to avoid lumps.

Taste the gravy and add salt and pepper, to taste. Tip - If you used reduced sodium chicken broth, and unsalted butter, I woudn't be surprised if you need 1 to 2 teaspoons salt, and about 1/2 teaspoon pepper, but of course always season to your personal taste preferences.

Serving - Slice the rested turkey breast as thick or thin as desired, and serve with gravy, or as desired.

Storage - Extra turkey and gravy (stored separately) will keep airight in fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Reheat gently in the microwave or as desired before serving. I like to drizzle a bit of gravy over turkey meat before I store it to help keep it moister.