Smoked Turkey Legs

[Jim_C]

I saw BrianGSDTexoma's post 'Just Some Smoked Cured Chicken Breast' and I thought, gee......I haven't done smoked turkey legs in awhile. Don't ask how I got from chicken and turkey breasts to turkey legs, but it happens to me a lot when I read these post's.

So Friday I threw four legs in Pop's brine, pulled them out on Monday and let them sit in the frig for a day to develop the pellicle, and yesterday tossed them in the Smoke Vault with apple wood chips and chunks.

The last time I posted about turkey legs I talked about the turkey legs at the county fair and how they were more tender then the legs I smoke. I asked if there were any secrets to getting an almost fall-off-the-bone turkey leg.

That feed kinda went quiet, so I searched the good old internet for 'Internal Temperature for Smoked Turkey Legs'. Up pops AI and it says safe is 165, most people shoot for 180-185, and fall-off-the-bone is 200-205.

The previous batches I have pulled at 180. 200-205 seemed high to me so this time I pulled at 190 and rested under foil. They were more tender but not where I'd like them to be. Next time I'll shoot for 200.

chopsaw's post on 'Last Minute Pork Steaks' showed their daughter's pasta salad and I thought, gee......I haven't made pasta salad in awhile. We made pasta salad, albeit with salami rather than pepperoni shown in the post.

Added a simple tossed green salad, mostly to use up the lettuce and tomatoes that were heading downhill.

Simple dinner.

 

[tallbm]

I saw BrianGSDTexoma's post 'Just Some Smoked Cured Chicken Breast' and I thought, gee......I haven't done smoked turkey legs in awhile. Don't ask how I got from chicken and turkey breasts to turkey legs, but it happens to me a lot when I read these post's.

So Friday I threw four legs in Pop's brine, pulled them out on Monday and let them sit in the frig for a day to develop the pellicle, and yesterday tossed them in the Smoke Vault with apple wood chips and chunks.

The last time I posted about turkey legs I talked about the turkey legs at the county fair and how they were more tender then the legs I smoke. I asked if there were any secrets to getting an almost fall-off-the-bone turkey leg.

That feed kinda went quiet, so I searched the good old internet for 'Internal Temperature for Smoked Turkey Legs'. Up pops AI and it says safe is 165, most people shoot for 180-185, and fall-off-the-bone is 200-205.

The previous batches I have pulled at 180. 200-205 seemed high to me so this time I pulled at 190 and rested under foil. They were more tender but not where I'd like them to be. Next time I'll shoot for 200.

View attachment 724025

chopsaw's post on 'Last Minute Pork Steaks' showed their daughter's pasta salad and I thought, gee......I haven't made pasta salad in awhile. We made pasta salad, albeit with salami rather than pepperoni shown in the post.

Added a simple tossed green salad, mostly to use up the lettuce and tomatoes that were heading downhill.

Simple dinner.

View attachment 724026

Hi there and welcome!

Those look great to me! Yeah cooking a little longer or maybe just hold them at 190F for a little while wrapped in foil and they should tender up for you. I love these things and am always looking at the grocery store for quick sale turkey parts. The store by me recently (4 months ago) started carrying turkey parts and last couple of months trimmed pork butt fat!!

I often find that they mis label turkey breast as thighs and I jump on those packs hahaha. Welcome to the complete world of cured and smoked turkey parts :D

 

[02ebz06]

Great looking meal!
You should bring those turkey legs to New Mexico.
They sell for $21 ea. at the State Fair.

 

[chopsaw]

Looks good , and nice plated meal .

Do you try to pull the tendons out ? That makes a big difference in the way they eat . Not the easiest thing to do , but sometimes they come right out .

Taking the ligaments out of the drumstick all at once!

One of the 'problems' with a turkey is in the drumstick portion; unlike a chicken, the turkey is larger and more mature and the ligaments are grown more and inedible. Years and years ago, dad got his turkeys with all the feathers on, legs, feet, head, neck; everything but the guts, they had...

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If you get the chance , do the same with turkey thighs . Fantastic .

So Friday I threw four legs in Pop's brine, pulled them out on Monday and let them sit in the frig for a day to develop the pellicle,

You talked about temp , but maybe try a longer cure time . I would inject and hold 7 to 10 days . Helps develop flavor and tenderness in my opinion .

 

[Jim_C]

Great looking meal!
You should bring those turkey legs to New Mexico.
They sell for $21 ea. at the State Fair.

They sell for $26 ea. at the County Fair's here in California. I haven't been to the State Fair so who knows how much they are there!

 

[Brokenhandle]

Either way it all looks delicious!

Ryan

 

[02ebz06]

They sell for $26 ea. at the County Fair's here in California. I haven't been to the State Fair so who knows how much they are there!

I didn't go, but was talking to someone that had.

 

[tallbm]

After I conquered Smoked Turkey Drums, I ran into the holy grail.

Smoked Turkey Thighs!!!!!

Ran into a situation where like 8 packs of turkey thighs were on 50% discount and was like "hmmm I wonder how well they will taste done like cured smoked turkey drums??"

Well I did it and OMG it's even BETTER! No tendons. Way more meat. Only 1 bone because they do not include the flat hip bone. It's everything good about a smoked turkey drum but with more meat and no tendons :D

 

[zwiller]

LOOK GREAT! While I do love cured drums, they're a cold snack to me not warm meal. Pulling tenons helps but would agree the thighs are better. chopsaw gave me this idea and it's genius if you ask me. Buy whole turkey, part it out, cure and smoke legs and wings. Oven roast or deep fry breasts.

Check this out: cut off the meat you want of the the cured stuff and save the bones to make to stock with it for gumbo. Easy peasy in a IP. I threw a little of the breast back in with a package of sausage. Whole dang meal in the IP practically. Stock, rice, beans.

 

[Jim_C]

LOOK GREAT! While I do love cured drums, they're a cold snack to me not warm meal. Pulling tenons helps but would agree the thighs are better. chopsaw gave me this idea and it's genius if you ask me. Buy whole turkey, part it out, cure and smoke legs and wings. Oven roast or deep fry breasts.

Check this out: cut off the meat you want of the the cured stuff and save the bones to make to stock with it for gumbo. Easy peasy in a IP. I threw a little of the breast back in with a package of sausage. Whole dang meal in the IP practically. Stock, rice, beans.

View attachment 724074

Great idea to part out the whole bird. The legs, thighs, and wings alone are $2.99 pound at the local grocery store.

 

[chopsaw]

Here's the result of the last one I did . Great use of a whole bird .

Turkey 3 ways .

I did this a while back , just never posted it . @TARM thought it might help some of what you want to do in another thread . This was an old bird I found in the freezer . Broke it into its parts . I mixed up Pop's brine at the lower rate of salt . 1 Gallon water 1/2 cup pickling salt 1/2...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

Stock, rice, beans.

That looks fantastic .

 

[lght]

Good info I may try and do some this weekend. Wow that's a long brine I usually only brine for 18-24 hours max....

 

[chopsaw]

Wow that's a long brine I usually only brine for 18-24 hours max....

That's fine , but if you want completely cured you need to go longer .

 

[tallbm]

Good info I may try and do some this weekend. Wow that's a long brine I usually only brine for 18-24 hours max....

I also thouroughly inject my cure/brine deep into the meat and all over. This speeds up the cure/brine time penetration quite a bit.

 

[lght]

That's fine , but if you want completely cured you need to go longer .

I thought curing was a method used with salt to preserve? Didn't realize that leaving meat in a brine for days would also cure the meat.

 

[chopsaw]

Didn't realize that leaving meat in a brine for days would also cure the meat.

He's using a wet curing brine . Contains cure 1 in the mix .

 

[zwiller]

Good info I may try and do some this weekend. Wow that's a long brine I usually only brine for 18-24 hours max....

Since St. Bernardus is one of my fave beers... Go longer. Overnight works but I usually go 5-7 days on bird even if not curing. Even when injecting you need time for the salt to move from the injection site.

I thought curing was a method used with salt to preserve? Didn't realize that leaving meat in a brine for days would also cure the meat.

Curing includes the use of pink salt/prague powder/cure #1/instacure. It has sodium nitrite in it and creates the pink color. Pop brine that were talking about here uses cure and can also be used as a flavoring if only done a short time. "Full cure" (completely penetration of the cure) takes longer and the typical rate is 1/4" meat thickness per day unless injected. If remotely interested in it DO IT! There's some math and work but INSANELY good. I smoked turkeys for like a decade before curing and they were decent but always fell short. Joined here and learned about curing and tried it. It was EXACTLY what was missing. Pops Brine is best way to learn.

 

[lght]

Ahh thanks for the help.. I'm sort of old fashion and have only cured salmon for lox and brine for moisture. Does a full cure change the texture of the meat at all?? I'll definitely have to give it a longer rest to test the curing method.

 

[sawhorseray]

I HAVEN'T SMOKED TURKEY LEGS SINCE WE MOVED FROM THE SACTO AREA, TRIED 'EM AND LOVED THEM. YOUR LOOK PERFECT, SOME FINE WORK THERE FOR SURE! RAY

 

[lght]

Since St. Bernardus is one of my fave beers... Go longer. Overnight works but I usually go 5-7 days on bird even if not curing. Even when injecting you need time for the salt to move from the injection site.

Yeah one of my favorite Belgium styles. I hosted a beer dinner back in 2000 for their US customers and was gifted a case of the Abt 12 60 Anniversary release. One of the best beers I've ever had....