Smoked Turkey Legs!

[squeezy]

That's a heck of a great idea ... or even a little of both!

 

[ajthepoolman]

These are butterball's from Wal-Mart.

For those who have attended the Kansas City Renaissance Festival, there is a booth near the entrance that makes wonderful turkey legs. That is what I am going for. I think I will try a simple salt brine and perhaps take the same approach as the 3-2-1 ribs (or whatever it was).

 

[Dutch]

Thanks Zapper, we have a Kroger subsidiary store (Smith's) here in UT but they didn't have any. I asked the butcher and he said it's been a while since he's seen any-he said I might have better luck checking out a local chain. The hunt for t-legs is on!!

 

[zapper]

Just remember, if that turkey tries to sue you, he won't have a leg to stand on!

They may be a bit seasonal. I know that like the time before last when I was on a quest for them, they were kind of hard to find and or they were not cheap enough or they were on the really small side. Buy up all you find when you do find them. As I recall I don't think that they ended up costing more than a buck a peice (maybe some extra change in there, but I don't think it was much)


Here is some inspiration to help you keep on hunting, just a reminder of what waits at the end of the hunt. Or is this slow torture? Muh ha ha haaa......

Note that the last pic looks kind of like my avatar?


At any rate, good luck in your quest!

 

[deejaydebi]

Zapper is that the before and after Pix? Looks awsome!

 

[zapper]

Well the avatar is definately after.

The meat and the corn uneaten is second to last

And to be honest the rest may have been different smokes?

But here is a before, notice the floating egg in the brine. I think that I started with some teryaki and added garlic salt or powder and then what ever else I had. I added just enough kosher salt to float the egg after all of my other flavors were mixed in, but to be honest, For a day or two in the brine, it may not have to actually be a real egg floating brine, just what ever you think you would like to taste a hint of when you eat it.

I have over salted them before by just a touch on accident. The best part of that incedent was that the beer drinking freinds of mine just loved them that much more!

Salt will definately turn them into little tiny turkey hams, but that is not always a bad thing! Like I said before, throw them in with a pot of beans!

 

[zapper]

Well after all of the talk of them being hard to find I just happened to be walking by the meat cooler when I noticed some turkey legs. So I followed my own advice and bought all that they had. Good thing for my wallet that they only had three packs out, $1.89 a pound. a three pack @2.40 lbs comes to $4.54 or $1.51 per leg. Juuusst a bit more than I thought I usually pay, maybe it is a sale when they are a buck a leg?

At any rate the are in a off the hip brine of teryaki, garlic powder, onion powder a splash of an old bottle of Dales, a little kosher salt and some good ole black pepper. What I really need is a good formula to maybe make a concentrate for turkey leg brine and then just add water! Hmmm? Maybe I am on to something?

 

[ajthepoolman]

My first turkey leg smoke left a little to be desired.

I didn't have time to brine them and I think that the non-brine was key. They were very juicy and had a decent flavor, but lacked the deep smoke flavor I was going for. I think that the brine would of opened the meat up more and let the smoke absorb.

I also didn't use a rub. I put salt and pepper on them and sprayed them down with apple juice every 30 minutes. The skin was still pretty tough although the meat inside was at 165.

One good thing that I did do is switch from wood chips to chunks. Instead of a smoking inferno for the first 30 minutes, I was able to maintain a constant smoke that was much milder than my previous experience. Definately less bitter taste. I don't plan on going back to chips unless I can't find chunks of specialty wood.

I think that a big problem I will continue to have is the fact that I have a stock Brinkman smoker. I cannot regulate the temperture without doing some minor electrical work. (which I do plan to do someday) My suspicion is that the smoker was probably pushing 275 to 300 that day. We had a very humid 90 degree plus day which I knew wasn't going to help. So what should of taken about 4 hours was done in 2 1/2 hours.

Oh well, we enjoyed them regardless. Very juicy and all in all not too bad. And I have to confess, I found the best damn store brand baked beans to go with it. These actually had chunks of pork (like real pork, not that pressed crap) in it. Found them in the deli and if it weren't for them the dinner would of pretty much been a waste. I read the recipes on this forum about baked beans and usually feel pretty dirty buying deli brands, but these were really really good. Millers Baked Beans with Pork should you care to bring some to your next family reunion.

Anyway, lived and learned. Won't give up on the turkey legs.

 

[az_redneck]

I see them all the time at our local Fry's Market (same as Kroger). I usually get the turkey wings and have Buffalo Turkey Wings for dinner. Same as Buffalo Chicken Wings, only much bigger, meatier and 2 makes a meal.. (Cheaper too!) Now that I have the smoker, I'll have to try the legs. I sometimes get them already cooked and hot from Walmart Deli for $2/ea. Suckers weigh about 2-3# each...Can't beat it for $2

Dutch - Those "butchers" at Smiths can order legs for you. I'm suprised they didn't tell you that..

 

[smoking canada up]

i'm smokin 10lags is 170 good or do i have to go to 180?

 

[ajthepoolman]

A chart I used from this site said to cook to 165 which surprised me. I figured that they would need to go to 170-180. I didn't puke after I ate mine!