Smoked Turkey Legs!

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wvsmokeman

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
OTBS Member
Sep 17, 2006
925
11
West Virginia
Decided to change the pace a little and smoke some turkey legs. I've always loved the ones I get at the state fair and in Hillsville VA at the big flea market. Bought three packs containing 3 each and each pack weighed about 3 1/2 pounds so they were only a little over a pound a piece. Decided not to brine them and made up a rub of garlic powder, poultry seasoning, Tony's Cajun seasoning and a little Chipotle powder to give it a kick. Cook temperature was 250-275 degrees and I spritzed them with apple juice and turned them over on the hour. Four hours later they reached my target internal temperature of 180 degrees. They turned out great!
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I love the ham flavor and appearance the meat has. Here is the q-view before I removed them from the smoker and foiled them to rest.
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Those are what I would (and do) call mighty fine legs!
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Just curious....why not brine. I find that any turkey/yardbird does come out more moist. But again, darn good lookin grub. Twas just a wonderin.....
 
I have been extremely busy and just didn't have the time to brine.....got in late last night. I wasn't too concerned about dryness since the legs are dark meat but I was a little leary. Luckily, they turned out nice and moist! (I had to try one when I took it off the grates
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) This will be part of my supper before I go to work tonight.
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Throw a couple in with a pot of beans in place of a smoked ham hoc!


I am still looking for the perfect brine, but that doesn't mean that I have ever had a bad brine. Teryaki and garlic seems to be a pretty good start.
 
Great job!! We were down @ Disney World last year and had a few Legs @ MGM studios, They just use a simple salt water brine and smoke them. They were also Great..Will definitly be trying soon...
 
Found them in WalMart in the fresh meat section with the Turkey breasts. They seem to carry them on a regular basis.
 
My son-in-law want some smoked turkey legs for his B-day dinner. I'll be danged if I can find any legs short of being attached to the rest of the bird! Can anybody point me in the right direction?

Mucho thanks!
 
@ Dutch and Debi

The darn things can be elusive! The more you want them the harder they are to find! They are usually in the fresh meat cooler right next to the other turkey parts, but some times it is like they never even existed and they just can't be found! I usually get them at Publix or Kroger and have seen them at Wally World. I would like to find a commercial/wholesale source to buy like 20 or 30 legs at a pop. They keep well, share well and are cheap and easy (to make that is). My biggest complaint is that the ones that I have seen as of late are kind of on the small side, I suspect that there is a pretty good commercial market for them and the biggest and best go there.
 
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