UPDATED w/ finish Disney Legs 2022

[cutplug]

Fantastic write up!
Those tendons do take up some time that is for sure.
I noticed the rub and it looks really good. I will be checking out some red beard for sure.
Thanks!

 

[sawhorseray]

Boy howdy Jeff, that's a runnin' ton of some nice work, you nailed it! RAY

 

[chopsaw]

Looks good ! Removing the tendon is worth it . Even on chicken legs .
Nice work bud .

 

[TNJAKE]

Heck of a nice job Jeff

 

[jaxgatorz]

Beautiful

 

[tbern]

Looks like they turned out amazing!! Nice job!

 

[tallbm]

I did these a couple years ago for Christmas and people just loved them. Any that were left after dinner were quickly snapped up in doggie bags as people left. Decided I would do a case to pass out to friends and family for Thanksgiving this year. The salty sweetness of these is a nice change from the standard turkey they will all have. Starting the thread now and will update once I smoke them. I’m generally using Pops (RIP) brine. I did kick up the cure #1 a bit for the shorter brine time. For 4 gallons I used 4 gallons water, 4 1/2 cups sea salt, 4 cups Splenda, 4 cups Brown Swerve, 6T cure #1. I did end up making another 2 gallons to get good coverage View attachment 649002View attachment 649003Last week a friend turned me on to a nice little town shop that has great case pricing on meats. I ordered a 30 lbs case of turkey legs @ $1.69 a lbs which I think is very good this time of year. I fully expected them to be the smaller hen legs that usually average 1 lbs. When getting them out to thaw was pleasantly surprised to find they were huge tom turkey legs.View attachment 649004After reading a hosts of posts and articles on tendon removal I decided to just cut through the skin around the joint. I considered cutting off the end joint but from an aesthetics standpoint decided not to. Hoping the skin shrinks back and I can pull out easily when they hit my target temp around 170-175F. View attachment 649005Due to the large 2+ lbs size I decided to inject with the brine to insure cure made it all the way to the bone. Got out the Spitjack for this operation. It’s one of the best splurges I’ve made on a cooking tool. Makes injecting tons of meat so easy. Pumped each up with two full loads of brine View attachment 649006View attachment 649007My buddy recently got a source for loads of food safe 5 gallon pickle and pepper buckets.He gave me a few for this project. Going to be great for bacon too. View attachment 649009Into the buckets they go. 8 in this bucket and 7 in the other. View attachment 649010Covered with brine and into the refrigerator. I plan on brining 48 hours. View attachment 649015 I’ll pull them tomorrow around 4PM. Current thought is I’ll dry them really well, dust with baking powder and leave in frig on baking racks uncovered for 24 hours to dry that skin out. Tuesday I will hit with rub and smoke Wednesday I’m the Lang with cherry wood. My buddies under the weather so May end up throwing in their turkey, ham and a butt as well. I will update this as the process unfolds. I did have about 2/3 gallon brine left and not wanting to waste I grabbed a 3 lbs package of boneless pork sirloin chops to cure for a day.These should be tasty breakfast treats.View attachment 649016View attachment 649018Out of the brine, hand dried individually , dusted with 3:1 mix of sea salt to baking powder and overnight in the garage frig to dry uncovered.View attachment 649205This morning sprayed with olive oil and rubbed with a rub from my friends company. This stuff is off the hook for poultry. Packed with honey granules, chipotle and savory herbs.View attachment 649206View attachment 649207Lighting up the Lang with some cherry wood. Running an average 275F.View attachment 649208Here they are starting to make that delicious sound. Here we go all finished up. I did run 300F the last hour.View attachment 649209View attachment 649210View attachment 649211Here is the reason I only do these once a year lol. I got most of them Thats a big drumstick in pic for scale View attachment 649212Some wrapped up for distribution to friends and family.View attachment 649213 Deboned a couple of the ones that were messy after removing tendons for us to munch.View attachment 649214I smoked a sweet chipotle au jus under the meat for dipping later. Was just chicken broth , chile morita paste and some brown Splenda. I’ll defat that in the morning. Thanks for looking!

Man those look amazing! I love doing them and I love finding giant Turkey drums at the store. I'm lucky the one next to me gets them in periodically.

If you really want to blow your mind order a case of Turkey Thighs and you will be amazed when you do this! They may taste even better and only 1 bone to pull out as they usually don't have the flat pelvis bone. I was amazed when I found some and did them like this!

Great post!

 

[jcam222]

Man those look amazing! I love doing them and I love finding giant Turkey drums at the store. I'm lucky the one next to me gets them in periodically.

If you really want to blow your mind order a case of Turkey Thighs and you will be amazed when you do this! They may taste even better and only 1 bone to pull out as they usually don't have the flat pelvis bone. I was amazed when I found some and did them like this!

Great post!

Man that’s a great idea! I’d love to do a case of turkey wings too.

 

[Winterrider]

Lot of work Jeff, but you killed it ! Nice job. . .

 

[912smoker]

Those legs look amazing Jeff and I would gladly stand in line for one

Keith

 

[tallbm]

Man that’s a great idea! I’d love to do a case of turkey wings too.

Give it a shot!

Just know that with all the skin on the wings you gotta really cook them hot because that skin will be very rubbery if not cooked hard enough and the wings will finish fast being so flat and much smaller.

 

[jcam222]

Give it a shot!

Just know that with all the skin on the wings you gotta really cook them hot because that skin will be very rubbery if not cooked hard enough and the wings will finish fast being so flat and much smaller.

I’ve done fresh turkey wings hot and fast a couple times in the air fryer. Loved them , so juicy.

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

I’ve done fresh turkey wings hot and fast a couple times in the air fryer. Loved them , so juicy.

I bought couple packages a while back. Did the first and was really tough. Threw it out. Still have one left.

 

[jcam222]

Fantastic write up!
Those tendons do take up some time that is for sure.
I noticed the rub and it looks really good. I will be checking out some red beard for sure.
Thanks!

Boy howdy Jeff, that's a runnin' ton of some nice work, you nailed it! RAY

Looks good ! Removing the tendon is worth it . Even on chicken legs .
Nice work bud .

Heck of a nice job Jeff

Beautiful

Looks like they turned out amazing!! Nice job!

Thanks guys! I was pretty pleased with them. No doubt the tendon removal is critical to have an enjoyable edible result. I honestly think hen legs may be a bit more easy to get tender.

 

[GaryHibbert]

Man, do those look good, Jeff. I'v only eaten one at Disneyland, but loved it. A lotta work but well worth it.
Great job. They'll make fantastic gifts.
Gary

 

[jcam222]

Man, do those look good, Jeff. I'v only eaten one at Disneyland, but loved it. A lotta work but well worth it.
Great job. They'll make fantastic gifts.
Gary

Thanks Gary. Folks seem to like them.

 

[Hockeydudde]

These look awesome!
Because I saw this, I cut the tendons in the turkeys I smoked yesterday. Didn't pull them, but it still made them way easier to eat. Everyone at the table thought I was the smartest guy in the room. Thanks for posting!

 

[jcam222]

These look awesome!
Because I saw this, I cut the tendons in the turkeys I smoked yesterday. Didn't pull them, but it still made them way easier to eat. Everyone at the table thought I was the smartest guy in the room. Thanks for posting!

Very cool! Glad it helped.