These smoked turkey legs are brined in a single day and smoked for 2-3 hours. You spritz them each half-hour with a simple garlic apple juice spritz that retains the pores and skin tender and leaves you with flavorful smoked turkey legs.
Are you making a meal for a much bigger group? We’ve got a whole smoked turkey recipe in addition to different simple Thanksgiving recipes which can be made with entire and simple components.
Smoked Turkey Legs
Say whats up to a juicy, darkish meat turkey recipe; smoked turkey legs. These smoked turkey legs are simple (and enjoyable) to make. They make an excellent different to a whole smoked turkey in case you are cooking for a smaller group. This recipe can also be nice for a BBQ recipe for turkey lovers all summer season lengthy.
Why you’ll find it irresistible!
The explanation why you’ll find it irresistible.
Who doesn’t love darkish turkey meat?
Utilizing a turkey legs is typically simpler than cooking with an entire turkey. Turkey legs match into a big bucket, your fridge, and your smoker a lot simpler than an entire chook.
This smoked turkey legs recipe gives scrumptious leftover smoked turkey.
It’s a simple recipe to make and contain the entire household.
Featured Elements
- Turkey legs– this recipe calls for six turkey legs (all about 1-lb. per leg). Be certain you discover a turkey legs which can be untreated. Some turkeys come pre-brined and we don’t need that.
- Brine Elements- you will bine the turkey legs on this smoked turkey brine which consists of water, salt, rosemary, thyme, peppercorns, garlic, and onions. If you’d like extra info on the smoked turkey brine, check out this post.
- Apple juice- we use apple juice because the sprtiz for this recipe. It’s sugary and compliments turkey meat.
Easy Directions
Brine the turkey LEgs
We extremely counsel brining the turkey earlier than you smoke it. Put together the brining liquid and submerge the turkey breast within the brine after it has cooled off. You don’t want to place your turkey in a heat brine.
Place the brining turkey legs within the fridge and brine the legs in a single day.
Put together the turkey after brining
Take away the turkey legs from the brine and punctiliously rinse the turkey below chilly water. Pat the legs fully dry earlier than
That is additionally the time to arrange the spritz. Add the olive oil to a sauce pan and warmth over medium/excessive warmth. Add the garlic to the olive oil and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the orange juice to the saucepan and convey to a mild simmer.
Take away the spritz from the warmth and pour the spritz by way of a high quality sieve to take away the garlic. Add the apple juice to a twig bottle to spritz the turkey legs through the cook dinner time.
In the event you don’t have a spritz bottle you possibly can add the apple juice to a bowl, combine, and use a pastry brush to whip the combination over the turkey.
Smoke the turkey legs
Place the turkey legs on the smoker and smoke the turkey legs for two – 3 hours, spritzing the turkey legs with the apple juice spritz each 30-45 minutes.
Let the turkey relaxation earlier than consuming
Take away the turkey legs from the smoker and allow them to relaxation for 10-Quarter-hour earlier than consuming.
Prime Ideas
Turkey legs can typically be onerous to seek out. You possibly can normally discover turkey legs (or drumsticks) at a specialty grocery retailer or at your native butcher.
Some people who smoke have set temperatures so anyplace between 230-250ºF will work for this recipe. The timing simply could change relying on what temperature you should use.
We used Traeger Signature mix smoking pellets, however you may get artistic and use various kinds of smoking pellets.
What’s the Greatest Smoker?
Let’s speak about people who smoke. When you have a smoker that you just love, you possibly can skip this part. We’ve got smoked many various kinds of meat on many various people who smoke. Computerized pellet grills or people who smoke, handbook people who smoke, and even common grills.
Our favourite smoker is the Traeger electrical smoker as a result of (like a gradual cooker) there’s minimal work required when you set the Traeger. This smoker makes use of pellets fairly than wooden chips and it routinely feeds the smoker to regulate the temperature
That’s proper, no person has so as to add wooden chips or wooden pellets themselves to maintain the temperature up.
Smoker Necessities
Try all of our favourite smoker merchandise, together with what smoker we use within the Match Foodie kitchen for testing recipes!
FAQ
These turkey legs are smoked for 2-3 hours or till the inner temperature of the turkey reaches 165ºF.
This recipe leaves you with fall off the bone turkey. The meat is darkish and juicy and is smoked lengthy and gradual.
Sure, you possibly can rub these turkey legs with this turkey seasoning earlier than smoking them. You’ll find yourself with turkey legs which have a crust fairly than a basic leathery smoked turkey leg pores and skin.
Sure, you should use big turkey legs or drumsticks for this recipe. You could simply must smoke them longer than common sized turkey legs.
Storage
Retailer your turkey leftovers in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 7 days.
Can I Freeze Smoked Turkey?
Sure, you possibly can freeze leftover turkey for soups, salads, or another recipes. Let the turkey legs cool fully after which place it in a freezer-safe bag and freeze it for as much as 3 months.
Images: images taken on this publish are by Ashley McGlaughlin from The Edible Perspective.
