Tony Chachere's Smoked Turkey Legs


 
J

JMies

New member
I am new to smoking and only have one smoke under my belt, 3 beer can chickens last weekend on my new 18.5" WSM. I have a few questions that I am hoping to get some answers to before my next smoke on Sunday. I picked up 8 turkey legs at the meat market today, they are frozen and over 2 lbs each. I plan on injecting them with Tony Chachere's Butter and Jalapeno Injectable Marinade then rubbing them with Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning. My initial plan was to smoke them between 225-250 until done but I have been reading that a higher temperature, 300 - 325 would produce better skin. I was hoping someone could give me some advice on cooking temperature and time, I have a few more questions as well. If I am planning on smoking these on Sunday, when should I put them in the refrigerator to thaw? I was thinking either tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest. Also, since I am injecting them with the Tony Chachere's marinade, do I still need to brine them? Please correct me if I am wrong but my thinking is that I should not brine them if I am going to be injecting them. Any advice and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated, I will keep everyone posted on the smoke! Thanks!
 
Higher temps definitely produce a better skin IMHO. It is tough to get higher temps in a WSM if you use water. You might want to try just foiling the pan.

BTW... I love to use pecan (wood) when smoking turkey.

Good luck with your cook!
 
No need to brine if you are injecting the drums. I have injected drums before and they turn out awesome. Like Vern says high heat will do the job really well for you.
Good Luck:wsm:
 
Thanks for the replies! I think I am going to my WSM using the standard method and run the smoker with the water pan foiled and empty. I took the drums out of the freezer and put then in the refrigerator last night around 11PM, hopefully they thaw out before tomorrow afternoon. I have nearly a whole bag of apple wood left that I picked up when I did my beer can chickens, probably going to use that unless I make it to the store. Pecan sounds like another good option so I may give that a shot. Really looking forward to these!
 
love the smoked turkey legs....i do high heat as well with two chimneys lit and no water. Less than an hour to cook so instead of wasting the set up, why don't you do a turkey breast on the other rack?
 
James H said:
love the smoked turkey legs....i do high heat as well with two chimneys lit and no water. Less than an hour to cook so instead of wasting the set up, why don't you do a turkey breast on the other rack?
Click to expand...

Might as well load it up. Leftovers ROCK!
 
I have done a few smokes at 225-250, then at the end I remove the mid section and put the grate directly over the coals to get the skin crispy. But I have also done it as you describe (foiled water pan at a higher temp) and that works out well to. Just depends on cooking factors (how much time you have, etc) and what you feel like doing...Good luck on the legs!

-Jeff
 
Ended up smoking 5 of the 8 turkey legs I picked up, left the other 3 in the freezer. I was happy with them, no complaints from anyone who ate one. Everyone thought they were really good and loved the flavors. The Tony Chachere's Injectable Marinade flavored the meat nicely, you could tell it was there in every bite. Here is a picture of the finished product on the WSM, take a look!

9130995788_bbf225bfb7_c.jpg
 
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Made these today. I smoked them a bit too much so the smokey flavor was dominant. I highly recommend the marinade and seasoning as they are very flavorful on their own. I don't think I'll be making them again.
 
JMies;
Those look fantastic, indeed! Good job!

RalphQ;
Poultry, in general, is sensitive to smoke. I tend to use less wood when doing poultry for best results. One question - why won't you be doing these again? I had a couple of "failures" this week, myself. However, the "failures" were edible and I learned a good bit from them and I will DEFINITELY be doing them again...

Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
 
I wouldn't say these were total failures. They were tasty but a bit too smokey. I've got a deep queue of recipes to try out, so unless something is awesome, it goes in the cookbook and sits there indefinitely.

I was pleased with Tony Chachere's injection and will use that again for sure.
 
They look delicious! When you do the next three legs, do 2 your way and instead of injecting one, marinate it in 7Up or Sprite.
Apple wood works great with turkey too.
 
What, if anything, do you do about the tendons in the turkey legs? Remove them before cooking?

Rita
 
Looking good. Injecting turkey legs helps with flavor. I'm not a big fan of the turkey leg craze--a lot of tendons and you have to work for the meat. I always do the turkey breast in a very similar method and the legs and thighs cut up ride along on the lower rack. I like to cut the dark meat off the turkey legs/thighs and serve them with gravy and biscuits.
 
I've removed the tendons from turkey legs, but it's a hassle. I'd hoped that someone would have a better method.

With a sharp knife, cut 360 degrees around the whole "ankle" joint and through the tendons of the uncooked turkey drumstick. This will expose the tendons. They can be pulled out with pliers, but it's not easy. It's easier after the turkey is cooked, but it takes some time and interferes with finishing jobs just before service.

I just found this, doing a Google search, and it looks to be quite helpful:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/130992/taking-the-ligaments-out-of-the-drumstick-all-at-once

I wasn't aware that the ligaments are attached as a bunch. That information alone is helpful.

Rita
 
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