4 shelves /32-36 smaller turkey legs

[brotheryyy]

Usually when I smoke a turkey alone I give it 1 hour of smoke to begin with then when it hits 140 ish i give it one more brisquette worth of smoke and im always happy  with the flavor BUT>>>my question is when the smoker is packed full of meat should i naturally assume its going to need more smoke in the initial phase? or should I give more smoke spaced out amongst the duration of the cooking process. What would you guys with the 4 shelf model reccomend?

[KyNola]

Welcome Brother,
There is a theory that some on here subscribe to that meat will not absorb smoke once the IT reaches 140 degrees.  I would suggest that all of your smoke be applied at the start of the process.  I am new to this and I'm sure some of the more seasoned members will be along to give you more and better advice.

KyNola

[brotheryyy]

ok so im about to smoke 90 turkey legs, not at once of course. One of the reasons I got this model was to use it at work for such an event. Im finnaly confident enough  to attempt such an endeavor. 90 legs brining as we speak. 3 loads I anticipate. How long you think itll take per load? 4 shelves 8 per shelf??Any last minute advice?

[brotheryyy]

Oh and the smoker will be indoors under an exaust hood.

[Gizmo]

If you have 3 loads and have other cooking appliances, I would suggest after putting the smoke on, you transfer to a grill or oven and then reload, repeat.

Another thought since you have a 4 rack (I have a six and the shelve spacing is a little closer), will they fit and if so, how many legs can you hang from the botttoms of an inverted rack vs. laying them on top of a rack?

[Consiglieri]

Personally, I wouldn't assume that more smoke is necessary with something like turkey legs.  You get many racks, and plenty of "spread out" space in the BS.  I think I'd stick with the original plan because the smoke density will be the same throughout the box and the cuts of meat aren't any thicker.

If the density of the meat were altered (i.e. a 4 lb leg vs. 8 .5 lb legs), my views might be different.  I'd expect cooking times to be longer because of the size of the load, but would not expect extra smoke to be required.

One last thought: make sure your vent is open adequately because you'll want to exhaust the extra moisture from that much bird

Good luck and post some pix. 

[brotheryyy]

Sorry , no pics but id say it was succesful. To ensure a moister product and seeing as one way or another I was gonna have to reheat them I went for a low and slow (220). Interesting fact , there was really no browning at all after the smoke and I brought them up to 165 in the box. Chilled overnight then blasted them this morning at 350 to reheat with a spritz of apple juice. Nice browning then. all in all , im happy with the results. all together I smoked 90 legs.

[more smoke]

  I'm looking into doing some turkey legs my self but i can't find them. Just wanted to know were i might find them, and around what price per lb. and you said they were succesful didn't know if you were talking just about apperance or you have tasted them as well?
                                                                Keith

[brotheryyy]

oh yea, I meant I tasted them for one AND the customers enjoyed them as well. The ones I smoked at work were from US foods and i need to check back as the price per pound. The ones I picked up for the tesy run I got at walmart, i was happy to see they had them. Ive been told that Disney has been known to deplete the market :D. Thats funny cause that was the #1 response yesterday,"these remind me of disney". Ill recheck that price per pound.

[more smoke]

 Thanks for geting back with me I'll try wal-mart. I had some turkey legs at sixflags a few years back and they were good. I'm doing some of Habs canadian bacon right now but turkey leg are next.
                                                                          Keith