Cured Smoked Turkey Legs

FLBentRider · March 27, 2008, 08:33:32 AM

Last night I put 15 Turkey legs in a "brown sugar cure" brine (sold by Alliedkenco.com) . I plan to take them out Saturday and smoke them.

Do you think that I should rinse them early in the day and let them dry (like the Canadian Bacon), or just rinse, pat dry and smoke?

CLAREGO · March 27, 2008, 10:45:07 AM

im thinking more towards the rinsing part...if your going to eat it right away it may be salty if done the other way

iceman · March 27, 2008, 11:08:32 AM

Rinse, dry, smoke is what I do to mine and they turn out great.

Habanero Smoker · March 27, 2008, 02:10:33 PM

I do the same as Iceman.

CLAREGO · March 27, 2008, 02:26:15 PM

man i dont what i was typing(i think i had a brain sore there for a second) go with ice and you will be just fine!

FLBentRider · March 27, 2008, 04:18:33 PM

Roger that.

I will pull them Saturday early, (or maybe Friday night late, We have a bicycle event early Saturday an hour away, it starts @ 0730) rinse and put on a sheet pan in the fridge to dry, then in the afternoon I will smoke them with 3 or 4 hours of Hickory.

Habanero Smoker · March 28, 2008, 02:51:34 AM

You should try to elevate the legs off the pan. If you are using a sheet pan invert one of the Bradley racks on top of the sheet pan, and place the turkey legs on top of the inverted rack. Or you can use a cooling rack that will fit over the pan.

FLBentRider · March 28, 2008, 03:13:39 AM

Thanks.

When I did the Canadian Bacon I made a 2 tier rack contraption using smoker racks and my childrens sippy cups - I should have taken a picture!

The hardest part will be finding that much horizontal space in our fridge.

FLBentRider · March 29, 2008, 05:33:14 PM

They're D O N E !

I hit them with 4 hours of Hickory.

I rinsed after the cure/brine - I should have soaked them longer - came out too salty. They had a great flavor, just a salty aftertaste. I will post pictures soon.

Habanero Smoker · March 30, 2008, 02:36:19 AM

I'm not familiar with the cure you used, but depending on the amount of salt in the brine turkey legs generally only need about 8 hours of brining.

FLBentRider · March 30, 2008, 09:12:51 AM

Would a post-smoke soak do any good ? I'm going to test with a leg.

Habanero Smoker · March 30, 2008, 02:25:58 PM

Quote from: FLBentRider on March 30, 2008, 09:12:51 AM
Would a post-smoke soak do any good ? I'm going to test with a leg.

I don't know. I wouldn't think it will help all that much, because after cooking the cell membranes may not be able to allow the exchange of salt and fluid. It can't hurt to try. I would be interested in the out come.

FLBentRider · March 30, 2008, 05:44:38 PM

I soaked it for 10 minutes, and gave it a couple of hours to dry - tasted it and it was a little less salty, (kind of a subjective thing anyway) but still too much like country ham for our liking.

Lesson learned - you can over-brine.

FLBentRider · March 31, 2008, 06:40:03 AM

I now have a recipe for "Country Turkey Ham on a Stick"

;D

weekendsmoker · April 01, 2008, 07:51:48 PM

This really sounds worth trying. Can anyone direct me to a thread that talks about the brining process for turkey legs? How long, what the mix could be if I made my own etc. Thanks. I have seen links on brining but wondered if it may be different for this.

Cheers.

Jason.