FowlersFreeTime
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By popular request, I present to you my version of Smoked Turkey Legs. This particular presentation has been made popular by fairs and Renaissance festivals all over USA (do they have these in UK as well?). "Giant" turkey legs are in my opinion any turkey legs greater than 1-2lbs, and I read somewhere online that they sometimes come from "Toms" ie the male turkeys.
This recipe is a 3 part story: brine, dry rub, and smoke.
Brine
1 tsp Prague Powder (aka curing salt)
6 tsp regular Salt
2 cups Water
6 Tbs Brown Sugar
1 Tbs whole Peppercorns
2 Bay Leaves
This brine recipe works for 2 turkey legs, so multiply accordingly if you're doing a large batch. Brine for 24hrs. After the legs have brined, rinse in cold fresh water and pat dry with paper towels (or leave on a rack in the fridge to "air dry" a bit). Rinsing is important because Curing Salt is harmful if ingested directly.
Dry Rub
Now you could simply do a salt, black pepper, and garlic powder rub... but lets get fancy and make a poultry dry rub from the Buxton Hall cookbook:
1 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup White Sugar
1/4 cup ground Black Pepper
1/8 cup Garlic Powder
1/8 cup Onion Powder
1/8 cup ground Red Pepper (if you like spice, you could do Cayenne)
1/8 cup Oregano
1.5 Tbs Cumin
1 tsp ground Sage
1 tsp ground Coriander
This makes quite a bit, so use as much (or as little) as you need to coat your turkey legs and save the leftover dry rub mix for another time.
Smoke
I believe I used hickory wood chips in my cook, but I would suggest pecan, cherry, or maple wood instead. Even apple wood chips would be a nice, mild, sweet smoke that would allow the turkey meat to shine. The important part of smoking is to aim for 225 degrees ambient temperature and an internal temp of 175 (all temperatures mentioned are in Fahrenheit). Enjoy with a big mug of ale and don't be afraid to get into character!
Video
(skip to 1:19 if you want to get directly to the cooking)
View: https://youtu.be/VJ48ye6Hftk
This recipe is a 3 part story: brine, dry rub, and smoke.
Brine
1 tsp Prague Powder (aka curing salt)
6 tsp regular Salt
2 cups Water
6 Tbs Brown Sugar
1 Tbs whole Peppercorns
2 Bay Leaves
This brine recipe works for 2 turkey legs, so multiply accordingly if you're doing a large batch. Brine for 24hrs. After the legs have brined, rinse in cold fresh water and pat dry with paper towels (or leave on a rack in the fridge to "air dry" a bit). Rinsing is important because Curing Salt is harmful if ingested directly.
Dry Rub
Now you could simply do a salt, black pepper, and garlic powder rub... but lets get fancy and make a poultry dry rub from the Buxton Hall cookbook:
1 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup White Sugar
1/4 cup ground Black Pepper
1/8 cup Garlic Powder
1/8 cup Onion Powder
1/8 cup ground Red Pepper (if you like spice, you could do Cayenne)
1/8 cup Oregano
1.5 Tbs Cumin
1 tsp ground Sage
1 tsp ground Coriander
This makes quite a bit, so use as much (or as little) as you need to coat your turkey legs and save the leftover dry rub mix for another time.
Smoke
I believe I used hickory wood chips in my cook, but I would suggest pecan, cherry, or maple wood instead. Even apple wood chips would be a nice, mild, sweet smoke that would allow the turkey meat to shine. The important part of smoking is to aim for 225 degrees ambient temperature and an internal temp of 175 (all temperatures mentioned are in Fahrenheit). Enjoy with a big mug of ale and don't be afraid to get into character!
Video
(skip to 1:19 if you want to get directly to the cooking)
