Not everyone is a big turkey fan, however, turkey is a staple dish for many during the holidays. There are abundant ways to bake this big bird. Remember how much you enjoy the infamous turkey leg at your home town carnival or festival during the summer. This year one of our staff decided to give this bird a good smoking method. We will go over some basics and highlight many recipes are from our smoker partners.
Things you will:
- Smoker
- Bucket for brining
- Brining seasoning
- Wood Chips
- Charcoal or Pellet
- Kosher Salt
- Beer
- Brown sugar
- Seasoning
If your turkey needs thawing, it is ideal to soak a packaged turkey in water for faster thawing time. Ours has partially thawed after a few days in the refrigerator. To measure how much water you will need, put the packaged turkey in the bucket and fill to the desired level.
Take the bird out, add 1 cup of Kosher salt per gallon of water. and a can of beer to the bucket. We added a few tablespoons of brown sugar to help with the coloring.
After brining for 12-24 hours in the refrigerator, remove from brine, pat dry, then season and let sit in refrigerator for 12-24 hours. In the meantime, soak your flavoring woodchips overnight.
Our Weber smoker is hot and ready. Adding a few prepared pieces of cherry wood will add a delicious flavor to your bird.
Add your favorite poultry seasoning. Oh and don’t forget to take out packaged parts inside the bird before smoking.
You will want to wait for the smoker to reach about 250 degree. Place the bird in the prepared smoker. Cooking time is about 30 minutes per pound.
The meat turned out tender, juicy and delicious, just like we remembered a turkey leg tasting like at the festival.
Here are some holiday meat smoked recipes from our partners:
Bring on the Brine (Charbroil)
Classic Smoked Turkey (Pitboss)
Smoked Pineapple Rum Ham (Weber)
Honey Jalapeno Turkey (Green Mountain)
Best Smoked Turkey Recipe (Traeger)
Picture Perfect Poultry (Green Mountain)
