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How to smoke turkey legs for tender, juicy and flavorful meat with crispy skin.

Smoked turkey drumsticks are easier to prepare than you might think! It is all about the brine, the seasoning rub and maintaining the proper smoker temperature.

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About This Turkey Legs Recipe
Keys to Perfectly Smoked Turkey Legs
Smoked Turkey Brine
Dry Rub
How Do You Make Smoked Turkey Legs - Workflow
How Long to Smoke Turkey Legs?
How to Achieve Crispy Turkey Skin?
Is a Smoked Turkey Leg Fully Cooked?
Should You Use Barbecue Sauce?
Other Recipes You Might Like
Recipe
Beer Pairing Tips

About This Turkey Legs Recipe

From backyards nationwide to fairs, festivals and theme parks like Disney smoked turkey legs have a huge fan base. When their aroma wafts about and tickles the nostrils the urge to sink one's teeth into the tasty meat is usually pretty strong.

Preparing them at home is easy - here is what you need to do.

Keys to Perfectly Smoked Turkey Legs

There are three essential steps to juicy, tender and flavorful fair style smoked turkey legs.

Brine. Brining the lean turkey meat is absolutely necessary. The brine is a saline solution that can be further flavored (with spices or beer, etc). It plays a dual role - it penetrates deep into the meat and and helps it absorb and later retain moisture during cooking. It also flavors the meat deep inside, as opposed to only on the surface. We add a bit of curing salt to ours when we smoke drumsticks - it is so worth it.
Use a dry rub. To further flavor the outside of the turkey legs. If it contains brown sugar (the one in this recipe does) this helps create crispy turkey skin.
Smoke the turkey legs slow on low. Turkey drumsticks have a lot of connective tissue and the low heat is key to liquefying the collagen. Conceptually it is just like grilling chicken drumsticks over indirect heat but with the smoking element included.

NOTE: When people say smoked turkey legs they typically mean turkey drumsticks since the whole turkey leg also includes the thigh.

Smoked Turkey Brine

Our recipe for smoked turkey brine works for turkey breast and turkey 'ham' (which is the other name for the drumsticks meat). If you are planning to brine a whole turkey, triple or quadriple the brine quantity as needed.

To make the brine bring water to boil with kosher salt, pink curing salt (optional) and brown sugar, stir to dissolve them.
In a large bowl or other container place the ice and pour the hot solution over it, it will cool down fast.
Place the drumsticks and the black peppercorns, mustard seeds, cloves, bay leaf etc. in the brine. Cover and refrigerate.

Let the turkey drumsticks brine in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours and up to 48 for best results.

To speed up the process a bit consider injecting some of the brine - follow the instructions included with your brand of meat injector syringe.

Dry Rub

Use your favorite dry rub to coat the turkey drumsticks an all sides. We like to include garlic powder and smoked paprika and/or chipotle powder in our dry rubs (see the recipe card for ingredients and quantities) to impart extra smokey flavors.

How Do You Make Smoked Turkey Legs - Workflow

Use a chimney starter and once the charcoals turn mostly white pour over wood (hickory or Applewood chunks work nicely).
Add wood chips on top and place in smoking chamber (or handle as specified by the manufacturer).
Preheat smoker to 225-250 F. Place the drumsticks on the smoking rack and close.

The heat from the charcoal grill will slowly cook the turkey legs while the smoke from the woods chips will infuse them with flavor. Maintain the temperature and replenish both charcoal and smoking wood as needed, per the specifications of the manufacturer.

Steps to prepare a smoker for turkey legs and smoke them fair style. — Here using hickory wood chunks and chips. Apple wood, cherry wood or mesquite will work well too.

How Long to Smoke Turkey Legs?

Smoke turkey drumsticks until the meat browns and becomes very tender - typically about three to four hours.

Smoked turkey legs are done when the internal temperature registers 170 F. Be sure that your meat thermometer is not touching drumstick bones when measuring.

How to Achieve Crispy Turkey Skin?

The skin of turkey legs naturally becomes crispy in the smoker between the drying effect of the smoke on its plentiful fat contents and the caramelization of the brown sugar in the rub. It is like a bonus of the smoking process.

Use the specs in the card below as general guidelines and consider subtle adjustments. Base such tweaks on the actual weight of the turkey legs (each individually), how long you brined them for and the actual smoker temperature you were able to maintain.

Is a Smoked Turkey Leg Fully Cooked?

At 170 F smoked turkey drumsticks are perfectly cooked and tender. All that being said it is important to note that a 170 F internal temperature could be reached in less than the 3 to 4 hours of smoking time if the smoker's temperature runs higher. Be sure to control it - the 225 to 250 F range is essential.

The longer the time the drumsticks spend at 160 F internal temp, getting to that 170 F, the longer they have for their connective tissue to break down and turn into liquefied collagen = tastier and more tender meat.

Should You Use Barbecue Sauce?

This is a personal choice. If you are after the unadulterated flavor of smoked turkey meat, then bbq sauce is not necessary.

If you really want to use some, once the turkey legs are done, brush them with sauce and allow them to smoke just long enough for a nice crust to form. Then transfer them to a roasting pan and tent with foil. Allow a few minutes of rest time before you serve.

Other Recipes You Might Like

Basic Beer Brine | Smoked Chicken Thighs with Crispy Skin | Smoked Lamb LegSmoked Ricotta Cheese | Smoked Trout Dip

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Recipe

Easy Smoked Turkey Legs (Juicy and Tender Drumsticks)

Six smoked turkey legs with crispy skin are shown on a tin platter next to grilling tongs.

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How to smoke turkey legs. These fair style/Disney theme park smoked turkey drumsticks are easy to recreate in your own backyard. Tips on brining them for perfect result.

Author: Milena Perrine
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 4 hours
Total Time: 16 hours 10 minutes
Yield: 6 drumsticks 1x
Category: Cooking Tips and How Tos
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

6 raw turkey drumsticks, about 1 to 1 ½ lbs each

BRINE

7 cups of water
⅓ cup coarse salt (kosher or sea)
½ tsp pink curing salt for wet curing* (optional, but highly recommended)
¾ cup brown sugar
6 bay leaves
4 cloves
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp peppercorns
7 cups ice cubes

DRY RUB**

½ cup brown sugar
2 tbsp coarse salt (kosher or sea)
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp smoked paprika
½ tbsp fine ground black pepper

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Instructions

Rinse the turkey legs with cold water and set aside. Place 7 cups of ice in a large bowl or other container.
Prepare the brine solution - boil the water with the two types of salt and brown sugar. Stir to dissolve, cool down a bit and pour over the ice. The ice cubes will cause it to cool down all the way and the brining solution will get diluted as needed.
Add the bay leaves, cloves, peppercorns, and mustard seeds and submerge the turkey legs. Cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours (closer to 48 hours for best results).***
When ready to smoke take the drumsticks out of the brine and pat them dry. Discard the brine.
Mix the dry rub and apply it generously over the drumsticks. Let them come to room temperature while you preheat the smoker.
Set up your smoker as per the manufacturer's instructions and preheat it to 225-250 F. Add the smoking wood as specified by its manufacturer.
Place the drumsticks over the smoking rack and smoke until the meat is tender and registers 170 F. This should take about 3 to 4 hours.

Notes

YOU WILL ALSO NEED:

Meat Thermometer

Wood chunks and chips for smoking (hickory or applewood recommended).

*Curing salt - the kind that is used for wet curing meats which generally require cooking before consumption. Do not use more than specified - a bit goes a really long way.

** Use your favorite dry rub instead.

*** You can also use a meat injector syringe to speed up the process.

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1
Calories: 603
Sugar: 27
Sodium: 1231
Fat: 26
Saturated Fat: 6
Unsaturated Fat: 17
Trans Fat: 0
Carbohydrates: 21
Fiber: 1
Protein: 78
Cholesterol: 330

Beer Pairing Tips

We recommend crisp and flavorful easy sippers to wash down smoked turkey legs.

Anything from American craft lagers to Munich helles or dunkels and Vienna lagers, Czech pilsners with their floral aromas and sweetness. All of these styles are supportive of the rich smoked turkey meat flavors without overpowering them. Not to mention that they are perfect for a warm day in the backyard - won't be a big deal if you enjoyed a few.

Platter with smoked turkey drumsticks and glasses full of beer.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

Did these for Thanksgiving and turned out awesome! My only critique is pouring the hot brine on the turkey legs and ice. Done several brines and hot liquid on cold, raw poultry has always been a no-go. So I erred on the side of caution and added the legs after the ice cooled everything down and stirred the brine a few times. Soaked for about 36 hours. The rub is perfect, no improvements needed...I used dark brown sugar for all parts of the recipe. Smoked legs on a Traeger with hickory pellets for about 4 hours. I did 12 turkey legs (1.5 lb per leg (average)) and pulled them off between 165-170 degrees. Wrapped them in tin foil and put them in a cooler...dinner wasn't for another hour. Legs stayed warm and did not overheat. In fact, people went back for seconds several hours later and were thrilled they got a nice, warm turkey leg. If you're looking for that perfect Renaissance Fair / Disney turkey leg recipe, This. Is. It!
Reply
Wonderful recipe, however I found that reducing the salt by 50%,and using twice as much liquid, including 4 beers,two lagers and 2 ipa. This helped the 30 hour brining process,and because the 6 turkey drumsticks were in excess of 14 lbs. Smoking on a smoke hollow vertical smoker,propane fired . The entire time was 3.5 hours,full combination of Applewood chunks,soaked for 24hrs,three lumps of cowboy charcoal and a copious amount of hickory pellets. The smoker temperature was maintained at 225 degrees,a combination of homade rub was also used on the war clubs. The last 45 minutes of the smoke time was without the burner active.This allowed them to naturally slowly continue to cook,but let all the wonderful juices to stay in,at 170 degrees, off the smoker,and a cookie sheet,with foil tent to rest for 25 minutes, then enjoyed with a cold beer,what a great use of a Saturday morning.
Reply
I just found this recipe and HAD to try it. I've seen and tried many different brines in the past but they all left me lacking the "hamy" flavor of good turkey legs. This recipe adds pink curing salt. WHAT A GAME CHANGER in flavor for such a small amount. I followed the recipe exactly but upped the weight ratio to 10lbs of turkey. I couldn't find turkey legs and used thighs but they were fantastic after a 4 hr smoke. I did mis the caveman feel of eating a drumstick but the thighs were fantastic and the family thought so too. I did a 36hr brine and next time I will inject the meat for more flavor and hopefully find jumbo turkey legs.

Great recipe!
Reply
You need to fix the timings... 14m19s total time :)???!

Yield: 6 drumsticks Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 4 minutes Additional Time: 19 seconds Total Time: 14 minutes 19 seconds
Reply
- Chris, deepest gratitude for catching this, must have happened during an automated recipe card conversion to a new plugin. All fixed thanks to you!
  Reply
I've been smoking meat and chicken forever but I've never smoked turkey legs today will be my first time thanks for your recipe .
Reply
I'm with Katherine--I've always been intimidated by smokers! But you make it sound so manageable, and those turkey legs look perfect!
Reply
We actually have a smoker that we've never used, because we're intimidated by it. These legs are making me reconsider though!! They look soooo juicy and delicious, and that skin! Drooling over here!!
Reply
- Totally easy to use a smoker, we promise:) Thank you, Katherine!
  Reply
I enjoyed reading about brining and smoking turkey. I can always count on you guys for detailed posts and recipes. While I don't have the tools to make this, I wish I did. The smoked turkey legs look so delicious! Love the crispy exterior!
Reply
- Thank you so much, Leanne!
  Reply

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