Last Updated on January 26, 2024 by Carne Diem
Jump to RecipeProtein:
Method: Grill or Smoker
Jump to RecipeThis smoked turkey leg recipe is in the style of those famous roasted turkey legs found at Renaissance festivals or theme parks or Amusement parks like Disney World. These flavorful BBQ turkey legs are injected with an apple cider brine, generously seasoned and then smoked until the turkey meat is fall apart tender. This east recipe is one of our favorite turkey recipes for making on our smoker.
Table of contents
Making the Smoked Turkey Drumsticks
To make these barbecue style turkey legs you just need to brine or inject the turkey legs, season them to your liking, and throw them on the smoker.
When picking out your turkey legs, fresh is better. We do find that organic turkey legs tend to cook up better. Look for legs with fairly thin skin, without a lot of fat under the skin. This will help achieve that bite through skin. We love to smoke up some giant turkey legs like they have at state fairs but select the size turkey legs that work for you.
Inject with the apple cider injection
These easy roasted turkey drumsticks use a simple apple cider injection. You can also brine the turkey is your favorite brine or use our Apple Cider Turkey Brine, but typically the dark meat turkey legs are plenty juicy and do not require a wet brine. If you choose to do an overnight brine, you will need about 1 gallon of brine for 2 fresh turkey legs.
To make the simple brine or injection you just need some apple cider and some salt. Typically, Kosher salt works much better in brines and injections compared to table salt. Mix the salt with the apple cider until all of the salt has dissolved. We typically inject the turkey legs with about ¼-⅓ cup of the brine per leg, depending on their size. Inject from the top of the turkey drumstick and try to avoid puncturing the skin as that will cause the skin to tear when cooking.
Seasoning the BBQ turkey legs
After injecting the turkey legs, wipe the outside of the drumsticks off with paper towels. You want the turkey skin to be as dry as possible to get that perfectly crispy skin.
Dust the outside of the turkey legs with a little of your favorite barbeque seasoning. We typically use about 2 tablespoons of seasoning per turkey leg but that can vary depending on the size of the drumsticks.
We feel the best BBQ rubs for turkey legs are sweet and spicy rubs. A couple of our go to rubs are Meat Church Holy VooDoo and Spiceology Smokey Honey Habanero for the perfect flavor with a little bit of heat. You can also use a favorite homemade dry rub if desired. In general, avoid rubs that are heavy in brown sugar as they tend to burn with the higher temperature used to finish the smoked turkey legs.
After seasoning the turkey legs, cover and let the legs sit out at room temperature while you prepare your smoker.
Cooking the roasted turkey legs on a smoker
Preheat your grill or smoker to 250 degrees and set up for indirect heat. We made these smoked turkey legs on a Big Green Egg, but they turn out great on a drum smoker or pellet smoker as well. Using a pellet grill will typically result in a milder smoky flavor compared to using a charcoal grill or wood burning grill. The cooking process for the festival style turkey legs involves starting the legs at a lower temperature to build a better smoke profile, before bumping up the heat in the smoker, during the later part of the cook in order to achieve that perfect, crispy, bite through skin.
Best wood for smoking turkey legs
As opposed to when we are smoking a whole turkey where we use mild woods like fruit woods, when smoking legs we tend to use stronger flavored woods for turkey legs. The dark meat holds up better to the stronger smoke and the short cooking time keeps them from getting too much smoky flavor. Pecan, oak and hickory are a few of our favorite woods for smoked turkey drumsticks.
Smoke the turkey legs for about 45 minutes at the lower temperature, then increase the temperature to 325 degrees. The high heat will help crisp up the turkey skin while the legs finish cooking. Continue to smoke the turkey drumsticks until the internal temperature of the turkey is 185-190 degrees F. Note: while the turkey legs are safe to eat at 165 degrees, dark meat like turkey legs requires more time and a higher temp to become tender (similar to pork butt or brisket). Take them to a higher temp to avoid tough turkey legs. If at any point the turkey legs look like they are getting too dark, spray them with a little spray butter or Parkay.
Once the turkey legs have reached your desired internal temperature remove them from the smoker. Cover with foil and rest for about 5 minutes before digging in.
For more great smoked turkey and chicken recipes, be sure to try some our our other favorites:
- Smoked Turkey Roulade: Rolled Turkey Breast with Fresh Herbs, Black Garlic, and Prosciutto
- Louisville Hot Brown: Kentucky's Turkey Sandwich
- Easy Smoked Boneless Turkey Breast
- Smoked Dry Rubbed Chicken Wings
- Smoked Fried Chicken
- Smoked Lebanese Chicken Shawarma
What to serve with Smoked Turkey Legs
Now it is time to eat your juicy smoked turkey leg. These smoked turkey drumsticks pair perfectly with grilled corn, green beans or roasted or mashed potatoes, or grilled vegetables. For some more creative sides to make with the roasted turkey drumsticks on your smoker, try some Smoked Au Gratin Potatoes, White Castle Holiday Stuffing, or Smoked Hatch Chile Mac and Cheese. While not traditional, dip your roasted turkey legs in your favorite BBQ sauce like our Alabama White Sauce or South Carolina Style Mustard Sauce.
Frequently Asked Questions
For a crispy skin, turkey legs are best cooked at a temperature of at least 300-350 degrees. While smoking legs at a lower temperature will get you a more profound smoke flavor, these lower temperatures typically give you a rubbery skin.
Because these turkey legs only require a short time in the smoker, we typically prefer to use a stronger flavored wood like hickory, oak, or pecan. Of course milder flavored woods like apple, cherry, and maple also work for those that want a less pronounced smoke flavor.
While turkey legs are safe to eat at 165 degrees, pulling them off at this temperature will likely result in tough drumsticks. Dark meat like turkey legs is best when cooked to at least 180-185 degrees, though going to 190-195 is even fine, especially when cooking at higher temperature, to give the meat time to become tender.
Leftover turkey legs are best reheated in an oven. Wrap in foil and heat in a 350 degree oven until at the turkey reaches a temp of 165 degrees, about 15-20 minutes.
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📖 Recipe
Festival Style Smoked Turkey Legs
Ingredients
- 2 Turkey Legs
- ¼ cup BBQ rub
- Parkay or butter spray.
Easy Apple Cider Injection
- ½ Cup Apple Cider
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
Instructions
- Combine the apple cider with the salt and mix until the salt is dissolved.
- Inject each turkey leg with about ¼ cup of the apple cider injection.
- Dry off the outside of the turkey legs well and then dust liberally with the BBQ rub.
- Preheat your grill or smoker to 250 degrees and set up for indirect heat.
- Smoke for about 45 minutes, then increase the smoker temp to 325 degrees. Continue to smoke the turkey legs until they reach an internal temperature of 185-190 degrees. Note: if the outside of the turkey legs is beginning to get too dark before reaching your internal temperature, spray with the Parkay or spray butter.
- Remove the smoked turkey drumsticks and enjoy.
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