You’ll feel like the king of the court, wielding your giant smoked turkey legs like a scepter.
Visit any of the Disney parks and you will see folks stumbling around delirious with huge smiles and monster smoked turkey legs (actually they are drumsticks, since technically legs include the thigh). These pterodactyl-sized drums have spawned fan pages, scores of videos on YouTube, and rumors (no they are not emu legs). They have become so popular that they were featured on page one of the New York Times once. They are not hard to make at home once you crack the secret recipe, and I have.
The science behind our smoked turkey legs
Anyone can simply smoke turkey legs and they are wonderful, BUT, the turkey legs served on Disney properties are cured and this is a special process that produces a special taste. Disney smoked turkey legs are injected with a curing solution with a curing salt that gives it a pink color. Then they are smoked. No wonder most folks say it tastes like ham. That’s how they make wet cured ham. And that’s how they sell more drinks!
For reference, Disney’s supplier, Uncle John’s Pride, uses Tom turkeys, male birds that can grow up to 50 pounds (22.7 k), with legs that run about 1 1/2 pounds (680.4 g). Most legs I have seen in stores are closer to 1 pound (453.6 g) each. This recipe brines/cures in a zipper bag for a few days so you don’t have to inject and so you can make a small quantity. You just need to move the legs around in the bag periodically to make sure the cure stays in contact with all parts of the meat.
Curing is very different from any other recipe because it uses a preservative, sodium nitrite. You must read and thoroughly understand my article on the Science Of Curing Meats before attempting to cure meat or before you ask any questions. That said, do not use the Curing Calculator on this recipe. It doesn’t work for such a small piece of meat with a bone. And don’t use this recipe for turkey breasts or whole turkeys. If you wish to use those cuts, you must use the curing calculator on the Science of Curing Meats article.
Recipe Overview: Smoked Turkey Leg Success Formula
- Buy: a large turkey drumstick.
- Dissolve: salt, Prague Powder #1, and sugar in water and place in large zipper bag.
- Cure it: Add the turkey to the bag and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
- Rinse: the salt from the turkey leg and pat dry with a paper towel.
- Hold: in the fridge, if needed, for a day or two.
- Fire up: Set the grill for 2-zone smoking at 325°F (162.8°C) on the indirect side.
- Smoke: the turkey leg for about one hour or until the thick part of the meat reaches at least 160°F.
- Serve: the turkey leg immediately.
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Ingredients and substitutions for smoked turkey leg
- Turkey legs are sold on their own and you can smoke more than one at at time. Just double or triple the recipe as needed so you have enough cure. They’ll likely weigh around 1 pound to 1 1/2 pounds, depending.
- Morton’s coarse kosher salt is the salt of choice for my cures. But if you use table salt, remember to use half as much. Otherwise, it will be too salty. And yes, salt is a bit of a matter of preference, but you do need it.
- Dark brown sugar contains molasses, which brings more complex savory flavors. Both light and dark brown sugar work fine (dark has slightly more molasses.) You could also use turbinado sugar, raw sugar, or coconut sugar.
- Distilled water ensures the brine is free of minerals, chemicals, and unwanted bacteria that could affect safety or alter the flavor. If you do not have distilled water, you can boil regular tap water for a few minutes to kill bacteria, then let it cool completely before mixing your cure.
- Prague Powder #1 is different from what you find in the grocery store, which is Prague Powder #2 and is only appropriate for cold smoking at a lower temperature. That’s not what we’re doing here. You want #1 because we smoke this belly at 225°F, which cooks and pasteurizes the meat and makes it safe to eat right off the smoker. I do not recommend cold smoking at home.
Smoked turkey leg, step by step
- Adjust the curing ingredients to their proper weights using the calculator.
- Make the cure by dissolving the salt, dark brown sugar and Prague powder in distilled water. Transfer to a zipper bag and add the meat.
- Cure the turkey in the bag for 24 hours but not longer or it can get too salty.
- If you’re doing more than one leg at a time, make sure the cure covers all the legs. Move the legs around in the bag periodically if needed to redistribute the cure.
- Set the grill up for 2-zone cooking or fire up your smoker. Aim for 325°F (162.8°C) on the indirect side.
- Smoke the turkey for an hour until the thick part of the meat reaches at least 160°F (71.1°C).
- Serve the turkey leg immediately. Mac and cheese is a good side.
Smoked turkey legs FAQs
Like people do at Disney, you can gnaw at them right off the bone. The meat is also great shredded and put into soup or stew, or as part of a smoked turkey salad or even a taco or burrito.
Wrap the leg in foil with a pat of butter or splash of oil on the skin, and pop it into an oven that’s preheated at about anywhere between 250°F and 350°F for a half an hour to 45 minutes. If you want it to fall off the bone, reheat it at the lower end of that temperature range for a longer time, up to 2 to 3 hours.
Great question. Anything you’d serve with BBQ you can serve with smoked turkey legs, whether it’s baked beans, mac and cheese, or an acidic cole slaw to cut through the taste of the meat.
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Disney-style Smoked Turkey Legs Recipe
Ingredients
Adjusting Curing Ingredients
Cure time: 0.8 days
Method
- Cure. Dissolve the salt, Prague powder #1, and the sugar in the water and then pour it in a 1 gallon (3.8 l) zipper bag. Add the meat and refrigerate in the cure for about 24 hours, and not much longer or it can get too salty. While they are curing, move them them around a few times to make sure all parts are covered with the liquid.
- Rinse. Remove the meat from the cure, rinse it so the exterior will not be too salty, and pat the skin dry with a paper towel. You can take them out of the cure and hold them in the fridge uncooked for a day or two until you're ready to smoke them, but I wouldn't push beyond that.
- Fire up. Set up the grill for 2-zone smoking or fire up your smoker. Shoot for 325°F (162.8°C) on the indirect side.
- Smoke. Smoke the turkey leg for about 1 hour until the thick part of the meat reaches at least 160°F (71.1°C).
- Serve. Serve the smoked turkey leg immediately.
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