Cooking smoked turkey legs is extremely simple. But that is if your turkey legs or drumsticks are precooked or already smoked. If they are not, then you have to precook them or smoke them. Before delving into how you can cook smoked turkey legs, let us shed some light on a few nutritional facts. White meat is better than red meat but turkey, although lean, is high in sodium. Hence, if anyone has high blood pressure in the family, then he or she should not opt for more than one drumstick.

Preparation and Cooking

Step 1:
Now, let us begin with precooked or smoked turkey legs. You may use it with the skin on if you are healthy. If you are trying to lose weight, then you should remove the skin. Other than the drumsticks, you would need a metal baking pan, some water or chicken broth and an aluminum foil. You will need salt and sugar whose quantities would depend on how salty and sweet you want the drumsticks to be. Use only pinches of salt and sugar if you are conscious of your health.

Step 2:
Since smoked turkey legs are already precooked, cooking them is very simple. You need to preheat your oven to 250 degrees F. While the oven gets heated, take the baking pan and pour in the water. Take the turkey legs and put them in the pan. The legs should not touch one another. If you are using large turkey legs, then you should cook two drumsticks at a time, not more. Cover the pan with the aluminum foil. Make sure the foil holds onto the pan firmly and that there is no leak or vent whatsoever.

Step 3:
Place the baking pan inside the oven and cook for up to two hours. You may have to cook longer or shorter depending on how large and firm the turkey legs are. Older turkeys have more fibrous flesh and they would need more time to cook. Younger turkeys have relatively tender flesh and they would need a little less than two hours. The best way to figure out if your turkey legs are ready to eat is to measure the internal temperature. You can use a food thermometer and check if the temperature is between 155 degrees to 165 degrees F. This is the range for turkey meat that’s cooked and ready to be eaten.

If your turkey legs are not smoked or precooked, then you have to add some salt and sugar to warm water, allow the mixture to cool down to room temperature and then add the turkey legs to the mixture. Refrigerate the turkey legs in the water for twelve hours. Take the pack out, drain the water, dry the turkey legs and then keep them in the fridge for a day or two. Then, your turkey legs are ready to cook.