This Thanksgiving, Skip the Bird and Go All-Out with Turkey Legs These smoked, flavor-packed turkey legs deserve to take center-stage.

food and wine ^

[mylife]

If turkey tends to be the star of your Thanksgiving, chances are, you have a favorite cut of meat. Maybe it's the golden brown, crispy skin, glistening with rendered fat to the point where it almost resembles bacon; maybe it's a simple slice of breast meat, waiting to be doused (and then doused some more) with a flood of gravy. Or maybe it's the meaty, juicy turkey legs, which you're prepared to battle your table-mates for every year. If that's the case, this recipe for Chipotle-Spiced Smoked Turkey Legs is going to deliver for you big-time—it's 100-percent drumsticks, and you can have them all to yourself.

These next-level turkey legs are first dry-brined and then smoked, resulting in tender, mahogany-colored drumsticks that have a light kick of heat thanks to chipotle chiles. They only take three steps to make, and as a bonus, the leftovers can be shredded and turned into all kinds of other dishes, such as sandwiches or a mix-in for pasta salads. Or, just leave them whole and go to town. The world is your turkey-leg oyster.

Dry Brine 'Em Before you can smoke these turkey legs, you need to dry brine them uncovered in the refrigerator for at least eight hours, or up to 24. It may sound like a long time, but don't skip this step—it not only ensures more flavorful and juicy meat, but helps to dry out the skin as well, meaning it will crisp up more as it cooks. This brine packs in all different kinds of spices and seasonings, including dried chipotle chiles, fresh bay leaves, kosher salt, dark brown sugar, garlic powder, dried sage, ground cloves, and more. Once the bay leaves and chiles are ground up and mixed together with the rest of the dry brine ingredients,

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[j.havenfarm]

That is the most glorious turkey I have ever seen. I shy away from bacon wrapped stuffed because the bacon generally Tuan out undercooked- but not so in this case!

[metmom]

I know.

I hate licking them out and hate it when I miss some and find it in my mouth.

UGH!!!!

[metmom]

I usually use the drumsticks for soup flavoring. They are good for giving flavor to the soup.

Cook the snot out of them, pick off some usable meat to mix in with the rest, then toss the scraps.

[Georgia Girl 2]

Well I usually just lay 4-5 bacon strips over the turkey but in this case more is better. 😄

[Fiji Hill]

I associate turkey legs with Renaissance festivals. Just about every Renaissance festival features a booth selling turkey legs—even though turkeys were probably not widely available in Europe during the actual Renaissance.

[nascarnation]

[mylife]

Tx state fair too!!!