Smoked Turkey Legs with Whiskey Glaze

Note: You should soak your pecan wood chips in water for 4 hours before using them.

Normally I would brine something like this, but as I was not going to do a whole turkey, I decided to use an injector. If you do not have an injector, get one. They are awesome.

Begin by melting the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat, then add in the stock, salt, and whiskey. Bring to a boil, then take off of the heat and let it cool to room temperature. Go heat your coals for your smoker.

Once the injection mixture has come to room temperature, take your injector, put the tip in the injection mixture and draw back the plunger to suck it up. Begin injecting it in various areas within the turkey leg. Be generous on both legs. Let these sit at room temperature while you get your smoker ready.

Once your coals are heated for the smoker, add the pre-soaked wood chunks. Place your turkey legs onto the smoker, cover the smoker, and let them get hit with the smoke for at least two hours, on low heat.

Then transfer the turkey legs onto a roasting pan and into a preheated, 325 degree F oven. Cook for one hour, turning after 30 minutes.

While the turkey legs are roasting in the oven, make the glazing sauce.

To a sauce pan, add in the honey, whiskey, ketchup, salt, pepper, and brown sugar. Bring to a low boil, then reduce the heat, stirring frequently. Turn off the heat, and set aside.

After the turkey has cooked in the oven for an hour, turn up the heat to 400 degrees F. Brush on the glaze, then cook the legs for ten minutes. After the first ten minutes, flip the legs over, and generously glaze once again, returning back to the oven for another ten minutes. On the final turn, glaze once again and cook for another ten minutes.

Remove the legs from the oven, and let them rest for a few minutes.

To serve, just grab those legs, using the bone as your handle. Dig in, get messy, and take in the delicious whiskey flavor. You get tender, smokey meat, with a subtle hit of the whiskey glaze. My kids could not stop eating it, and I could not have been happier watching them eat their very first turkey leg.

Give it a shot. You will be happy that you did.