How Do You Cook Already Smoked Turkey Legs to Perfection? - BBQ Host (2023)

FAQs

How to prepare pre cooked smoked turkey legs? ›

Reheating – To reheat, place in a baking dish and cover with a loosely fitted piece of foil. Place in a 350°F oven and warm for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until heated through. Turkey legs are cooked when an instant read thermometer registers to 165°F.

Cooking pre-smoked turkey legs is as simple as brushing them with olive oil and grilling them on medium heat until the thickest part of the leg gets to a safe internal temperature of 165°F. You can also cook smoked turkey legs in the oven, air fryer, or slow cooker.

We recommend using a rack in your roasting pan. Add a little water to the bottom of the pan and cover the smoked turkey with foil. Bake at 325 degrees for approx. 10 minutes per pound, or until your meat thermometer reads 165 degrees.

Cook on low for about 5-6 hours (longer is even better). You'll probably need more water to cover them in the crockpot.

Cover the pan tightly with foil—this will allow the turkey to steam and stay moist—then reheat at a low temperature until hot, about 20 to 30 minutes at 300 degrees.

The best way to reheat turkey legs is to think of them as small, tasty pot roasts, and treat them accordingly: Warm them slowly in a low oven, with a bit of moisture to keep them from drying out.

Why are my turkey legs tough? There are a lot of tendons and ligaments in turkey legs. The best way to break down all of that connective tissue is to let the legs smoke low and slow for the full 3-4 hours. Too often, removing them early will not give them time to break down the connective tissues.

Butterball Smoked Whole Turkeys are fully cooked and ready to eat. They can be used in recipes calling for cooked turkey without prior heating. The pink color of the meat comes from smoking and curing and is not a sign of undercooked meat.

Place turkey breast in 350° oven and heat until warm. 3/4 - 1.5 hours. Check temperature with a meat thermometer. The temperature should be 140° F.

Preheat oven to 350° F. Remove turkey breast from packaging and rewrap in aluminum foil (to prevent sticking, first spray aluminum foil with nonstick cooking spray). Place foil-wrapped turkey breast in shallow roasting pan. Heat at 350° F for 1 hour and 20 minutes.

How long do smoked turkey legs take to cook? ›

Smoke. Heat your smoker to 225°F and smoke turkey for about 4 hours, or until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 165°F.

If it warms to over 150, it will start to dry out. It's been my experience that a reheated smoked turkey loses some of the smoke flavor.

To keep your smoked turkey moist and tender, place it on a rack in a roasting pan with a little water in the bottom. Cover it with foil and reheat it in a low oven.

Once they have cooled, place leftover turkey legs in an airtight container and store them in the fridge for up to 2 days. Reheat: To reheat them in the air fryer, set your air fryer to 350 degrees F and lightly spray or coat the basket with oil. Cook for 5-7 minutes or until heated through.

Place the drumsticks in a microwave-safe 9" x 13" baking dish. In a medium bowl, combine the remaining ingredients; mix well and pour over the drumsticks. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and microwave at 80% power for 20 minutes.

Notes. Crisp-Skinned Variation–For a turkey with crisp skin, smoke it until the internal temperature of the bird reaches 145°F. Transfer the bird to a hot grill preheated to 350° to 375°F and finish it off until the temperature bumps up to 165°F.

Elevate the Legs

Keep your breast from drying out before the dark meat is done by elevating or trussing the legs. Exposing the legs to more heat allows them to cook at the same rate as the breast meat. Combined with a good rub or brine, you'll have a supermoist turkey everyone can enjoy.

Scientists have found that pinkness occurs when gases in the atmosphere of a heated gas or electric oven react chemically with hemoglobin in the meat tissues to give poultry a pink tinge. They are the same substances that give red color to smoked hams and other cured meats.

Do you remove the plastic holding the turkey legs before cooking? ›

Speaking of plastic, turkeys usually come with a plastic or metal crimp, called a hock lock, holding the legs together at the back. You can leave it on or take it off; the legs may cook more evenly without it.

Are Smoked Turkey Legs Fully Cooked? Yes, they sure are! Use an instant-read meat thermometer to make sure the meat next to the bone (in the thickest part of the leg) is 165-F. If the meat appears pink, but the temperature is at least 165-F, then it is from the smoke and is safe to eat.

Can you overcook a smoked turkey? Yes, it's possible to overcook a smoked turkey. This is why it's important to use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature of the turkey throughout the smoking process.

You can either smoke your turkey directly on the grates of your smoker with a drip tray below it or in a roasting pan on a rack. I prefer to use the roasting pan because I like to collect the turkey drippings to use in gravy or roasted potatoes.

The answer, in short, is if it is cured, smoked or baked, ham is considered “pre-cooked,” and would not technically need to be cooked. This includes the ham that is purchased at the deli. In fact, most ham that is sold to consumers is already cured, smoked or baked.

If your guests doubt you, fear not. Instead, gently remind them that undercooked turkey is squishy and soft with a pallid hue while properly cooked turkey is firm, albeit with the chance of a slightly pinkish tinge at the joints.

How do you keep a smoked turkey warm for hours? ›

If your oven isn't stuffed full of other dishes, or if you are one of the lucky folks who have a spare oven, then you can hold the turkey there at 200°F, although you should cover the bird to make sure it doesn't dry out. The most common way to keep a turkey warm is to cover it with foil.

First, preheat your oven to 325° F. Remove the turkey from the aluminum foil wrapping and place in a roasting pan. Pour 1 cup of water in the bottom of the pan and cover the turkey with a tented sheet of aluminum foil. For a 10-12 pound cooked turkey, bake for one hour, or until the turkey is 125° F.

USDA recommends using cooked turkey within 3 to 4 days, kept refrigerated (40°F or less). Refrigeration slows but does not stop bacterial growth. Turkey can be frozen for 3 to 4 months.

The meat should feel soft and the leg will move easily when twisted. Another check is to run a long-tined fork into thick muscle; the meat should feel tender and the juice should show no pink tinge.

The legs and thighs, when attached to the bird, are surrounded by connective tissue and also more protected by the carcass. They cook by heat conduction rather than direct heat, so take longer to cook on the whole bird.

Place the turkey legs in your smoker with 3 to 4 wood chunks on top of the hot coals. Cook until the deepest sections of the turkey legs reach an internal temperature of 165°F, or about 2 1/2 hours. Hot TipUse an instant read thermometer to determine the internal temperature of the turkey. 7.

Make Sure There's Moisture

You don't want to ruin well-smoked meat that took you hours when reheating it. We recommend spritzing the meat with a low sodium moisturizer, which can be beef broth, apple juice, or even chicken broth, depending on your preference.

Turkey is a delicate meat that doesn't have a lot of connective tissue or fat. It will dry out and darken quickly, as well as absorb the flavors of smoke more than other meat does.

Answer: You can safely leave cooked turkey out at room temperature for two hours -- or one hour if the temperature is above 90 degrees Fahrenheit -- says the United States Department of Agriculture. Cooked turkey that has been left out for longer than 2 hours (or 1 hour above 90° F) should be discarded.

We recommend using a rack in your roasting pan. Add a little water to the bottom of the pan and cover the smoked turkey with foil. Bake at 325 degrees for approx. 10 minutes per pound, or until your meat thermometer reads 165 degrees.

How do you reheat smoked BBQ? ›

When it comes to reheating leftover barbecue, low and slow is the best method. A slow to the moderate oven—300 F to 325 F—works well. Keep the barbecue covered so it won't dry out, and stir it occasionally. Or reheat it in a covered skillet or saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently.

Preheat oven to 350°F degrees. Remove all plastic wrap from the food. Rewrap your food in aluminum foil or place it in a pan and cover with foil. Place the foil-wrapped food or pan in the preheated oven and reheat to a minimum internal temperature of 165° F degrees.

Once they have cooled, place leftover turkey legs in an airtight container and store them in the fridge for up to 2 days. Reheat: To reheat them in the air fryer, set your air fryer to 350 degrees F and lightly spray or coat the basket with oil. Cook for 5-7 minutes or until heated through.

A smoked turkey is an already cooked turkey. Yes, you can eat it cold. Same is true for a ham.

This pre-roasted turkey is fully cooked and delicious served cold. 1. Preheat oven to 325°F. 2.

Place turkey in a preheated oven and heat for approximately 1 hour, when the internal temperature reaches 140°F.

However, it's pretty tempting to throw a little foil in there to catch any drips and make clean-up even easier, but is that allowed? The short answer is yes, you can put aluminum foil in the air fryer.

Glaze a preroasted bird with olive oil and melted butter before reheating in a 375-degree oven for 15 minutes. Arrange on a beautiful platter and garnish with tiny ears of dried Indian corn, nuts in their shells, clusters of grapes, miniature Lady Apples or Seckle pears.

How do you add flavor to a precooked turkey breast? ›

Never pass up the opportunity to add flavor to turkey by stuffing the cavity with a simple aromatics mix. Fresh herbs like thyme, rosemary, and sage along with a half lemon go a long way to add flavor, and stuffing it into the bird takes almost no time at all.

Slice the turkey up into small, even pieces and place it on a microwave-safe plate. Cover with a paper towel or a microwave-safe lid. Heat on low power for 2 to 5 minutes, or until warm.

Plan to cook your turkey at 400 degrees. “People are always shocked when they hear that, but if you want crispy skin, it's a must,” says Doxon. A smaller turkey will need a slightly higher temperature, and a larger turkey needs slightly lower temperature as to not burn the skin before the bird cooks through.

Don't butter your bird

Placing butter under the skin won't make the meat juicier, though it might help the skin brown faster. However, butter is about 17 percent water, and it will make your bird splotchy, says López-Alt. Instead, rub the skin with vegetable oil before you roast.