How to Make Turkey Legs Just Like the Fair

Turkey legs are a classic fair food that many look forward to every year. Their smoky salty and tender meat is irresistible. But you don’t have to wait for the fair to enjoy these delicious turkey legs. With the right recipe and techniques, you can make fair-worthy turkey legs at home.

Why Fair Turkey Legs Are So Good

There are a few reasons why fair turkey legs have such incredible flavor and texture:

• Brining – Most fair turkey legs are brined before cooking. Brining involves soaking the turkey legs in a saltwater solution, which helps season the meat and keeps it incredibly moist and juicy.

• Smoking/grilling – Fair turkey legs are cooked slowly over a smoky grill or smoker This imparts a delicious smoky ham-like flavor and gives the skin a glistening mahogany color

• Size – Fair turkey legs are huge! With more meat, there’s more surface area for flavor and smoke to penetrate.

How to Make Turkey Legs Like the Fair at Home

Recreating that signature fair flavor at home is totally doable with the right techniques. Here’s a simple process:

1. Choose the Right Turkey Legs

Look for large turkey legs if you can find them. The bigger, the better for getting ultra-juicy and smoked meat. If you can only find smaller legs, brining is even more important.

2. Make a Simple Brine

You’ll want to brine the turkey legs for maximum moisture and to impart seasoning. Dissolve 1 cup kosher salt and 1/2 cup brown sugar per gallon of water. Some brines also include spices like garlic, pepper, herbs, and onion powder.

3. Inject the Brine

Use a marinade injector to inject the brine deep into the turkey legs. This helps ensure the brine fully penetrates the meat.

4. Let the Legs Brine

Let the turkey legs brine in the fridge for at least 5-6 hours, but ideally 12-24 hours. The longer they brine, the more flavorful and tender they’ll be.

5. Rinse and Pat Dry

Rinse off the brine and thoroughly pat the turkey legs dry before cooking. This helps achieve crispy skin.

6. Apply a Spice Rub

For extra flavor, coat the legs with a spice rub. Use spices like brown sugar, chili powder, garlic powder, paprika, salt, and pepper.

7. Slow Cook Over Smoke

Cooking low and slow over indirect heat is key. You can use a smoker or charcoal grill with wood chips for smoke flavor. Maintain a temperature around 300-325°F for 3-4 hours. Add more charcoal and wood chips periodically to keep producing smoke.

8. Grill or Broil to Finish

Finish off the legs by grilling directly or broiling to get crispy skin and charred bits. Watch closely to avoid burning.

9. Rest and Serve

Let legs rest 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy with barbecue sauce for dipping!

Oven Method

You can also make smoked turkey legs in the oven with a couple tweaks:

• Add liquid smoke to the brine
• Roast turkey legs in the oven at 325°F for 1-1.5 hours
• Finish under the broiler for crispy skin

While oven legs won’t have quite as much smoke flavor, they’re much easier when you don’t want to fire up the grill!

Make-Ahead Tips

For easy entertaining, you can make the turkey legs 1-2 days ahead:

• After oven roasting, wrap legs tightly in foil and refrigerate
• To serve, reheat on the grill or under a broiler

You can also freeze cooked turkey legs for up to 3 months. Reheat gently in the oven or by steaming.

Take Your Turkey Legs to the Next Level

Now that you’ve mastered the basics, try mixing up your turkey legs with fun flavors:

• Maple & bourbon – For sweet and boozy flavor
• Jerk seasoning – Caribbean spice rub
• Teriyaki – Sweet soy glaze
• Cajun – Southern spice blend
• Lemon-herb – Bright citrus notes

So go forth and make State Fair worthy turkey legs from your own backyard. Just be prepared for the whole neighborhood to come asking for a bite!