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Living in a post-covid world, Chef Britt recreates one of her favorite fair foods: Smoked Turkey Legs. She gets the Yoder Smokers Wichita Loaded Offset fired up and shows you how it's done.

Smoked Turkey legs

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Ingredients

For the brine:

• 1 package Cattleman’s Grill Butcher House Brine


• 5 quarts water


• 1 cup brown sugar


• ¼ cup dales meat seasoning (you can also substitute soy sauce or worcestershire)


• One dozen young turkey legs, or a half dozen large turkey legs

Other optional ingredients:

• Spray Duck Fat


• BBQ rub of choice -here are a few suggestions


• Kim's Gourmet Gluten Free Terriyaki Sauce , or BBQ sauce of choice

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Instructions

To make the brine:

• Combine all ingredients for brine until fully dissolved and place turkey legs into brine completely submerged. Allow them to brine for 6 hours minimum or up to 24 hours.

To set your smoker:

• Set up your Yoder Smokers offset smoker to roll at roughly 275°F using hickory wood.


• Attain this by heating up a chimney full of charcoal,


• For more advice on maintaining heat on your offset, check out the video on fire maintenance

To smoke/finish the turkey legs:

• Before smoking, pat dry (for extra crispy skin dry overnight uncovered in the fridge).


• As an option, spray with duck fat, and coat with BBQ rub of choice. Chef Britt does not use this method in her video, but it is a great way to get extra BBQ flavor.


• Smoke for 2-3 hours, depending on the size of the turkey legs until they reach an internal temperature of 165-170°F. About 10-20 degrees short of the final temperature, glaze the legs with a sauce of your choice (in the video, Chef Britt uses Kim's Gluten-Free Terriyaki Sauce.)


• For that fair festival feel, and as an option, wrap in foil and hold in a warming container (such as a steam table or your smoker that is cooling down) until ready to consume.

 

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Chef Tom shares more Tips & Techniques on How to Carve a Turkey, so you'll look like a pro at your holiday gathering!

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Chef Britt shows you a great way to extend your leftover turkey this holiday season with turkey fried rice made on Le Griddle!



BUY all featured flavors and tools for this recipe HERE!

Turkey Fried Rice

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Yield 4 servings

Ingredients

• 3 cups (2 - 8.5 oz packages) of parboiled Jasmine Rice


• Canola Oil, as needed


• 1 small white onion, finely chopped


• 1 zucchini, medium dice


• 2 scallions, sliced thin


• 1 tablespoon minced garlic


• 2 tablespoons, plus more as needed Smoke on Wheels Pork Marinade & Injection


• 2 tablespoons gochujang


• 3 eggs


• 1-2 cups leftover smoked turkey, cubed

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Instructions

Preheat your Le Griddle flattop grill or wok to high heat. Prepare your vegetables and sauce. To create the sauce, combine gochujang and Smoke On Wheels Pork Marinade & Injection.  It's important to have all of your vegetables, sauce and protein ready to cook, because it will call come together in about 8 minutes, with constant interaction on the grill.

Season your grill with a little canola oil and sop up any extra oil with a paper towel. Break up your rice in the package before placing it all on to the flattop grill. While continuously stirring and tossing the rice, cook until it is pale brown and lightly toasted.

Next to the rice, put about a tablespoon of canola oil on the griddle and place your vegetables on to stir-fry. Cook until onions begin to sweat and add your gochujang sauce to the vegetables and rice. Stir rice and toss in vegetables to combine.

In a separate part of the griddle, put a little more oil down and crack the eggs over the oil. Quickly scramble the egg and break it up into small bits. Toss the egg and the rice mixture together.

Place cubed turkey onto the griddle until just heated through, adding a splash of Smoke On Wheels Pork Marinade & Injections as needed. Add heated turkey into your rice mixture. Serve immediately.

You might also enjoy: Quesadilla Burger

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Chef Tom brings together his made-from-scratch Turkey Stock and the turkey drippings from the Smoked Holiday Turkey to create this flavor packed Turkey Gravy!

Turkey Gravy Recipe

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16 (1/4 cup) servings

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (2 oz/55 g) turkey fat and/or butter


• 2/3 cup (2 oz/55 g) flour


• 1 quart turkey stock and turkey drippings, warmed


• black pepper, as needed


• Noble Saltworks Hickory Smoked Salt, as needed

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Instructions

Melt your turkey fat and/or butter over medium heat in a Lodge 12” Cast Iron Skillet. Add the flour and whisk to incorporated. Continue whisking while the roux cooks, for about one minute, until slightly browned and aromatic.

Slowly pour the turkey drippings and turkey stock into the skillet, whisking constantly, until fully incorporated. Bring the gravy to a simmer. Lower the heat. Cook to desired consistency.

Taste and season with black pepper and salt, as needed.

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Garlic Potato Puree

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15 (1/3 cup) servings

Ingredients

• 2 lb russet potatoes, peeled


• 4 cloves garlic, peeled


• 1 cup butter


• 1 cup heavy cream


• Noble Saltworks Hickory Smoked Salt, to taste

Instructions

Dice the potatoes into 2” pieces. Place in a pot of cool water. Add the cloves of garlic. Bring to a boil Reduce to a simmer. Cook until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a skewer. Strain off the water.

In a separate pot, bring the butter and cream to a simmer. Add the liquid to the potatoes. Using an immersion blender, or hand mixer, process until smooth. Season with Noble Saltworks Hickory Smoked Salt.

For your reference, check out these recipes for Turkey Stock and Turkey Drippings:

https://www.atbbq.com/thesauce/turkey-stock-scratch/

https://www.atbbq.com/thesauce/smoked-holiday-turkey/

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Looking for a new technique for cooking your holiday turkey? This Rotisserie Holiday Turkey, cooked over a charcoal fire in the Kamado Joe, has fantastic flavor and is incredibly juicy!

Rotisserie Holiday Turkey Recipe

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Ingredients

• 2 (10 lb) whole turkeys


• 1 bottle Sweetwater Spice Lemon Thyme Turkey Bath


• 1/2 cup kosher salt


• Cattleman’s Grill Ranchero Seasoning


• 1/2 oz fresh thyme, divided


• 1/2 oz fresh rosemary, divided


• 1/2 oz fresh sage, divided

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Instructions

Mix the Sweetwater Spice Lemon Thyme Turkey Bath with one gallon of water. Rinse the bottle out and add the additional brine. Add the kosher salt and whisk to dissolve. Place the turkeys in a 22 quart Briner Bucket. Cover with the brine. Lock the plate in place to keep the birds submerged. Transfer to the refrigerator and soak for 1 hour per pound.

Remove the turkeys from the brine. Dab excess moisture from the surface with a paper towel. Pull back the skin from the edges of the breasts. Season just under the edges of the skin, inside the cavity and on top of the skin with the Cattleman’s Grill Ranchero Seasoning.

Put together bundles of the fresh sage, rosemary and thyme. Place inside the cavity, and under the skin, between the legs and breasts.

Truss the turkeys with kitchen twine, tying the legs together, pulling them into the cavity and around the wings, to hold them close to the breasts.

Build a small hot fire in the back half of the Kamado Joe Big Joe II Ceramic Grill. Stabilize the temperature at 300ºF. Set up the JoeTisserie attachment. Place a couple of fish sized chunks of Cattleman’s Grill Apple Chunks on the hot coals, to add additional smoke.

Slide the turkeys on the spit rod. Secure with the forks. Transfer the spit to the Big Joe and slide into place on the JoeTisserie.

You might also enjoy: Barbecue Smoked Turkey

Smoke/roast the turkeys, checking on them once they’ve settled on the spit rod, and adjust the forks as necessary to keep the weight evenly distributed. Continue cooking until the internal temperature reaches 160ºF in the breasts, 170ºF in the thighs, about 3 hours.

Remove the turkeys from the grill, and rest about 20-30 minutes. Remove the fresh herb bundles before carving.

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You might think turkey stock is limited in uses, made only as a base for gravy, or saved for the traditional Thanksgiving leftovers “go-to” meal – turkey noodle soup.



Contrary to popular belief, turkey stock can add the perfect punch of savory flavor to your stuffing, rice dishes, gumbo, even turkey salad sandwiches. Make this stock in advance and freeze it for when you need it. Use an ice cube tray and freezer bags to make “flavor bombs” to drop in any dish needing a boost. The possibilities are plenty for this hearty stock recipe.

Turkey Stock from Scratch

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Ingredients

• 1 turkey neck


• 1 turkey back bone


• 1 large yellow onion, diced


• 2 carrots, diced


• 2 stalks celery, diced


• 1 bunch parsley stems


• 4 sprigs thyme


• 1 bay leaf


• 2 tbsp black peppercorns

Instructions

Cut the backbone into three pieces. Preheat a stock pot over high heat. Put a couple of tablespoons of oil in the stockpot. Sear the neck and backbone pieces in the hot oil, turning until browned on all sides. Remove from the pot. Add the onion, carrots, and celery.

Cook until all the fond, browned bits on the bottom of the pot are released from the pot. Add the neck and backbone back to the pot, along with the remaining ingredients. Cover with one gallon of cold water. Bring to a gentle simmer.

Cook until reduced by half. On a low enough heat setting, this can be done overnight.

Strain the stock with a cheesecloth-lined strainer into a bowl or other container.

Discard the solids. Let the stock cool then remove the fat from the surface.

Do this the night before your dinner and it will make your house smell wonderful.

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There are many ways to prepare and cook a turkey for the holidays from roasting whole to cutting into quarters and cooking separately.

In the end, most methods work well enough. In our journey to find the best way to prepare a turkey, we have tried it all. We always come back to the method that produces great results every time – spatchcock the turkey and smoke it. This is the method we recommend over any other when cooking a bird.



By removing the backbone and cooking the bird flat in “butterfly” form (spatchcock), it allows the breasts and thighs/legs to cook at the most even rate. It also allows you to brown twice as much surface area. Browning adds flavor, and flavor is good. You’ll see and taste why we recommend this spatchcock method over any other. Here’s the run-down:

1. Pull the giblets and the turkey neck from the inside of the bird. Rinse the turkey under cold water and pat it dry (both on top of and under the skin) with paper towels. This will make the turkey easier to grip. Placing a dry towel on a cutting board will prevent the bird from slipping as you cut out the backbone while collecting any juices that would otherwise spill onto your table.


2. To take the backbone out, place the bird breast side down. Cut along both sides of the backbone with good poultry shears, from one opening of the cavity to the other. Start at the back of the turkey and work your way up one side of the backbone. Cut until you reach the neck. Take the time now to try and remove all the rib bones from the turkey. This will ensure easier carving and make serving much easier once the bird is cooked. Repeat this for the left side, again making sure you remove rib bones and other loose bones as you go. Save the backbone for making turkey stock or flavoring gravy.


3. Turn the turkey over, place both hands on the breast and push down to crack part of the keel bone and portions of the shoulder joints and ribs. This may take some muscle, but it is an extremely important step as this will allow the bird to lay flat, giving you a more even area to prepare and cook.


4. Use a brine or injection before cooking. This will help keep the meat moist and flavorful. Injecting is a quick way to get flavor distributed throughout your meat. It can be used with any of the cooking/preparation methods discussed above. Simply use a marinade injector, such as the Broil King Marinade Injector, to inject your desired marinade. We recommend John Henry’s Pecan Marinade Injection for his technique. It adds a wonderful nutty sweetness to the flavor profile.


5. Use a rub to add flavor. Be sure to pull the skin away from the meat, but leave it attached. Season the meat under the skin for maximum flavor absorption, then return the skin and add additional rub. If you’re going for a more classic savory flavor profile, use a rub like Cattleman's Grill Ranchero or Oakridge BBQ Santa Maria. If you’re looking for a sweeter rub, say to pair with John Henry’s Pecan Injection, look no further than John Henry’s Pecan Rub. Finally our staff favorite for holiday turkey year in and year out continues to be Plowboys BBQ Yardbird Rub. This rub continues to impress all who taste it with its balance of sweet and savory.


6. Lay the bird flat on a foil lined sheet pan. Cooking it on a pan will allow you to keep all the delicious juices, which you can later incorporate back into the meat, or use in gravy.


7. At 325ºF, a 15-pound turkey will take about 2-2.5 hours to cook. The smaller the bird, the less time. If you wish to smoke the bird, you can cook at a much lower temperature, say 225ºF. Just remember, the lower the temperature, the longer the cook time. Poultry takes on smoke quicker and easier than other meats, therefore cooking at 325ºF will impart plenty of smoky flavor. Cook the turkey until all the meat has reached an internal temperature of 165ºF. This is your magic number. It is likely that the legs will cook a bit faster than the breasts. That is fine. However, do NOT cook the breasts past 165ºF. A thermometer will make or break your Thanksgiving turkey. We recommend using an instant read thermometer like the Maverick PT-75


8. The thighs will separate from the rest of the body very easily. No hunting for the thigh joint, like with a whole cooked turkey. This meat should pull away from the bones with ease, as well. Look out for bones and tendons hiding in the leg meat. The breasts can either be sliced intact or removed from the breast bone, separated from wings, and sliced to serve. For the wings, remove the skin and pull that meat, like you did with the legs/thighs.


9. Until you’re ready to serve, store the pulled and sliced meat in a pan with the rendered juices while cooking.

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Chef Tom takes a little inspiration from the hit 1990s sitcom Friends and cooks up a leftover turkey sandwich so good that you'll want to make a turkey dedicated to it.

Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey Sandwich Recipe

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Ingredients

• 1 Italian bread boule


• Leftover Turkey, dark and white meat


• Savory Sausage Stuffing


• Mayonnaise


• Soft Brie Cheese


• Turkey Gravy (recipe below)


• Cranberry-Orange Relish (recipe below)


• Unsalted Butter, as needed

For the Cranberry-Orange Relish:

• 4 oz sugar


• 1/4 cup water


• 2 tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice


• 6 oz fresh cranberries


• 1 cinnamon stick


• segments of 1 orange


• 1 tbsp orange liquor


• 1 tbsp orange zest


• 1 tsp red wine vinegar

For the Turkey Gravy:

• 1/4 cup butter


• 1/4 cup AP flour


• 2 cups turkey stock and turkey pan drippings


• black pepper and salt, as needed

Instructions

To make the Cranberry-Orange Relish, Combine the sugar, orange juice and water in a Lodge 8” cast iron skillet. Bring to a boil. Add the cranberries and cinnamon stick and simmer until the berries begin to burst and break down, about 5-10 minutes. Add the orange liquor, zest, segments and vinegar. Simmer another 2-5 minutes, until mixture is thickened. Remove from the heat. Remove and discard the cinnamon stick. Transfer to a bowl and chill.

To make the gravy, melt the butter in the Lodge 8” cast iron skillet, over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk constantly until lightly toasted and fragrant. Slowly whisk in the turkey stock/drippings. Season with black pepper and salt, as needed.

Preheat your Yoder Smokers YS640 pellet grill to 350ºF, set up for direct and indirect grilling, with a Weber cast iron griddle in place on the firebox side of the grill.

Assemble the sandwich. You’ll need 3 slices of bread. Spread the first slice with mayonnaise. Top with a layer of savory sausage stuffing. Top that with warmed leftover dark meat. Take the second slice of bread and dunk it in the gravy. Place the gravy soaked slice of bread over the dark meat. Top the moist maker with warmed leftover white turkey meat. Then, the cranberry-orange relish, and finally the last slice of bread, spread with creamy brie cheese.

Place a couple of tablespoons of butter on the hot Weber cast iron griddle to melt. Toast the sandwich on both sides until browned.

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Chef Tom shows you how to create a Turducken step by step with each bird being deboned and stuffed until you have a golden brown crisp bird. Enjoy!

Turducken Recipe

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Ingredients

• 1 (15 lb) turkey


• 1 (6 lb) duck


• 1 (4 lb) chicken


• Sweetwater Spice Classic Holiday Turkey Bath


• Cattleman’s Grill Ranchero Seasoning


• Homemade Sausage Stuffing (click for recipe)

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Instructions

Debone the chicken, starting by cutting alongside the backbone and following the rib cage around to the breast bone. Do the same from the other side of the backbone. Remove the flat of the wing completely and save for another cook. Cut around the bone of the wing drum, working your way toward the knuckle. Pull the bone out and slice free. Next, debone the thigh. Slice along the thigh bone, down to the joint where the thigh meets the leg. Slice around the bone until it is freed. Then, slice around the knuckle of the leg drum, scraping the flesh away from the bone and working your way toward the end of the leg. When the bone is exposed enough to grab ahold of, pull it until it turns the meat of the leg inside out and slice the tendons to free the bone. Discard all bones.

Repeat the deboning process on the duck.

Repeat the deboning process on the turkey, with two exceptions. Leave the wing bones and leg bones in place.

Strain 1/4 cup Sweetwater Spice Classic Holiday Turkey Bath into a glass. Add 1/2 cup of cold water. Stir. Lay out the turkey, skin side down. Inject the breasts and tenderloins with the mixture. Season the flesh with the Cattleman’s Grill Ranchero Seasoning. Press a layer of stuffing over the meat, distributing evenly across the surface, and filling the leg and wing cavities.

Lay out the duck, skin side down, on top of the turkey. Season the duck with the Cattleman’s Grill Ranchero Seasoning. Press a layer of stuffing over the meat, distributing evenly across the surface, and filling the leg and wing cavities.

Lay out the chicken, skin side down, on top of the turkey. Season the duck with the Cattleman’s Grill Ranchero Seasoning. Press a layer of stuffing over the meat, distributing evenly across the surface, and filling the leg and wing cavities.

Pull the sides together, meeting where the backbone once was. Sew up the cut along the backbone using butcher twine and a large needle, or a FireWire cable skewer, making sure to go through flesh as well as skin, so it will not tear out. Sew up the ends (top and bottom cavities), to keep the filling from spilling out.

Place the turducken on a cooling rack over a sheet pan. Place in the refrigerator to dry out the skin overnight.

The next day, remove the second shelf, and preheat your Yoder Smokers YS640 pellet grill to 350ºF. Remove the turducken from the refrigerator. Rub a thin layer of oil over the skin. Season the skin with Cattleman’s Grill Ranchero Seasoning. Cook the turducken on the cooling rack, over the sheet pan, on the main cooking grate, in the YS640.

When you achieve your desired color on the outside of (3-4 hours into the cook), tent a large sheet of foil over the turducken. Continue cooking until the internal temperature reaches 160ºF. Rest 20 minutes before slicing to serve.

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Chef Eric Gephart of Kamado Joe is back with another amazing recipe. This time he is roasting a spatchcock turkey with root vegetables on the Big Joe II.

Spatchcock Turkey with Roasted Root Vegetables

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Ingredients

• one turkey (Chef Eric Prefers a 10 to 12-pound bird)


• 1 lb unsalted butter, melted


• Cattleman's Grill Ranchero Seasoning


• 2 lbs root vegetables (carrots, radish, turnip, parsnip, onion), medium dice


• garlic


• Thyme


• Rosemary


• bacon

For the cherry sauce:

• creme fraiche


• 1 tbsp horse radish


• 1/2 white onion


• 1/2 cup cherries

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Instructions

Spatchcock the turkey by placing a dry towel on a cutting board (the towel will prevent the bird from slipping and it will collect any juices that would otherwise spill onto your table). Place the bird on top of the towel cavity down and facing away from you. Using a paring knife place a small incision on both sides of the color bone (aka wishbone) and pull it out. This will help in the carving.

Using a sharp chefs knife or a strong pare of poultry shears cut out the backbone (it is a good idea to use a cut glove). If you are using a knife keep the bird standing up and cut down one side of the backbone. Lay the bird on its side and cut on the other side of the backbone to remove.

If using shears, place the bird on the cutting board breast side down and cut from either end down each side of the backbone.

Now that the backbone is removed place the bird on the cutting board breast side up. Place both hands on the breast and push down to crack part of the keel bone and portions of the shoulder joints and ribs.

Use a kitchen injector, inject the melted butter throughout the white and dark meat. Be sure to inject evenly throughout the bird. Try your best to not puncture the skin while injecting.

Use a bit of the leftover butter to cover the outside of the bird. Starting from the inside of the bird, season what was the cavity first. Flip the bird over and season the presentation side. Place bird skin side up atop a bed of your chopped and mixed root roast.

Stabilize your Kamado Joe at 325ºF. Place two chunks of cherry wood (not soaked) on the fire. Before you put your root roast and bird on the grill, wait for the cherry wood to combust. The smoke should go from cloudy white to cleaning up and having a clear with a blue tinge. This should take about five minutes.

Rake all of the coals to one side of the grill. This will be a direct cook but you want to have the bird as high as you can so use the conquer and divide system and set your grill grates to the highest setting. Place the tray with the turkey and root roast on your cooking service and close the lid. I prefer to have the side of the tray with the legs on it directly over the side we banked the coals to.

Cook 1 ½ hours to 2 hours. There is no need to turn the turkey over. Take the temperature of the breast. Health code mandates that the chicken reaches 165 degrees internal temperature. I prefer to take the bird off when the white meat is at 160 degrees (carryover cooking will take it to 165 as it rests) and the legs/thighs are around 180. Double check and make sure that the bird has risen to the correct internal temperature before serving.

At this point, you are done. Let the bird rest for 10 minutes and carve the bird the best way you see fit.