# How long should I soak my legs?



## wutang (Sep 19, 2008)

I was gonna smoke turkey legs this weekend.  How long should I brine them for.  I have read times on this forum for a whole bird but did not really find one for just legs.  Thanks for any input.


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## kratzx4 (Sep 19, 2008)

I brine mine overnight (around 12 - 14 hours) don't forget to rinse the extra salt off.


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## wutang (Sep 19, 2008)

Thats kinda what I was thinking-just wanted to make sure there wasn't a shorter time for doing just the legs. Thanks.


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## supervman (Sep 19, 2008)

Soak your legs in Epsom salts in a warm tub. 
Dry them off. 
Rub on ben gay. 
Put on clean nice tube socks and go to sleep. :) 
It'll be better in the morning.


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## wutang (Sep 19, 2008)

Maybe that is what this guy should do:
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8578850/?MSNHPHMA

GO BEARS!


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## lord of the ring (Sep 19, 2008)

Is it necessary to brine turkey legs?  Is it just for the flavor?  Just a general stupid question.  I've smoked plenty of legs and thought they always came out decent.


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## wutang (Sep 19, 2008)

I don't think it is necessary but I have yet to try brining and figured it couldn't hurt.  I love smoked turkey legs and wanted to try brining. Brining a few legs seemed easier than messing with a whole bird.  I also thought about leaving a couple out of the brine to compare flavor/juiciness.


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## lord of the ring (Sep 19, 2008)

maybe i'll give that a go this weekend as well.  Smoked turkey legs are awesome!  i quasi brined some chicken quarters in asian citrus/soy sauce/marinade and after smoking, while they were good, came out a bit to salty.  Can't hurt to give it another try though.


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## walking dude (Sep 19, 2008)

i brine ALL my poutry........along with boston butts. REALLY helps keep em from drying out, tho, with legs/1/4's being dark meat, its not such a worry and with white meat, which, for ME, always has a tendacy to dry out without brining

jm2cw

here's a link i did, when i did a search

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...hlight=Brining


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## richoso1 (Sep 19, 2008)

What he said about legs.


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## lord of the ring (Sep 19, 2008)

Does anyone know a good seasoning to brine with?  some type of flavor or spice to throw in the brine?


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## richtee (Sep 19, 2008)

Till they feel better, or yer toes prune up!


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## zapper (Sep 20, 2008)

You would have to search around for an exact formula, I may have posted a couple before. You are really not brining for a "cure" just for flavor. That being said, you can cut down on the salt and or the brine time to adjust the flavor. That being said, I still do the full strength brine and a 12 hour(over night) soak (I have read and done as little as six hours)

For a gallon of water 1/2 to 3/4 cup of salt (this can change depending on what other salty ingredients you are adding)

1/2 to 1 cup of teriaki sause (you see? more salt)

Garlic powder or salt (You see? more salt)

onion powder

Any other spice that you like, rosemary, sage, pepper, what have you?




I like to boil all of the spices in a sause pan with about a pint or more of water to make kind of a concentrate and help extract some flavor. Then I let things cool down and add enough water and salt to make that gallon of brine.


Soak/brine the legs over night in the fridge and smoke 



A deep full brine and long smoke almost makes like a turkey ham that is great with a pot of beans!



I have found that fully cooking them in the smoker does make them into the turkey leg hams and too much time will dry them out. Some folks just grill them over wood or charcoal and call them smoked. Another method woud be to smoke them for about an hour to an hour and a half and then finish them off on the grill


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## bbqgoddess (Sep 20, 2008)

"I like to boil all of the spices in a sause pan with about a pint or more of water to make kind of a concentrate and help extract some flavor. Then I let things cool down and add enough water and salt to make that gallon of brine."

I had never brined anything before SMF, now I would never cook poultry without a brine.

I do the same thing make a "concentrate" then let cool add to the bird  bucket with the rest of the water..white wine, run..whatever liquid I am also adding along with the water..
your salt amount should also take into consideration anything that may have already been added to the bird/meat.
remeber that brining is a chemical process as the salt trys to balance itself out between the bird and the brine...so as it pulls the brine liquid/salt into the meat of the bird it will also pull in the flavors you have added to the brine...the possibilities are endless...but you must have the basic water/salt brine to start.. if I have missed something Richtee will correct me...


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## smokin' dick (Sep 20, 2008)

I did some turkey legs in an orange brine, came out real tasty. this recipe sounds as if it would be too sweet, but it's not.
 1 qt. orange juice
 1 cup kosher salt
 1/2 cup brown sugar
 1/4 cup honey
 2 bay leaves
 heat to 150* to dissolve ingredients, add 1 gal. cold water,
 add legs for 12 to 24 hours.
 Smoke with Cherry wood.


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## curious aardvark (Sep 20, 2008)

hmm I can see the point for marinading the turkey legs overnight. But what's the point of brining ? 
If you're going to cook the things - why cure tham first or add way too much salt ? 

Marinade by all means but keep the salt down to normal seasoning level. Brining just seems pointless.


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## zapper (Sep 20, 2008)

Like I said above, this is not needed as a full blown brine as a cure for perservation but more intended for the flavoring. The brine, I think, will also change the texture a bit


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## wutang (Sep 20, 2008)

My wife mentioned inviting a few people over for dinner tomorrow so I have doubled the number of turkey legs I am doing. Gotta love that woman. I think I am gonna do a couple different brine recipes and maybe do a couple legs without the brine to compare. It'll give me the chance to try a couple different flavor combos. Maybe I will just marinade a few like curious aardvark suggested.


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## babyback (Sep 20, 2008)

I did turkey legs a couple of weeks ago and they came out great.  I only brined them about four hours.  I didn't really measure the ingredients, but I took a one quart sauce pan and added about a cup of brown sugar, about a half cup of salt, and a big scoop of minced garlic.  I heated it up until the sugar and salt completely dissolved.  Then take the container that you will use to brine and fill it part way with ice.  Dump the brine over the ice.  This will prevent you from having to wait for the brine to cool.  Put your chicken/turkey in the brine and add more water if necessary.  I add chopped onion to the mixture afterwards.  Hope your legs turn out good!


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## walking dude (Sep 20, 2008)

here is my brine that i use for all poultry, and butts. In fact, got a 7 lb butt in this brine as we speak, for tomorrows meal

1/2 jar molasses.....non sulphur kind
1 cup brown sugar
3 Tbs Kosher salt
1 Tbs freshly ground c u m i n
heat above ingrediants till sugar disovles
put into a large container
add two trays of ice
let come to room temp
Add meat
Add cold water until meat is covered


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## wutang (Sep 21, 2008)

I was lazy and only made one brine. I dissolved 1 cup kosher salt, about 1/4 cup sugar, a couple tbs garlic powder, about 1 tbs sage, some onion powder and cbp into 4 cups water. Once the seasonings were disolved I added cold water and ice until I had one gallon total liquid. I put 9 turkey legs into 2 "gallon-size" ziploc bags and poured the brine in the bags until meat was completely covered. I put them in a large container without lid so they won't tip over in the fridge.  They will go in the smoker tomorrow along with some other goodies. Thanks for all the info on brining.


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## smokin365 (Sep 21, 2008)

Good luck with that, sounds like its gonna be good


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## richtee (Sep 21, 2008)

This is a good method to cool the brine, however realize that you dilute the brine concentration with the ice. If you lessen the amount of water in the brine about a cup and use around 1.5-2 cups ice, it will be about right tho.


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## richtee (Sep 21, 2008)

CA... try a brined bird sometime. The point is flavoring and finished product moisture retention.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brining

Also, a Stickey in the Mess. for all members and guests section has more info...
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ad.php?t=20502


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## curious aardvark (Sep 21, 2008)

Now walking dudes recipe looks the business. Much more of  a marinade than a full blown brine. 3tbs of salt in the overall finished volume. Okay it'd taste a bit salty but nowhere near the levels of a standard brine. 

And yep  understand the process rich, just not that big on eating loads of salt. I work on the principle that there are Five tastes - salt is just one of them. I like the other four more :-) 
I've seen serious chefs in england brining poultry. I know it goes on lol

I do a cracking lime marinade for pork steaks (sliced shoulder) that has no salt in it. Tends to go quicker than anything else at a bbq - well apart from the jumbo shrimp and scallop kebabs ;-)
WD's recipe looks the business. 
Might try it as a marinade, cut the quantities down a little, reduce the salt a wee bit. Should be good :-)


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## richtee (Sep 21, 2008)

A proper brine does NOT taste salty. It's a chemical thing.


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## venture (Sep 23, 2008)

In this case, we are brining for flavor and texture.

If we were brining for a cure, the salt proportions would be much more critical.


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