Turkey Thighs - Need a basic brine and smoke recipe

[Elliottbte]

I've been wanting to smoke some turkey thighs for a while and just got some really nice thighs (bone-in, skin-on) at our local market.  I've searched the forum for a simple brine and smoke recipe but I haven't found one.  Maybe I'm not searching the right way.

Can someone provide a brine and smoke recipe for turkey thighs? I'm looking for a simple brine to add moisture, then I plan to oil/season with a standard poultry rub, and then smoke with hickory.  I'd like to go this direction on my first turkey smoke and then maybe try other flavoring in the future.  Also, I've seen posts that say to pull the turkey at 165 breast temp, but what about thighs?

Thanks ahead of time for any ideas or links.

 

[Durangosmoker]

I haven't done turkey thighs in a while - they're hard to find around here - but last time I did I brined them in Tony's (Divot Maker's) Basic Poultry Brine for about 2 hours (could probably do longer), then rinse, dry, rub with a binder of your choice, and cover with your rub.

Into the smoker set at 250 degrees F, with 2 oz of your wood (I used cherry). Target IT 165 - 170. Thighs are forgiving, so don't sweat it if you go a bit over temperature-wise. I had a water tray in my smoker, too, with 1 cup water, 1/4 cup Orange Juice, fresh rosemary, and garlic powder, although it was probably not needed since they were brined.

Hope this helps.

 

[NDKoze]

First, let me say that I love to smoke Turkey and Chicken for that matter thighs. The main reason is that I am not a very big fan of white meat. The thought of smoking a Turkey breast alone makes me go ugh! Sorry, I know that there are white meat lovers out there. To each his own I guess.

A very basic poultry brine is all you need.

Basic Poultry Brine (1 Gallon):
1 Gallon Water
1 Cup Kosher Salt
1 Cup Sugar (White/Brown)

I am not sure how much it really adds to the final product, but I often add some extra ingredients.

This is my traditional Poultry brine that I use for chicken, turkey, pheasant, etc. pieces. For poultry pieces, depending on how many I do I usually cut the batch in half, which is what I have done in this brine. Feel free to double if you are doing a large batch:

2 Quarts Water
1/2 Cup Kosher Salt
1/2 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Maple Syrup
2 TBSP Montreal Chicken Seasoning (Or whatever seasoning/rub you plan to season the bird with after brining)
1 TBSP Minced Garlic

Other Possible additions (of your choice) per 1 Gallon of brine:
1 Cup Orange Juice
1 TBSP Granulated Garlic
1 TBSP Onion Powder
1 TBSP Rosemary

 

[NDKoze]

Here is a link to Tony's (AKA DivotMaker) All-Purpose Poultry Brine that Eric mentioned:

http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=1447.0

This is a great thread for the brine as well as some additional poultry related smoking information.

 

[SuperDave]

I've been invited to a few homes for Thanksgiving and only breast meat was served. Been dying to invite them to my house and just serve thigh meat. Lol. Good luck with your smoke. Advice already given will get you there with no complaints on your finished product.

 

[SconnieQ]

I've been invited to a few homes for Thanksgiving and only breast meat was served. Been dying to invite them to my house and just serve thigh meat. Lol. Good luck with your smoke. Advice already given will get you there with no complaints on your finished product.

I agree the breast meat is pretty dull flavor-wise. But the breast on smoked birds is definitely about as good as white meat will get. I much prefer the dark meat also. I do like curing and smoking the turkey breast though, then slicing thin for sandwiches. Tastes like ham!

 

[NDKoze]

I've been invited to a few homes for Thanksgiving and only breast meat was served. Been dying to invite them to my house and just serve thigh meat. Lol. Good luck with your smoke. Advice already given will get you there with no complaints on your finished product.

I agree the breast meat is pretty dull flavor-wise. But the breast on smoked birds is definitely about as good as white meat will get. I much prefer the dark meat also. I do like curing and smoking the turkey breast though, then slicing thin for sandwiches. Tastes like ham!

+1 This is the best way I have had turkey breast. It does work great for sammies as it is way easier to cut sandwich sized slices of breast than any dark meat cuts.

 

[Elliottbte]

Thanks for all the replies.  I'll be doing this smoke in a couple weeks I think.  I'm going to go with ND's basic brine for this one and then doing more experimenting with that as a taste reference.  I'll go with what Durango said .... 2 oz wood, 250 smoker to 170.  Can't wait.

 

[Elliottbte]

Well, finally did the Turkey Thighs.  Not what I was hoping for.  Nothing really went wrong but the taste just didn't appeal to me or the family.  I had the same reaction with a whole chicken I did previously so maybe I'll just stick to Pork and Beef.

 

[tnlyne]

Consider trying these chicken thighs. My kids wanted me to start making these all the time:

http://www.extraordinarybbq.com/award-winning-chicken-thighs/

I only did them once so far but I'll definitely try them again. Thinning down BBQ sauce and adding some brown sugar made them really good.

 

[barelfly]

I've enjoyed the chicken quarters I've made. I didn't care for the whole chicken I did, but I will try again - I don't think I cooked to right temp and then over did it on the grill. But the Turkey legs and turkey breast I made were outstanding! I had friends over and everyone liked the flavor. Had the flavor of the turkey legs you find at the state fair, which is almost like the flavor of ham. To get that, I used a buttermilk brine vs just a water base brine. You may want to look into that if the flavor wasn't what you were looking for.