Smoked Chicken Legs

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Smoked Chicken Legs

So I bought an electric smoker. I wanted some smoked chicken. The best deal I can find on chicken are 10lb. bags of whole chicken legs for $5.99. That’s $0.59lb for chicken. Can’t really beat that, plus dark meat is more moist and ideal for smoking. You can obviously use any part of the chicken, but smoking and brining times will vary.

A basic brine consists of water, salt, and sugar. I added a head of garlic, black peppercorns, olive oil, and dark soy sauce. The olive oil allows the skin to stay crispy instead of leathery. That dark soy sauce will give the chicken a dark, golden color when being smoked. Dissolve all of the ingredients together and let get to room temp. Depending on the size of the legs, they will need to brine for 3-4 hours. The chicken legs I bought were ginormous. Over 1lb a piece. They needed a full 4 hours. Once they are finished, pat them dry with paper towel. This will allow the smoked to stick better to the chicken.

Preheat your electric smoker according to the manufacturer’s instructions to 225 degrees. Chicken is versatile in the smoker when it comes to choosing the wood you use. I used equal amounts of apple and cherry woods during the smoking process. Smaller sized legs around 3/4lb will take about 3 hours of smoking. Larger ones, 1lb. plus, will take 4 hours. The internal temperature needs to read 180 degrees in the thickest part of the thigh. Having a digital probe thermometer comes in handy for smoking. Mine can withstand 700 degrees. Leave it in the chicken the entire time to monitor the temp. This also helps maintaining the temp by minimalizing how many times the door to the smoker getting opened.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time4 hours hrs

Brining Time4 hours hrs

Course: Main Course

Keyword: Chicken, electric smoker, main course

Author: Alex Gorgos

Equipment

• Electric Smoker
• Probe Thermometer

Ingredients

• 8 whole chicken legs

Brine

• 1 gallon water
• 1 cup salt
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 head garlic minced
• 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp black peppercorns

Wood Chips

• applewood chips
• cherrywood chips

Instructions

• Mix all of the brine ingredients together.
  
• Put the whole chicken legs in gallon sized storage bags. Split the brine between the two bags. Brine the chicken for 4 hours.
  
• Place the whole legs on your smokers racks. Pat the legs dry with paper towel.
  
• Preheat your smoker 225 degrees according to the manufacturer’s directions. Smoke the chicken legs for up to 4 hours. The internal temp needs to read 180 degrees in the thickest part of the thigh.
  

Tips for smoking chicken

• Brine chicken legs for 3 hours for ones that are 3/4lb; 4 hours for ones 1lb. plus. Brining adds moisture and saltiness to the chicken.
• Pat the legs dry with paper towel before smoking. This allows the smoke to stick to the legs better.
• Smoke the chicken at 225 degrees.
• Use a probe thermometer to monitor the internal temperature. The legs have to read 180 degrees in the thickest part of the thigh. Smaller legs will take 3 hours to smoke; larger legs will take 4 hours.