BBQ Turkey Legs - Kettle Cooking
- bbqspark
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
We'll experiment with cooking using the classic spherical BBQ, the kettle, to cook a special recipe: turkey legs.
Is this the perfect recipe to test out a barbecue? We think so. Read the article to find out more.
INGREDIENTS
Turkey legs
Ketchup Sauce
PREPARATION
Of all our barbecues, the simplest and most iconic of all was missing, the one that most grillers start with: the kettle.
To test this new addition, we decided to prepare a dish that wasn't too complex but, like all white meat preparations, a recipe that requires care and attention.
To begin, we remove any remaining feathers from the turkey legs. We can do this by hand or speed up the process with a blowtorch.
To choose the right spices, we took a look at our website 's rub calculators page and composed the Mexican Rub, following the indicated doses.
Once the rub ingredients have been prepared and weighed, use a mortar to crush and grind the spices, starting with the larger ones.
To ensure the spices stick to the meat, brush the entire surface of the thighs with ketchup: this will give a slightly sweet flavor, and during cooking, the sugar in the sauce will glaze the skin.
We finish the preparation by sprinkling the rub all over the thigh.
Let's move on to cooking and the real test of our kettle.
The barbecue should be prepared with an indirect setup and heated to around 120 - 140 °C.
Since there is no deflector, as you might find on a kamado, we will have to place the coal on the sides of the combustion chamber, using two ember baskets.
A tray of water should be placed in the middle, so that humidity is created in the cooking chamber and helps keep the meat juicy.
Before placing the meat on the grill, directly above the tray filled with water, we insert a probe thermometer into one of the two thighs.
The turkey will need to be cooked for a couple of hours, never exceeding 150°C, remembering that the temperature of the thigh must reach over 70°C at the heart before it is ready.
Moving on to the kettle, we can be more than satisfied. Even though it's the simplest of the barbecue models, the brazier's insulating and thermal properties are good, allowing us to maintain a constant temperature without ever having to adjust the vent during cooking.
A success that is also confirmed by observing the finished preparation: we notice a still juicy meat, cooked but pink and with a well-browned and crispy skin.
The kettle passed the test with flying colors. Even though we didn't use grills with super-accessorized features or top-of-the-line construction, we achieved excellent results.
We hope this experiment will inspire those who are looking for their first barbecue, or are unsure whether to approach the world of real barbecue, to start with a simple kettle.
