Help with Smoked Turkey Necks.
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I want to smoke some turkey necks this weekend to use as seasoning meat. I want to smoke them at around 165-170° (smoker temp) so I can get maximum smoke before they are cooked internally. I know with sausage you have to cure at these temps. What about turkey necks? Are they safe to smoke without any sort of cure with the pit temp being around 160-170°?
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cayenneman Good question, it is a whole muscle cut so we don’t need to worry about it as much as we would with ground and formed product like sausage. I would still suggest you move your temp up to 180to get them out of the “danger zone” a little faster.
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cayenneman That is more like smoking pork butts or brisket. I did a whole wild turkey at 225F and since there is so little fat on them to start with I used it to make a turkey noodle soup and that little bit of extra smoke on the turkey is a game changer! I used the bones to make the stock and it also had a little smokeyness to it, delicious. Don’t be afraid to run the smoker up 225-250F. Just make sure get it warm and dry before putting the smoke to it so it will stick better.
