Smoked chicken legs are no doubt could be a weakness of any meat lover. An offset smoker dies the job, but it takes longer time, space, and accessories. So, I bought an electric smoker.
Last weekend my younger sister Andy came to my house and requested smoked chicken legs for lunch. I readily accepted her wish. She also joined me to help in getting the chicken legs ready.
The moment she saw my electric smoker, she cried! How to smoke chicken legs in an electric smoker?! Would they be as delicious as one can have through an offset smoker?! I said, ‘just relax my dear, don’t worry at all!’
We can have equally lovely smoky chicken legs in an electric smoker. It is quite a simple thing to do. You need to know the basic instructions, nearly the same as offset smokers.
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How To Smoke Chicken Legs In Electric Smoker?
Electric smokers are available in a variety of sizes, colors, and brands. If we talk about shape, it is commonly vertical, just like the small size of a fridge or single-door cupboard. You can get any meat item in it.
Now let us come to the question of how to smoke chicken legs in electric smoker. At the very outset, we must know how it works. The first step is to plug in an electric smoker, which will heat an element at the bottom of the smoker.
You will have two pans with the smoker, one for wood chips and the other for water. This element heats a pan that you fill with wood chips. The wood chips fume will fill up the smoker with smoke.
The resulting accumulation of smoke and heat will smoke cook your food. You also have a meat heater probe to check the cooking density of your piece of meat. Setting up the temperature is also vital, unlike pellet smokers.
While using a pallet smoker, you don’t have to keep the firebox management for getting your desired heat and smoke. Rather you have to fix the temperature once you plugged it in. after the instructed cooking time, open and get your food.
Electric Smoker Chicken Legs
1. Chicken Legs/ Meat Prep
How to smoke chicken legs in electric smoker? Before starting the cooking smoking procedure, one must prepare the meat as we are going to smoke the chicken legs, so we will prepare them.
So, to get electric smoker chicken legs, wash and dry up the chicken leg pieces and put them in a container or a flat tray that can be fixed inside your smoker. Sprinkle your desired sauces and spices on the leg pieces.
Also, make tiny cuts or holes in leg pieces through a fork to absorb the heat and smoke along with the spice taste. Otherwise, the taste of spice, sauce, and smoke will not amalgamate appropriately.
2. Pre-Heat
Preheat the electric smoker to 275 degrees F. before that, get your frozen chicken leg pieces to reach room temperature because frozen legs will not be prepared and cooked appropriately.
3. How Long to Smoke Chicken Legs In Electric Smoker?
How long to smoke chicken legs in an electric smoker? It depends on the number of chicken leg pieces and their size too. Let’s say if you are going to smoke 4 good size chicken legs, you will be cooking them for at least 90 minutes. You are also required to use a meat probe to check the temperature.
4. How Long to Smoke Chicken Leg At 225 Fahrenheit?
If we talk about how long to smoke chicken leg at 225 Fahrenheit? We can say that it takes approximately 60 minutes to smoke chicken legs at 225 degrees F. with an additional 10 minutes on high heat to sear at the end.
5. How Long to Smoke Chicken Leg At 250 Fahrenheit?
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the chicken legs on a rack in the smoker and cook them. Smoke for roughly two and a half hours. Smoke the chicken until it reaches an internal temperature of 180 degrees
6. How Long to Smoke Chicken Leg At 300 Fahrenheit?
Bring the smoker up to a temperature of 275°F. Place the chicken legs in the smoker and cook until the internal temperature reaches 165°F, about 2.5/3 hours. To smoke chicken legs at 300 degrees takes about 1 – 1.5 hours (60 – 90 minutes).
7. Add the Right Seasoning
For electric smoker chicken legs, a spice rub applied to the chicken legs before you smoke can bring a strong flavor to the meat. In the final moments of smoking, put your sauce in. barbecue sauce applied during and after the smoking process can develop peripheral flavor.
8. Mind you!
When using faster cook times, you will get less smoke flavor in your meat, and the texture will be almost the same as baking or roasting. That’s why no matter how long it takes to fully smoked and cooked, take your time.
How to Smoke Chicken Legs and Thighs in A Smoker?
There is no difference between how to smoke chicken legs in the electric smoker or chicken thighs. You must follow all the steps you need to follow for smoking chicken legs. Defreeze, wash, clean and dry the thighs.
Remove extra parts or fats on them. Get them settled at room temperature and put spices or sauce on them. Preheat, the smoker to 250F. Use the probe to check inside thighs 165F. Temperature.
How Long to Smoke Chicken Leg Quarters in Electric Smoker?
Leg quarters are simply the drumsticks, thighs, and a piece of the back together. And they are perfect for smoking! The high-fat content makes it juicy and soft and falls on the bone when cooked low and slow!
Salting is a fundamental ingredient that strengthens all other flavors and is compulsory for your brine. You can go for an extra seasoning with rich onion, garlic, and smoked paprika.
How Long to Smoke Chicken Drumsticks in an Electric Smoker?
One needs to be patient to enjoy the true smoky aroma, and taste 225℉/107℃ should cook your meat for about 4 hours. 275℉/135℉ cooks the chicken perfectly in 2½-3 hours. 300℉/150℃ smokes the dish quite quickly, between 45 minutes and an hour.
How to Smoke Drumsticks in Masterbuilt Electric Smoker?
The Masterbuilt electric smoker has some great quirks and is one of the easiest to operate. The electric smoker’s design looks more like a mini-fridge than a smoker and has insulated walls; they are very consistent.
1. How to operate a Masterbuilt Electric Smoker
The essential operation of the smoker is as simple as pushing a few buttons. To start, turn the unit on by pressing the on/off button. Next, press the Temperature button to set the cooking temperature.
2. Preparing Your Smoker
Then press the Time button to set your cooking time with the arrow keys, and load water into your smoker when cooking. Then put it in a large disposable pan or make a tin foil pan on the bottom rack to catch the dripping.
The closer the edges you place the tin foil pan, the less mess you will have. Preheating your smoker is a must. Put your smoker on the highest setting for meat and run for an hour before putting in food.
3. Loading Wood Chips
By far, one of the features of the smoker is the way you load the wood chips. The smoker has a loading tube with a handle. You turn the tube and pull it out of the smoker, fill it with chips, and then slide it back in and turn it to fill the tray.
Mesquite – beef or dark meat chicken Hickory – bacon of fatty pork Oak – beef steaks, ribs, or small roast apple – fish, lean pork, or cheese cherry – fish can – everything and whole chicken are best wood flavor species.
4. Loading Your Meat
Place the food on the racks as quickly as possible, starting with the top rack when cooking meats and poultry. Your smoker has a built-in wired temperature probe. A separate probe thermometer because they are more exact, but if you use a wired probe, try to run it out the bottom of the door to avoid damage to the seal.
Tips and Tricks: How to Smoke Chicken Legs In Electric Smoker
Use these tips to make the best-smoked chicken drumsticks at home. Seasoning is essential to season your meat before, during, or after the cooking. Use the correct wood chips because chicken is a mild protein that quickly absorbs woodsmoke flavors.
Hardwood is the best for milder cherry, pecan, applewood, or smokier hickory or mesquite. Do not use softwood, which produces sap. For crispy skin, reverse-sear the chicken legs after smoking.
Remove the meat from the smoker when the internal temperature reaches 170 degrees Fahrenheit and increase the smoker’s temperature to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Return the chicken to the hot smoker and sear until crispy, about 1 minute on each side.
Wait for 5 minutes to enjoy your food/meat so that the juices may resettle through the meat resulting in moist, flavorful chicken. Now you can dig in your chicken legs to get the full taste to satisfy your appetite.
FAQs: How To Smoke Chicken Legs in Electric Smoker?
How Long Does It Take to Smoke Chicken Legs In a Masterbuilt Smoker?
Masterbuilt electric smoker is designed with the latest digital technology. It takes approximately 3 hours to smoke chicken legs on a Masterbuilt smoker. The Masterbuilt line of smokers has all the answers with its three smoking racks and two temperature settings.
How Long Does It Take to Smoke Drumsticks At 350 F.?
Place washed & stroked dry chicken on smoker and cook for 1.5 hours. Increase the temperature to 350° F and pour the sauce on one side of the drumsticks. Substitute the lid and cook for 15 minutes.
How Often Do You Add Wood Chips to a Masterbuilt Electric Smoker?
You should add wood chips after each hour. Most wood chips should be used up in about 45 minutes during normal operation. Still, If you are operating your smoker at temperatures above 250 F., wood chips burn faster. Check it after 30 minutes.
Is There Any Drawback to Using an Electric Smoker?
An electric smoker is undoubtedly a good choice for those with less money as it is cheaper than an offset smoker and works more or less equally well. However, the only drawback could be the electricity bill which could increase significantly.
To Sum up
In this article, we have discussed how to smoke chicken legs in electric smoker. Moreover, we have also tried to encompass the related or linked queries regarding chicken legs cooking or smoking in an electric smoker.
Further, if you’re interested in how to smoke chicken wings in an electric smoker you can find all the nitty-gritty by following the article link.
Electric smokers are available in a variety of brands and sizes. They are equipped with all the vital elements to cook smoky and crispy food. If you have already used an offset smoker, you can easily use it.
Just plug in the smoker, place wood chips in one pan, and water in another. Preheat it up to 250F. Defreeze, wash, clean, and dry chicken legs. Please bring them to the room temperature level. Season it with spices, herbs, and sauces as per your wish.
Place your chicken legs in the smoker, preset the temperature, and leave for the instructed time. Also, check the temperature and texture. You can use a meat probe for this purpose. Take it out when done, and let them be cooled and settled. Enjoy!