Learn how to make some delicious fall-off-the-bone smoked turkey necks. The meat is slowly cooked until completely tender and definitely worth the wait. Go on and impress your family or guests with this super easy recipe for the holidays.
My family are big fans of both oxtail and turkey neck. While oxtail can be very pricey, turkey neck is the cheaper equivalent.
Many people frown at the thought of eating turkey neck BUT in my humble opinion, it is very underrated.
We usually play it safe when serving turkey neck, by that I mean we tend to just stew it and use the meat and bones to make stock or serve it in soup.
When I made this for my family, there were taken back by the smokey flavour along with the tenderness.
It was like eating oxtail, except that it wasn't, I must admit, even I surprised myself with just how delicious smoked turkey necks actually tastes.
I definitely recommend smoking the meat yourself as opposed to buying it already smoked.
It's more fun that smoke it yourself, plus you have better control over just how "smokey" the meat will be.
I thought the results would be underwhelming, however, it was far from that. Which is why I just had to share the recipe with my readers.
I don't have an outdoor smoker, I use an eletrical one that I can just plug in and use indoors and it yields the same results.
Don't worry its NOT a Presto electrical smoker as I know there was some controversy centred around it being recalled.
Don't forget to check my Instant Pot Turkey Stock recipe.
Reasons to make this recipe
- It is a cheap/budget friendly choice of meat
- It is cheaper than oxtail yet tastes just as good
- A perfect choice to use during the holiday season
- Totally underrated
- The meat is very juicy and flavoursome
- You can serve this as a side dish or serve along with a main course
Preparing your turkey neck
Similar to oxtail, turkey requires a few hours to cook.
If you know how to prepare your turkey neck and cook it properly then the results will be very juicy, tasty with a sweet smokiness to it.
Just like any other meat recipe, I adhere to my own Caribbean customs, which is to thoroughly clean the meat before applying the marinade.
The marinade has a little kick to it, thanks to the use of the hot sauce. I personally like to leave the meat to marinate for at least a few hours or overnight or I'm not in a hurry.
It depends on my schedule but a few hours at the minimum is recommended for the ingredients to penetrate the meat.
As I mentioned earlier any type of smoker will do for this recipe, be it an outdoor or indoor one. The main thing is to achieve that smokey flavour.
You definitely don't want to rush this process, so finding the right temperture is important.
It the temperature is too high it won't cook properly and the texture will be too tough and if it's too low, the meat will take forever to actually cook.
You definitely, want to keep an eye on the turkey neck, as once it has cooked through, you should remove it from the smoker straight away.
I like to accompany the turkey neck with some gravy made from the drippings leftover in the smoker.
You should have enough liquid to make roughly one cups worth.
It also doubles up as some dipping sauce, depending on how you intend to serve your turkey necks.
The steps
- Place the turkey necks in a large bowl or zip lock bag.
- Mix the olive oil, browning sauce, soy(a) sauce, hot sauce, all purpose seasoning, brown sugar, onion granules, garlic granules, thyme, shado beni, black pepper and pink salt in a small bowl.
- Do a taste test of the rub before adding it to the turkey neck to ensure that there is enough pink salt and adjust accordingly.
- Drizzle and coat the meat with the wet rub and leave to marinate or several hours or overnight (if you are using a zip lock bag be sure to secure it).
- Preheat the smoker to 248F/120C and prepare your wood chips (I used apple wood).
- Remove the turkey necks from the marinade and place them on the smoker racks (being careful not to overcrowd).
- Smoke the turkey necks for approximately 2 hours, check them frequently and rotate them if necessary to ensure even cooking. You will want to smoke the meat until it reaches an internal temperature of 165F/74C (a themometer can determine its readiness).
- Once cooked, leave the turkey neck to rest.
- While it is resting, prepare the gravy, in a medium sized saucepan, on medium heat, add the turkey stock, tomato paste, drippings from the turkey neck and thyme.
- Stir until a thick-ish gravy is formed (this should take several minutes).
- Do a taste test and add pink salt and black pepper if needed.
- Add the turkey neck to the saucepan (this is an optional step) and coat with the gravy.
- Alternatively, you can skip the above step and serve the gravy on the side as a dipping sauce.
- Serve accordingly.
Notes and tips
- For best results, eat the turkey neck immediately.
- If you need to re-heat, wrap the meat, tightly in foil and place in the oven to heat through.
- If you are using store bought browning sauce then use no more than 1 teaspoon.
- Here are the links to the Browning Sauce, the All Purpose Seasoning and Hot Sauce recipe.
- Any leftovers should be refrigerated and eaten within 3 days.
- If you cannot get onion/garlic granules use the powdered version instead.
- Make sure the meat is cooked through, if it is your first time smoking turkey necks then use a thermometer to ensure its readiness.
- If you cannot get hold of any shado beni then use coriander instead.
- Make sure to do a taste test of the marinade before applying it to the meat.
- You can use dried thyme instead.
- Make sure the turkey neck is thoroughly washed and blotted dry before starting the recipe.
- You can use either an indoor or outdoor smoker to make this recipe.
- I used apple wood chips but you may want to use another flavoured wood chip(s).
Other turkey recipes you may like
- Jamaican Turkey Patties
- Turkey Gravy (Without Drippings)
- Instant Pot Turkey Stock
- Slow Cooker Turkey Crown
- Turkey Neck Soup
- Jamaican Brown Stew Turkey Neck
- Leftover Turkey Fried Rice
- Caribbean Turkey Steaks
- Slow Cooker Ground Turkey
**Don't forget to comment below and star rate if you have tried my recipes. Let's be friends and engage on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram I also like to pin on Pinterest, where you can find more amazing recipes.**
Smoked Turkey Necks
Ingredients
For the wet rub
- 2-2½ lb turkey neck (1.13kg)
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoon homemade browning sauce only use this amount if you are using MY homemade version, see notes
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- 3 tablespoon soy(a) sauce
- 2 tablespoon all purpose seasoning
- 1½ tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon onion granules or powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic granules or powder
- 2 teaspoon fresh thyme stems removed
- 2 teaspoon fresh chadon beni chopped
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon pink salt
For the gravy/dipping sauce
- leftover dripping
- 2 teaspoon tomato paste
- 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
- pink salt to taste
Instructions
To make the wet rub
- Place the turkey necks in a large bowl or zip lock bag.
- Mix the olive oil, browning sauce, soy(a) sauce, hot sauce, all purpose seasoning, brown sugar, onion granules, garlic granules, thyme, chadon beni, black pepper and pink salt in a small bowl.
- Do a taste test of the rub before adding it to the turkey neck to ensure that there is enough pink salt and adjust accordingly.
- Drizzle and coat the meat with the wet rub and leave to marinate or several hours or overnight (if you are using a zip lock bag be sure to secure it).
- Preheat the smoker to 248F/120C and prepare your wood chips (I used apple wood).
- Remove the turkey necks from the marinade and place them on the smoker racks (being careful not to overcrowd).
- Smoke the turkey necks for 2 hours, check them frequently and rotate them if necessary to ensure even cooking. You will want to smoke the meat until it reaches an internal temperature of 165F/74C (a themometer can determine its readiness).
- Once cooked, leave the turkey neck to rest.
To prepare the gravy
- While it is resting, prepare the gravy, in a medium sized saucepan, on medium heat.
- Add the turkey stock, tomato paste, drippings from the turkey neck and thyme.
- Stir until a thick-ish gravy is formed (this should take several minutes).
- Do a taste test and add pink salt and black pepper if needed.Add the turkey neck to the saucepan (this is an optional step) and coat with the gravy.
- Alternatively, you can skip the above step and serve the gravy on the side as a dipping sauce.
- Serve accordingly.
Notes
- For best results, eat the turkey neck immediately.
- If you are using store bought browning sauce then use no more than 1 teaspoon
- If you need to re-heat, wrap the meat, tightly in foil and place in the oven to heat through.
- Here are the links to the Browning Sauce, the All Purpose Seasoning and Hot Sauce recipe.
- Any leftovers should be refrigerated and eaten within 3 days.
- If you cannot get onion/garlic granules use the powdered version instead.
- Make sure the meat is cooked through, if it is your first time smoking turkey necks then use a thermometer to ensure its readiness.
- If you cannot get hold of any shado beni then use coriander instead.
- Make sure to do a taste test of the marinade before applying it to the meat.
- You can use dried thyme instead.
- Make sure the turkey neck is thoroughly washed and blotted dry before starting the recipe.
- You can use either an indoor or outdoor smoker to make this recipe.
- I used apple wood chips but you may want to use another flavoured wood chip(s).
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