That's right, turkey NECKS. These are an old favorite at Eggtoberfest in Atlanta; a very kind gentleman by the name of William Kelsey serves these up to an eager and hungry crowd every year. Our local HEB grocery store had them on sell for 99 cents a pack, a pack being what you see above. I just had to try them.
The traditional recipe says to parboil the necks first in crawfish seasoning. I decided to go a slightly different route and do these the way my dad has always done chicken wings. I first parboiled them in apple cider vinegar with salt, pepper, and a stick of butter.
After parboiling
After about 15 minutes of parboiling, I removed the necks and coated with Lemon Pepper and Louisiana Hot Sauce.
Smoking indirect
Next, I smoked the necks with an indirect setup at a dome temp of 250. Every half hour I basted the necks with the apple cider/butter mixture and added more Lemon Pepper. I turned them after an hour, and the total indirect cooking time was about 2.5 hours.
Cooking direct
To finish them off, I cooked the necks direct over a 400 dome temp fire for about 20 minutes to crisp them up.
Ready to Eat
The results were good. Flavor was great - nice and spicy. They were tender, but not fall-off-the-bone tender. I think next time I will either increase the indirect cooking time or foil them for an hour or so like I do ribs.
Give these a try - they make a good snack at the house or something interesting to take to a superbowl party. Your wife may not eat them, though, so be prepared.
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