How to cook Turkey Leg in air fryer

When it comes to a turkey leg, this is one food item that can only be air fried, if indeed what is a giant drumstick which may not fit in your air fryer basket.

How a turkey leg/drumstick weighing approximately 1kg is cooked in an air fryer would be slow at a low temperature. Set the temp. to 340°F / 170°C with a long 1 hour, 20 minutes cooking time to air fry until tender and juicy. Basting is optional but can help to keep the turkey leg juicy.

How you would cook a giant turkey leg in an air fryer is similar to how a joint of beef is air fried, which is cooked slow at a very low temperature.

All you have too do to cook a turkey leg is set the temperature to 340°F / 170°C - which matches the oven cooking instructions on my turkey leg - with the time set to 1 hour, 20 minutes. One hour and twenty-minutes is actually 15 minutes less then what the oven directions recommended.

You'll first air fry the turkey leg at a mid temperature, because often it isn't possible to set the timer pass one hour. You'll be made to air fry for a maximum of one hour; you will have to set the timer for an additional 20 minutes.

In this long cooking time, the turkey meat will tenderize while producing a crispy skin.

Early on in the air frying stage - approximately up to 20 minutes - the skin will darken and appear like it will soon burn if allowed to cook uncovered.

Don't be fouled, the turkey leg will cook for a full 1 hour and 20 minutes where the skin will get crispier but much darker in the process.

I will add, which isn't specific to my air frying technique; the skin when eaten will in parts have the texture of shaved wood. Which is impossible to chew and would cause a choking hazard if you aren't careful.

Skin over the meatiest part will be easiest to chew as expected, yet will offer a nice crispy texture which is packed with lots of flavour.

I recommend seasoning the skin with salt only as instructed on the packaging, with oil smeared over the top side of the leg only to assist in producing a crispy skin.

You can think about basting your turkey leg like I did, while commence basting after the first 20 minutes; continuing to baste every 10 minutes. This is an optional step as it is when air frying chicken with or without oil.

Turkey leg will air fry to a tender and juicy texture with or without an oil rub.

NOTE: Air frying instructions are based on a Tesco Turkey Drumstick/Leg, weighing 956g, which is close to a 1kg turkey leg.

Next turkey experiment you can attempt is air frying a similar size turkey thigh which is sure to fit in a large air fryer, with no alterations on the size needed for it to fit.

Ascertain if Turkey Leg will fit

Before you can think about air frying what is a large turkey leg, you must first find out whether the leg will fit in to the basket of your air fryer.

I say that because on this occasion the turkey leg was just a few millimetres too long.

How I rectified this, was to cut off the bone on the end with a regular jagged kitchen knife; which I used to saw off a little bit of bone on the end. It can be awkward but can be achieved if you take your time, and be careful not to cut your finger.

Find out if your particular turkey leg fits in your basket by adding it into the air fryer while the leg is still wrapped in its packaging; for both hygiene purposes and to prevent you from scratching the inside of the basket with the bone.

Bear in mind though, the seal on the plastic packaging can extend the length of the leg, rather than the turkey leg itself.

Once you've established the turkey leg can or cannot fit in to your basket, make the necessary changes so the leg can slide into the basket, corner to corner at the baskets widest - to begin the process of air frying the leg.

Prepare Turkey leg

Turkey leg preparation will mostly involve finding out if leg will fit in your basket. If it doesn't then you can cut off the end of the leg to cut it down to size. In addition, oiling the skin will help to produce crispy skin, when applying a salt and oil rub.

• STEP 1: Sit at room temperature - Rather than tackle the chilly internal temperature, a more accurate cooking time will be achieved when sitting what is a large turkey leg at room temperature for an hour
• STEP 2: Pat dry whole turkey leg - Water and natural turkey leg juices will fill the sealed bag, which means you must pat dry a now damp turkey leg

• STEP 3: Rub oil over skin - With focus on drying the turkey leg skin above anything else, you can rub cooking oil - preferably olive oil - to produce crispy skin
• STEP 4: Season skin in salt - Sprinkle about a teaspoon worth of table salt over the turkey leg skin

NOTE: Air fry the turkey leg for the whole 1 hour, 20 minutes on the skin-side up only. You don't have to flip the turkey leg over at all, saving you the trouble of turning this beast over halfway through cooking.

Turkey leg cooking directions

Cooking a turkey leg in an air fryer is a simple process; cook it at a low heat for a slow cooking time, to ensure a well done but succulent juicy leg. If you wish to baste, then its important to not line the air fryer, as the turkey leg must sit directly in the basket.

• STEP 1: Preheat: 5 minutes at 340°F / 170°C - Preheating for a turkey leg that will be air fried for well over an hour isn't necessary - yet it will help to speed up the process of drying up moisture left on the skin
• STEP 1: Sit turkey leg in basket - Only with your bare hands should you lower the turkey leg - corner to corner in my case - otherwise it risks slipping away
• STEP 2: Set temp: 340°F / 170°C; time: 1 hour, 20 minutes - You may need to first set time to a maximum of 60 minutes; when an hour has elapsed, only then would you be able to add an additional 20 minutes

• STEP 3: Cook for 30 minutes; give optional basting - Cook turkey leg undisturbed for 30 minutes; where it will produce enough juices so you can give the turkey leg an optional basting
• STEP 4: Cook until done; continue to baste - With an additional 50 minutes to go, continue to cook until full time; all while sporadically baste turkey leg every 10 minutes - while checking on doneness of turkey leg
• STEP 6: Remove with tongs and fork - With a hot and heavy turkey leg to handle, it would be wise to remove leg with tongs, with the assistance of a fork

NOTE: Cooking my turkey leg using these exact cooking directions brought the internal temperature of the turkey leg up to 193°F/89°C, which means it was well above the food safety standard of 180°F / 82°C. - an hour of air frying only reached a 165°F internal temperature, so that extra 20 minutes was needed.

Basting optional

Basting a turkey leg will help to produce a juicy tender leg, and while this simple process is up to you as it can be tiresome and rather repetitive, I recommend you do it . Basting is similar to how I baste chicken thighs which is easier to do, due to size difference.

1. STEP 1: Stabilize leg with tongs when tipping basket - You'll be tipping the basket to pour out basting juices into a near by dish; of which you'd need to prevent the leg falling out with use of tongs or a similar utensil.
2. STEP 2: Carefully pour juices into dish - While you'll be holding the basket with one hand and stabilizing the leg with the other, carefully pour the juices without spilling

1. STEP 3: Pour juices over turkey leg - With juices sat in your dish, simply pour all of it back of the turkey leg, with a focus on basting the meatiest part of the leg
2. STEP 4: Repeat process every 10 minutes - Repeat this process every 10 minutes for the whole cooking time, beginning at the 20 minute mark

NOTE: You can only begin basting the turkey leg at approximately 20 minutes in, when the first batch of turkey juices have rendered out of the leg. Continue to baste every 10 minutes thereafter, as rendered juices become plentiful.

Summary

How to air fry a turkey leg in an air fryer should probably be done with a low heat and a slow cooking time.

Setting your temperature to 340°F/170°C should be enough for a turkey that is approximately 1kg - mine was 956g on this occasion - where the time is set to a lengthy 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Unfortunately, many air fryers will only allow a maximum 1 hour cooking time on a mid to high heat; of which you can add the additional 20 minutes when the hour has ended. Air frying at an even lower temperature, will allow you to set the full 1 hour, 20 minutes.

One obstacle that will get in your way for air frying a turkey leg in an air fryer, is whether it will actually fit in the air fryer basket.

And I know that because the leg I air fried for this demonstration was a little too long.

Its nothing to be worried about however as I remedied this issue by simply sawing off the end of the bone, which prevented me pushing the turkey leg in the basket, corner to corner at its widest.

Allow your turkey leg to air fry undisturbed for the set time with an option to baste the leg in its own juices, every 10 minutes; where you can begin to baste at 20 minutes where enough juices will be produced.

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