How long to smoke chicken legs
chicken legs at 225°F take
2h 40min to 2h 40min
- Pull at
- 175°F
- FDA safe minimum
- 165°F
Your cook
At each smoker temperature
| Smoker | Time |
|---|---|
| 225°F answer | 2 h 40 min |
| 250°F answer | 2 h 15 min |
| 275°F answer | 1 h 45 min |
| 300°F answer | 1 h 20 min |
When it is done
- Take it off at
- 175°FPull temperature: the internal temperature at which the meat comes off the smoker, read with a food thermometer whose tip sits at the center of the meat.
- Safe from
- 165°FFDA safe minimum: the internal temperature the FDA gives for Poultry (ground, parts, whole, and stuffing), as measured with a food thermometer. The meat must reach it before it is served.
- Rest
- None neededRest: the FDA gives no rest time for Poultry (ground, parts, whole, and stuffing), so the meat is safe as soon as it reaches the minimum above.
Cited guides take chicken legs to 175°F, above the FDA minimum of 165°F. The minimum is the line for safety; the higher figure is the guides' choice for this cut.
Other cuts
- How long to smoke whole turkey 6 h 45 min – 10 h 15 min
- whole chicken smoking time 4 h 15 min
- How long to smoke chicken wings 2 h – 2 h 40 min
- chicken thighs smoking time 2 h – 2 h 40 min
- chicken breast smoking time 1 h 30 min
- pork butt 9 h 35 min – 15 h 35 min
Sources
Figures built September 2026.
Where these figures come from (2)
- Cook times: Smoking-Meat.com, “Smoking Times and Temperatures Chart”, retrieved from https://www.smoking-meat.com/smoking-times-and-temperatures-chart on 2026-09-23. Restated as numbers and normalised to 225°F by the formula on this site; no text or table is reproduced.
- Safe minimum internal temperatures: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, “Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures”, August 2017, retrieved from https://www.fda.gov/media/107000/download on 2026-09-23.
Times are estimates for planning. Meat is done when a food thermometer reads the safe minimum internal temperature, not when a timer ends.