Smoked Wings

ive been doing more and more on my weber kettle grill. Getting really into it and its fun. Just got a slow n sear and tried that out for the first time yesterday. not sure it will be worth the money but its a nice product. Smoke some wings for the first time yesterday. Used Hickory and Cherry wood. Cooked on offset heat for about 75 minutes. I gotta say that im not sure im a fan of smoked wings. I missed the crunch of the fried wing. The skin was a little tough and it would stick together rather than with a fried wing where just the amount you took a bite of would come off. The flavor was good although I think the hickory wood was a little strong for wings. If I did them again I would stick with a more mild wood like apple or something. As I continue to play with smoking on the weber kettle I think next weekend I may try smoking a chuck roast. I have a choice cut brisket in the freezer that im chomping at the bit to smoke but id like to do some trial and error before I handle that expensive cut of meat. Ive watched some videos on smoking a chuck roast and im intrigued to see if I can get some tasty slow cooked meat out of such an inexpensive cut. If anyone has any tips on smoking chuck or smoking on a weber in general feel free to share. Ill post some pictures if I do a smoke this weekend

I do wings on the Weber kettle with a hot smoke and cherry wood. They are excellent! Low and slow is for bigger pieces of meats that you need to break down the connective tissue imo. I will use dry rub the wings and put on indirect heat of about 1/2-3/4’s of a chimney of charcoal with apple wood chips on top. Then once I think they are nearing done, I put them on direct heat to crisp up the skin more if needed. Chicken takes up the smoke easily, so you don’t have to worry that you will be checking often, or opening up to add wood chips as much as you would for low/slow or pork/beef.

Interesting. Could you maybe flash fry the wings after the smoking to get a more desirable texture for the skin? I know, that is adding another step to the process.
Approximately what temp were you doing them at? I have been able to get very crispy wings in the oven but you cook at a low temp like 250 or so. So I would think you would have been around that or lower possibly?

Does this cold weather effect the smoking and grilling on the webber much ?

im still waiting for my next paycheck to get an air temp thermometer so I don’t know what the temp was inside the weber. the wings were done in about an hour so im guessing the temp was north of 200. I used a full chimney of coals. Yeah I would think the cold weather would affect the temps but not to the point that cooking was difficult. I grill on my charcoal weber year round. with that much coal going I kept the bottom vent closed save for just a sliver and I had the top vent about 1/3-half open.

I will try placing the chicken on a sear at the end BigWerm in the future. I think that might help to get the skin that crispy feel.

CaptainMusky wrote:

Interesting. Could you maybe flash fry the wings after the smoking to get a more desirable texture for the skin?

Restaurants do this for their smoked wings.

If you want the crispiest non-fried wings, follow this recipe. You could probably replace the oven for a hot grill/smoke.

Yes it’s a lot of steps. Yes it is worth it.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/buffalo-wings-recipe-1937515.amp

Crappie….

Try to keep this in mind when smoking meats: the whiter the meat the more fruit wood you want to use. Pear, apple, cherry are excellent for fish, pork and chicken/turkey. The redder the meat the more you’ll want to use nut or the exotic woods like hickory and pecan and mesquite.

Tom Sawvell wrote:

Crappie….

Try to keep this in mind when smoking meats: the whiter the meat the more fruit wood you want to use. Pear, apple, cherry are excellent for fish, pork and chicken/turkey. The redder the meat the more you’ll want to use nut or the exotic woods like hickory and pecan and mesquite.

that’s a great tip. Thanks Tom!

Crappie, chuck roast on the smoker can be good and bad. My experience is that parts can dry out. My preference is to smoke low for a few hours and finish by braising.

I smoked some wings in my Bradley awhile back…i made what I call a hot raspberry bbq sauce…after smoking at 180-200ish for half hour or so I started brushing the wings with sauce every half hour…when they reached temp i put the wings in a alum tin and poured the rest of my sauce on them and cranked the heat until the sauce kind of carmelized..did not really time that just paid close attention so the sauce didnt burn ..not crunchy but not soggy either they were a hit

That sounds great Brady.

I made a peach/ginger/boubon glaze for wings a while back that was rockin good. Pretty simple too.

Open a can of peach slices in heavy syrup and drain the juice into a bowl and add two halves from the can. Eat the rest. Add 1/4 cup white corn syrup to the peaches and juice along with a couple tablespoons of finely grated fresh ginger and a half cup of good bourbon. I used Four Roses single Barrel or Small Batch it may have been. Either or. Run this thru a blender until well mixed then simmer until reduced by 1/2. Grill your wings until done. Place in a baking dish and pour your bourbon sauce over them and heat in a 350 degree oven for an hour. Or place all of it in a crock pot on high and heat until you’re ready to dine on them. From the oven they’re great finger food….have plenty of napkins! Stick, gooey delight. From the crock pot they are way less sticky but just as good. I prefer the oven method.

I’m going to try Brady’s raspberry cooking method but use frozen berries with the booze and ginger and corn syrup.

Sam’s Club has a Members Mark brand of precooked wings that smoke great. BTW, wings aren’t tough so should be smoked at high temperatures.

If you want crispy skin give them more time on direct heat. I grill wings on a Weber kettle and have tried indirect but I prefer a layer of coals covering the bottom evenly. The key is to get the charcoal burning well and then getting the vents dialed in. I’m usually round 325 to 350.

I pile the coal in the middle of my weber kettle and put the wings around them–hot and fast can give you the smoke flavor with a crispy skin.

I have the slow and sear for my weber summit and its a fantastic product–really easy to use and consistent results

Steam them first and let them dry.

Then grill, roast, fry or smoke them. The will produce the crispiest.

This is no joke. I did this and they were incredible.

SuperDave1959 wrote:

BTW, wings aren’t tough so should be smoked at high temperatures.

Crappie exactly what SD said, when I do wings whether it is on my yoder, weber kettle, or weber wsm I like to be in the 375degree range, hot and fast. Legs, thighs or whole chickens that are Spatchcocked I tend to be in the 300-325 range.
Being you have a kettle, check out the bbq vortex https://vortexbbq.com/
I have one and it is nice tool too have, I purchased my from Owens BBq in http://www.owensbbq.com/index.html

Some consider wings white meat so high heat like 375 degrees be best for me. Chicken leg quarters are best for smoking in my opinion and you can go longer on the grill without drying them out and accept smoke into the meat better, they are also cheaper and taste better. Pricking the skin helps with crispy skin, helps as the fat under the skin renders out. The fat under the skin seems to steam the skin keeping it from getting crispy. I also agree 300- 325 indirect heat then direct for skin but be sure to attend the meat in the last stage.

If you do a chuck roast get the chuck eye roast and slow cook at 250 until internal temp is 203 degrees. at 160 degrees you can wrap in foil and put it in the oven to finish it off.

I think after you have a chuck eye roast you will be underwhelmed by the brisket.
My smoker burnt out so now I do them on the Weber and they turn out just as good but more work at feeding coals to the grill. Be sure to catch the drippings for baked beans. Oak or alder for wood is what I prefer.

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