Chicken Wings - First attempt

[SmokedGouda]

I've made a fairly last minute decision (I still have to buy them) and decided to smoke some chicken wings tomorrow. Giants don't play till Monday night so I've got some time to play around on Sunday. (Sorry to all the cowboys fans out there, please don't let that stop you from giving me great smoking advice!)

I've been reading prior posts today to get some ideas and I think I've got my plan of action (mostly)... I'm going to brine them with the Lazy Q poultry brine recipe for about 2-3 hours. After rinsing and drying, I'll be putting a light rub on them, still deciding on what rub. I'm thinking pretty basic tho. Probably just salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and maybe a little cayenne. I'm not going for heat on these. I'll let them sit in the fridge for about an hour or so before tossing in the smoker.

I've recently been introduced to "Alabama white sauce" and my taste buds fell in love. I'm planning on adding that on at the end. I'll probably put hot sauce on some too.

Side note: I had the white sauce on smoked chicken wings from Blue Smoke BBQ in NYC 2 weeks ago and have already gone back twice since then haha. I got a bottle of the sauce (Big Bob Gibson's) and decided to give my own smoked wings a try.

Based on the many diff posts I read, I'm planning on using 3-4 oz of wood. Either hickory or sugar maple that I just got from Smokinlicious. Maybe a combo, is that a good idea or unnecessary? I'm going to smoke at 235 I think, I want to try and get more smoke flavor so I figured this would take a bit longer to get to 140. I figure I may need about 2-3 hours to get up to about 150 and then I'll finish on the grill to get to 165. I really want to stay away from opening the smoker to check temp so based on my readings I think the 3 hour mark at 235 should be good. 150 is just my target, if I open it after 3 hours to check and it's at least over 145 I'll take em out. After finishing on the grill to get up to temp, I'll add white sauce & hot sauce to some and leave some naked too.

I'm not going to stress too much about the skin, I'm sure the wings are going to taste great regardless of how the skin turns out. I think finishing on the grill without the sauce should help a little.

I'm looking forward to giving this a try and will definitely share the results with everyone.

I'll gladly take any last minute tips if somehow anyone reads this before I get thru everything or in time for an audible. Tips for next time work too!


I really wanted to give a full packer brisket a try as my second smoke but haven't been able to find a packer in the regular grocery stores by me yet, they've only had the flat and I really want to give burnt ends a try at the same time. So that'll have to be pushed back to #3 for now.

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[SuperDave]

Well, how did it go? I'm curious how your times worked out. They seemed long to me. Hope they turned out great for you. I just bought some Sweey Baby Ray's Wing Sauce and interested in trying it out.

[SmokedGouda]

So the timing may have been a bit too long. The wings were a little on the drier side.

I brined for 2.5 hrs. Lightly coated in mustard and then put a rub on. Rub was salt, pepper, a little brown sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, and a little cayenne.

Smoked with 3oz sugar maple at 235 for 3 hrs before checking. Most were at 170. I broiled for 10 minutes with the sauce on before we ate them.

They were definitely a little over cooked so next time I'll have to cut that time down and maybe even dial back the temp a bit too. They were still good though but will definitely look to improve the next time.

Loved the white sauce and so did my wife. I also bought sweet baby rays buffalo wings sauce and put that on some too. It was a little hotter than I thought it would be so my wife couldn't handle them, she has a very low tolerance. I love the heat but these weren't THAT hot, but they had good heat and flavor.

I'm not sure I was ready for a quicker smoke haha, I like the assistance of the thermometer telling me when it's done for the long ones.

On to the next one...

[SuperDave]

Phil,
I did wings last week and smoked them for an hour at 275 starting my time once the smoker reached 275, wings were in the box approx. 1:45.  Then 15 minutes on the grill coated with some sauce. They were very good with that time schedule.

[40 caliber]

 interesting. it looks similar to what i  do (at least 3 times) with very  good results. I have a 3D and aim for 275. it never gets there as i have 30+ wings in the smoker and it seems to struggle. ( i probably should let them get to room temp). I dont brine at all and the results have been perfect. They look a little nasty in the picture but the  results are awesome. the skin isn't crispy but  its very edible and not soft /rubbery


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