Smoked chicken wings??!

[dawn_kiebawls]

Hey guys and gals, I am still new to the world of all things delicious (read, homebrew and home smoked meats). I have spent years working in butcher shops peddling meat to customers who are out manning (or womanning) grills, smokers or fryers on picturesque, 70F, sunny days while I am practically shackled to my block in a 45F, starch white room.

Times have changed! For the next 5 days....

PLEASE help me save me from myself! For once I am on the other side of the meat counter with 2 slabs of spare ribs, a pork butt and ~2 dozen whole chicken wings!

I already have a plan for the ribs, I plan to just do a plain smoked butt in order to please SWMBO, but I have NO idea what to do with the wings! I want to do a simple 24 hour brine (10c water, 1 bottle beer, 1c brown sugar, 1c kosher salt, 1/4c white vinegar) then toss/rub with 5tbsp paprika, 3 tbsp salt, 2 tbsp garlic powder, 2 tbsp onion powder, 1 tbsp fresh cracked black pepper, 1 tbsp dried oregano, 1 tbsp dried thyme, 1/2 tbsp sugar and smoke with hickory until done.

To the smoking gurus out there, does this sound like a solid recipe/plan?? also on the menu I'll be brewing a Belgian Stout at the same time so this will be a busy day! Thanks for any and all feedback guys!

 

[brew703]

I do alot of smoking, mainly butts. I find simple is better. Salt pepper garlic and onion.

When i cook chicken, whether its smoking or some other way, i always brine. I like your brine and think that will work well. Maybe switch out the vinegar for hot sauce. I like things a bit spicy and find hot sauce kicks it up a bit. If you like Sriracha try that as well. Only think i would change is to use cherry wood. I find chicken absorbs too much smoke and it can be over-powering. Fruit woods work great with chicken and pork plus it gives the skin a nice color.
If you cant get cherry or a fruit wood, hickory will work. I just prefer fruits woods.

3 T of salt may be a bit much depending how salty your brine is and how long you soak the chicken. Once you mix up your brine taste it to check the salt content. Start off with 1.5T salt then add from there. I like salt but too much will ruin your chicken.

Good luck! Happy brewing and cooking.

 

[dawn_kiebawls]

I do alot of smoking, mainly butts. I find simple is better. Salt pepper garlic and onion.

When i cook chicken, whether its smoking or some other way, i always brine. I like your brine and think that will work well. Maybe switch out the vinegar for hot sauce. I like things a bit spicy and find hot sauce kicks it up a bit. If you like Sriracha try that as well. Only think i would change is to use cherry wood. I find chicken absorbs too much smoke and it can be over-powering. Fruit woods work great with chicken and pork plus it gives the skin a nice color.
If you cant get cherry or a fruit wood, hickory will work. I just prefer fruits woods.

3 T of salt may be a bit much depending how salty your brine is and how long you soak the chicken. Once you mix up your brine taste it to check the salt content. Start off with 1.5T salt then add from there. I like salt but too much will ruin your chicken.

Good luck! Happy brewing and cooking.

Thanks for your quick reply, as this will kick off soon! I like your input on salt. I will definitely taste as I go and add as needed. One question I have pertaining wood. I have apple, cherry, pear and pecan available. But the ribs, butt and wings will all be in at the same time. Do you see this as a problem or will they all be better off with a bit of fruit-wood smoke? Thanks again!

 

[brew703]

Thanks for your quick reply, as this will kick off soon! I like your input on salt. I will definitely taste as I go and add as needed. One question I have pertaining wood. I have apple, cherry, pear and pecan available. But the ribs, butt and wings will all be in at the same time. Do you see this as a problem or will they all be better off with a bit of fruit-wood smoke? Thanks again!

Alot of times i mix. I've used cherry and apple but not pear. I find cherry gives a sweet cherry taste. You can mix that with the hickory for all that you are cooking.
Pork and poultry go best with fruit woods as they are milder.

I'm sure you know this, if you are putting all meat on at the same time, make sure the poultry goes at the bottom where the juices dont mix with the other meats.

 

[mirthfuldragon]

I have had mediocre luck smoking chicken. If you only smoke it, the skin has a tendency to become rubbery and gross - it really needs higher heat to get crisp and tasty. However, the amount of heat needed to get the skin crispy is almost enough to fully cook the small chicken wings, so if you smoke it long enough to imbue a decent smoke flavor, and then transfer to the grill at high heat for crisp skin, you are almost guaranteed to have dry crispy skin and dry, crispy meat.

I gave up on smoking wings and grill them instead, using indirect and direct heat zones to get cooked meat with crispy skin.

 

[SleepyCreekBrews]

I have had mediocre luck smoking chicken. If you only smoke it, the skin has a tendency to become rubbery and gross - it really needs higher heat to get crisp and tasty. However, the amount of heat needed to get the skin crispy is almost enough to fully cook the small chicken wings, so if you smoke it long enough to imbue a decent smoke flavor, and then transfer to the grill at high heat for crisp skin, you are almost guaranteed to have dry crispy skin and dry, crispy meat.

I gave up on smoking wings and grill them instead, using indirect and direct heat zones to get cooked meat with crispy skin.

Same here, I usually just cook 'em low and slow on the grill. Periodically turn them and apply "burn ointment" (that's Carolina bbq sauce and vegetable oil) with a brush. I'll usually cook them for 90 minutes, and they come out crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.

** Note: Carolina bbq sauce is not like that sugar and tomato based sauce you get at the store. In it's simplest form its just apple cider vinegar, salt and crushed red pepper flakes. Mix that with some veg oil for the burn ointment. Good to go!

 

[brew703]

Only chicken skin i eat is fried. All others i peel off and eat the meat.
I'm not after the skin anyway. it's the meat i want.

 

[NSMikeD]

wings do not require anything special to be great. Bump up your temps to 300°-350° , cook away and and then sauce with whatever you like (franks original, sweet baby rays, honey, or naked etc ). They don't need brining as they are naturally moist. Use a probe thermometer to check for doneness so they don't dry out.

wing skin will come out fine in the smoker


btw a fellow competitor won a grilling comp (Same Club) with a peanut butter and jelly sauce on the wings.

In any case, having lived on wings in Buffalo for 4 years, I was impressed with how well they come out when cooked in a smoker.

 

[Dcpcooks]

Stick em in a bag in your mash tun. 135 for 2 hours and toss em on the grill to char.

 

[HopGobbler]

Never tried brining, but I've done chicken many times with just a dry rub and a little bit of olive oil

 

[slym2none]

I just love chicken (and turkey, and even duck) wings! Smoked, grilled, baked, fried, it's all good! For smoking, it's just like anything else - they will be done when they get done.

Hope it all goes/went well, OP!

(My preference, however, is the "confit"-style of cooking, low & slow submerged in low-temp oil until tender, about 45 minutes, then crank the heat to crisp them up!)