Chicken Wings for 250! Couple questions.

3montes · May 19, 2017

Cooking for some friends of ours sons grad party coming up in a couple weeks. Expecting around 250 people. Buffet style serving line. They want me to smoke chicken wings. They are also having meat balls, salads, veggies, fruits etc. Basically a big grazing table. Very difficult to try to figure out how many wings to make. 3 per person?? I get some nice jumbo cut wings from my restaraunt supply outlet. 40 lbs of wings to a case. Just a guess is 8 to 10 wings per pound. They are pretty good sized. So I'm figuring 2 cases or 80lbs.

I always brine poultry first especially wings. I will need to brine ahead of time naturally. The grad party is on Friday. So I'm thinking I will brine Wednesday and take them out of the brine Thursday. Rinse in cold water put in zip locks and put in fridge. I wish I had enough room to spread them all out and air dry in the fridge but I don't have near the fridge room.

I'm going to be using my Arizona Outfitters Santa Maria with the vertical smoker. Here it is.

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3montes
May 19, 2017

I'm doing the cooking on site of course. My plan is to fire up the vertical to around 275. There are 7 racks in the vertical so I will be able to make a lot of wings at one time. I will smoke them in the vertical until juices are running clear and they are done or nearly done. I will also have the Santa Maria fired up and running with a good base of oak coals. Once they come off the smoker they will hit the hot Santa Maria to add a little char and caramelization then into the steam table. Oh and sauce on the side for anybody who wishes.

Sound like a plan? What am I missing? Does my quanity sound right?

Any input appreciated.

pc farmer · May 19, 2017

Sounds like a great plan.

That is a awesome smoker/ grill too.

3 per person sounds a bit shy to me.

Sorry, I cant help with your questions.

hardcookin · May 19, 2017

About 20lbs of wings is a full pan. For 80lbs of wings you will probably have to do a couple batches.
I have a Lang 84 and I think 30lbs of wings would fill the grates up.
I do my wings about 300 degrees and it takes about an hour. Then I crisp them for a few minutes on my gasser.

You got the right idea with everything....just think your underestimating the space it takes to smoke that amount of wings.

3montes · May 19, 2017

c farmer said:
Sounds like a great plan.

That is a awesome smoker/ grill too.

3 per person sounds a bit shy to me.

Sorry, I cant help with your questions.

You may be right. Just so hard to judge as there will be everyone from high school kids who might eat 20 to gramma who nibbles on one. At some point I'm just going to say I'm going to make this many when they are gone they are gone. If there is some left they are yours.

3montes · May 19, 2017

hardcookin said:
About 20lbs of wings is a full pan. For 80lbs of wings you will probably have to do a couple batches.
I have a Lang 84 and I think 30lbs of wings would fill the grates up.
I do my wings about 300 degrees and it takes about an hour. Then I crisp them for a few minutes on my gasser.

You got the right idea with everything....just think your underestimating the space it takes to smoke that amount of wings.

Yep figured a couple batches in the vertical. I'm guessing about 15 per rack so slightly over 100 per batch. I don't like to over crowd in a vertical it can cause issues with hot spots. Need the heat and smoke to be able to flow freely

hardcookin · May 19, 2017

I agree with you, 80lbs of wings is a lot of wings. When they are gone they are gone.

Good plan enjoy your smoke!!

pc farmer · May 19, 2017

Not sure what kinda money your playing with but, maybe buy a 3rd case to cook if needed.

Don't brine, just season and cook if they are going fast?????

hardcookin · May 19, 2017

Adam 40lb case here is about $100 it varies a little.

pc farmer · May 19, 2017

hardcookin said:
Adam 40lb case here is about $100 it varies a little.

Well, that's out of the question then.

biaviian · May 19, 2017

OK, so I read the subject as you were cooking them at 250 degrees then I saw your smoker and I was speechless. No matter how many times I see one like this I am jealous.

3montes · May 19, 2017

c farmer said:
Not sure what kinda money your playing with but, maybe buy a 3rd case to cook if needed.

Don't brine, just season and cook if they are going fast?????

I thought of buying a third case for the reason you mention. We live about 15 minutes from where I'm cooking so I could have more wings brought in quickly if I thought I needed them. Like you said no need to brine just season and cook. If I don't need them I don't charge for them and I can vacuum seal in portions I want and freeze for myself. But I think I will run with the 80lbs and and see what happens.

3montes · May 19, 2017

Biaviian said:
OK, so I read the subject as you were cooking them at 250 degrees then I saw your smoker and I was speechless. No matter how many times I see one like this I am jealous.

Thank you! Actually I have had it modified from the picture. The ramp in the back has been made into a fold down step. The ramp got darn slippery after you got a little grease on the bottom of your shoes from opening the smoker and pulling racks forward to spritz the drippings would land on the deck and you would step in it. I darn near broke my neck sliding down the ramp a couple times last season. I also added another exhaust stack to the other side of the vertical smoker. It was originally built with just one stack on the left side of the vertical drawing all the heat and smoke to that side creating a hot spot on that side all the way up. Runs much more evenly now.

tallbm · May 19, 2017

I cant comment on smoking that many wings and such, but I would like to ask how you plan to ensure that the skin is not tough and leathery?

It would be wise to give a test run at 275F on a couple dozen wings, then on to the Santa Maria, then to a steam table checking the skin at every step.

My guess is that the Santa Maria will be the trick to having edible skin but this is only a guess. I have had problems with chicken skin being tough when using temps below 325F or so.

It would be a shame to have 80 pounds of great tasting but leathery wings.

If you know the process of yours works for sure on the skin then it sounds like you are on your way to a great adventure :)

3montes · May 20, 2017

I've never had the tough leathery skin problem from smoking chicken wings. Maybe the brine works to prevent that. Most of the times I just smoke them without throwing them on the Santa Maria at the end. I use a apple cider brine not water. I have an aversion to using using tasteless water.

Whenever water is called for in a recipe I look for a substitute. The apple cider brine imparts enough sugars into the skin to give a nice mahogany color and caramelizes nicely. I may not even need the Santa Maria but it will be fired up and ready. I may even just grill some and not smoke them

As you can see my plan is flexible!

SmokinAl · May 20, 2017

All I can say is.

THAT IS AN AWESOME LOOKING RIG!!!!!

Al

3montes · May 20, 2017

SmokinAl said:
All I can say is.

THAT IS AN AWESOME LOOKING RIG!!!!!

Al

Thank you Al! I was getting so many requests to do large events where people were asking for grilled burgers, brats, steaks chicken etc. that I needed a large grill if I wanted to take on these gigs. Also my other pit was being outgrown as some of the events got bigger. So it led to the Santa Maria with the vertical smoker attached. It supplements my other rig nicely and I can now satisfy all the grilling/smoking requests that I want to take on. When I take them both together to a party they grab some attention for sure!

Thank you for the compliment!

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