Chicken Wing Smoking question

wklkjn · Jun 7, 2017

Hi.

I smoked Chicken Wings last night and would like some opinions on how to improve the final product.

I cut the 3rd 'tip' off the wings before smoking so it was the (2) main wing sections together.

Put them in a bowl, drizzled garlic flavored olive oil over them and mixed by hand to coat all the wings.

Set smoker with Apple wood to about 250 degrees, maybe up to 275 during the smoke.

Smoked them for about an hour and a half.

Took out of smoker - skin was nicely browned - and single layered on gas grill.

Cooked on gas grill for maybe 20 minutes, they still had liquid fat dripping onto grill.

Tested temp in thick parts and pulled off at about 175 degrees meat temp.

Back in kitchen, cut the wings into single pieces and tossed with mixture of melted butter and frank's hot sauce.

Here's the thing.

Although they were cooked and the meat was still juicy, they don't seem to be as tender as I'd like them.

Instead of the skin being crispy or 'tender' like when deep fat frying them, it seems to be rather tough. I had the feeling like if I had bumped the grill heat even higher to crisp the skin, it would have been tougher yet.

Is this just a result of smoking, or is there something I'm missing?

Thanks for the help as always!!!

Wayne

crazzycajun · Jun 7, 2017

You over cooked them try taking them off the smoker around 145f-150f crisp on grill and let rest for an internal temp of 165f jmho

SmokinAl · Jun 7, 2017

I smoke them for about 1 hour 20 minutes at 225, or until the bones break apart at the joint.

Then on to a screaming hot gas grill for just 30 to 40 seconds on each side.

Be careful not to burn them.

Then a toss in Frank's & butter.

Al

dirtsailor2003 · Jun 7, 2017

And another method. I smoke mine with the pit running 325-350. Get plenty of smoke and perfect skin.

heavyd4561 · Jun 7, 2017

Leave them uncovered in the fridge for 30-45 minutes before smoking. Skin will crisp up like clockwork

tallbm · Jun 7, 2017

dirtsailor2003 said:
And another method. I smoke mine with the pit running 325-350. Get plenty of smoke and perfect skin.

I do as DS does with any chicken skin cuts. 325F the whole time and I've been good to go :)

Let us know what you try and what works or doesn't work for you. This is a topic I am always tuned in on as me and tough smoked chicken skin are mortal enemies :)

wklkjn · Jun 17, 2017

Thanks for the help.
Sorry no picks, but they came out perfect!
1 hour smoke at 325.
On the grill for naybe 10 /15 minutes.
Cut into pieces and tossed in Franks and butter.
Moist and juicy, but skin was crisp and tender.
Thanks!!!!

tallbm · Jun 17, 2017

wklkjn said:
Thanks for the help.
Sorry no picks, but they came out perfect!
1 hour smoke at 325.
On the grill for naybe 10 /15 minutes.
Cut into pieces and tossed in Franks and butter.
Moist and juicy, but skin was crisp and tender.
Thanks!!!!

Sounds awesome, congrats on the success!

delearyous · Jun 17, 2017

Add a little corn starch to your rub..It will help crisp it up

nickm62388 · Jul 5, 2017

I only use the minion method when smoking, because all the food I cook usually only requires 225-250 range and the minion method allows me to cook for five hours at least without adding anything....what is the best approach for getting my weber smokey mountain to the 325/350 range? And at that temp how long do wings gotta cook for...I get you can use a grill to crisp them up, but sometimes I don't have the luxury of a grill to finish. So I'd like to learn with just my smoker the right way to get nice crispy wings ...

Cause my first few attempts that eventually made me give up trying to smoke wings, was smoking wings at 225-245 range for 2 Hours or so and always turned out rubbery. Also for my ribs I usually put BBQ sauce on the last 15-20 minutes of smoking and then cover and rest for like 20.

Does adding sauce to wings while on smoker better or just toss them in sauce after being taken off the smoker and rested?

dictator · Jul 28, 2017

Hi all,

I'm doing some research in preparation of my first attempt of wings on my MES, and it seems a big thing is the crispiness of the skin. I'm wondering... has anyone tried the Alton Brown method of steaming the wings for 10 mins first, then resting them in the fridge for an hour before smoking? I swear by this method for oven-cooking my wings, as it renders out a lot of the fat and keeps the wings from smoking up the house and I always get nice crispy skin, but I wonder how it would translate to smoking.

tallbm · Jul 28, 2017

dictator said:
Hi all,

I'm doing some research in preparation of my first attempt of wings on my MES, and it seems a big thing is the crispiness of the skin. I'm wondering... has anyone tried the Alton Brown method of steaming the wings for 10 mins first, then resting them in the fridge for an hour before smoking? I swear by this method for oven-cooking my wings, as it renders out a lot of the fat and keeps the wings from smoking up the house and I always get nice crispy skin, but I wonder how it would translate to smoking.

Hi there and welcome!

My MES wings came out with rubbery skin. This was before my mods where I can now do them at 325F. I just haven't gotten back around to it yet as wings seem to be sky high in price or completely out of stock at my local grocery stores. It is baffling.

I've never seen it mentioned and I have never tried it.

Feel free to give it a shot. You may want to check on the wings about 25 minutes before you know they are done and if it looks like you are getting rubbery skin then you can try the toss on the a hot flame grill approach to finish the wings w/out over cooking them.

Let us know what you do and how it ends up.

dictator · Jul 28, 2017

Thanks for the info! No shortage of wings at my local grocery... I didn't notice the price, but I'm sure I paid a bit more than I could have as I opted for the "party wings", which have the third sections removed and the other sections already separated. I usually pay less for the complete wings, separate them myself and use the third sections for stock, but I digress...

I did try the AB method tonight: steamed the wings for 10 minutes, then put them on a rack over paper towels in the refrigerator for an hour. After that, I gave them a squirt of 3:1 apple juice:rum (which I have premade for pulled pork) and put them in the MES at 275F (the max it'll go) and smoked with hickory for about 1.5 hours. The party wings tend to be smaller, so they came to temp faster than I thought they would.

The skin didn't seem rubbery at all, and they had a nice dark coloring. My grill was already on, so I did toss them on there for 1-2 minutes per side just for some extra cook. Very happy with the results... tossed them in a mix of Frank's, butter, and garlic powder and enjoyed! I also kept a couple out of the sauce to taste the smoke flavor alone and was pretty impressed.

Since I've never tried wings in the smoker without the steaming step, I can't really say if it made a difference, but they came out so well that I'll probably continue to cook them that way in the future.

Wings after smoking and quick grill hit:

IMG_6454.jpg

dictator
Jul 28, 2017

Final plate, ready to dig in:

IMG_6455.jpg

dictator
Jul 28, 2017

tallbm · Jul 28, 2017

Those look great. Keep it up!

Chicken Wing Smoking question

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