My first wings, read up on other people's smokes and had a good idea on how to attack it. Tried to keep temps between 300 - 320 for an hour and a half so the skin can stay crisp. I've had wings a friend tried to smoke his first time where the skin was really tough, did not want that at all.
Seasoned the wings in two batches. Batch one with my rub I used on my ribs, and batch two with a blend of soy sauce, worcestershire, garlic powder, mince garlic, onion powder, cumin, ginger powder, and a splash of good quality cognac.
The good news? The smoke went great! The chicken was so tender and moist, the meat melted in my mouth. The skin was perfect! It wasn't crispy, but was tender and moist and not tough at all. The only problems I saw were I need to work on my marinade and flavoring. The marinade was a little salty to my taste, the rub created a good crust but it didn't melt over the wings like it did on the ribs. I guess that's the difference between smoking for 1.5 hours versus 6 hours.
Also I had just a bit too much smokiness, I say that because my wife is allergic to woods and if the smokiness is too heavy she won't be able to eat it. She's been able to eat everything that I've gone light on the smoke with so far, and she's not home this week so this was a good learning experience for me and it should be perfect when I make her some when she gets home. lol
Here are the pics:
The wings with my rib rub.
Here are the ones in the marinade, next to my bottle of cognac. =D
Here they are barely fitting in the smoker.
Here they are done, this is one of the ones in the marinade. Beautiful color!
Here's one of the ones with the rib rub mix. Look at that crust!
Here's the whole batch resting.
And the pull test, oh my goodness. It came apart effortlessly, and look at that juiciness and the smoke ring. =D
How about a closer look? Can you see the moistness now? And yes, it's as tender as it looks.
I am so amazed that I was able to succeed on my first try. Especially having tasted my friend's first attempt at smoking wings. Thanks for looking.
~Bob
Seasoned the wings in two batches. Batch one with my rub I used on my ribs, and batch two with a blend of soy sauce, worcestershire, garlic powder, mince garlic, onion powder, cumin, ginger powder, and a splash of good quality cognac.
The good news? The smoke went great! The chicken was so tender and moist, the meat melted in my mouth. The skin was perfect! It wasn't crispy, but was tender and moist and not tough at all. The only problems I saw were I need to work on my marinade and flavoring. The marinade was a little salty to my taste, the rub created a good crust but it didn't melt over the wings like it did on the ribs. I guess that's the difference between smoking for 1.5 hours versus 6 hours.
Also I had just a bit too much smokiness, I say that because my wife is allergic to woods and if the smokiness is too heavy she won't be able to eat it. She's been able to eat everything that I've gone light on the smoke with so far, and she's not home this week so this was a good learning experience for me and it should be perfect when I make her some when she gets home. lol
Here are the pics:
The wings with my rib rub.
Here are the ones in the marinade, next to my bottle of cognac. =D
Here they are barely fitting in the smoker.
Here they are done, this is one of the ones in the marinade. Beautiful color!
Here's one of the ones with the rib rub mix. Look at that crust!
Here's the whole batch resting.
And the pull test, oh my goodness. It came apart effortlessly, and look at that juiciness and the smoke ring. =D
How about a closer look? Can you see the moistness now? And yes, it's as tender as it looks.
I am so amazed that I was able to succeed on my first try. Especially having tasted my friend's first attempt at smoking wings. Thanks for looking.
~Bob