Smoked crispy wings?

[robbieh]

It's been a long time since I've posted here, so it's good to be back. And with the weather slowly starting to get nicer, I'm feeling the itch to smoke some food.
Did my first brisket this past weekend and it came out great!
I'd really like to try smoking wings.
I've done some reading here but there's lots of different methods.
I have a propane vertical smoker, a Smoke Hollow brand.
So can some of you please steer me in the right direction?
Cooking temps for the smoker, prepping the wings, etc??
Again, hoping for smokey and crispy wings.
Can't wait to try this! Thank you!

 

[kilo charlie]

It's been a long time since I've posted here, so it's good to be back. And with the weather slowly starting to get nicer, I'm feeling the itch to smoke some food.
Did my first brisket this past weekend and it came out great!
I'd really like to try smoking wings.
I've done some reading here but there's lots of different methods.
I have a propane vertical smoker, a Smoke Hollow brand.
So can some of you please steer me in the right direction?
Cooking temps for the smoker, prepping the wings, etc??
Again, hoping for smokey and crispy wings.
Can't wait to try this! Thank you!

Having had a similar smoker for many years now, it's really two steps to making smoked and crispy wings.
Many will come along with their own ideas and recipes but it's really about step #1 getting the smoke into the wings, then Step #2 is finishing at a high temp to get that skin to crisp up.

There's lots of variations from using baking powder in your rubs to letting the wings "dry out" in the fridge before smoking etc. - it really just comes down to finishing with a higher temp 350F ish to crisp up the skin.

 

[BurntWeenie]

I have a pellet grill. I just smoke for 45 minutes or so and then crank to 400 for 20 minutes.

 

[Colin1230]

Welcome back robbieh . There are many different recipes but the technique is the two-step method mentioned above. Those guys have stared you right. Have fun and enjoy those crispy wings.

 

[robbieh]

Ok great! Seems pretty straight forward. Thank you all for the replies.

 

[gmc2003]

Be careful with the wood you use. Poultry takes on smoke rather quickly. For wings I go high indirect heat all the way with either apple or hickory wood. It takes me about 35 to 40 minutes using my Weber 22" kettle with the Vortex for whole wings. I haven't tried wing parts yet. If you can get a similar set up on your smoker then this would be my suggestion. If not go with the two-step process. Indirect heat then sear for crispy skin.

Chrs

 

[robbieh]

Thanks for the tip. How long should I have the smoke "on" for? I realize it depends on the amount of wings I'm cooking. Just a rough estimate..

 

[Sowsage]

I agree with what the others have already stated. I do think drying the skin in the frige overnight goes a long way... Moisture has to leave the skin before any crisping action will take place... It also forms a pellicle for the smoke to adhere to. And as mentioned a mild wood like a fruitwood goes best. If you dry out in the fridge and can get that smoker in the 300°-325° range you will have crispy skin.. I think i would let the smoke roll the whole time. It will be a short cook...
Post your results! Im always down to look at some smoked wings!!

 

[robbieh]

Again, great advice and thank you!
I will definitely post pics when I try this.
Waiting for the weather to give me another day of smoking and beer time on the deck

 

[gmc2003]

This is my setup. I'll place a smallish chunk of apple or hickory on the grate over the Vortex once the chicken is on the grill. It'll will burn the whole cook, but remember it's only about 35 to 40 min. If your going at a lower temp then you'll need to experiment to find out how much smoke you and your family likes. If it's just the wife and I then apple gets the call. If my kids are over then it's a hickory smoke. They like a stronger smoke flavor.
This is my setup. I just put the chicken on. The wood went on after the pic was taken unfortunately.

Here you can see the size of the wood I use. It gives us a lite smoke flavor.

Chris

 

[masssmoke]

Cool set up with the vortex gmc2003

I have a pellet and I smoked some bagged wings over the weekend from frozen. I ran them on low smoke for 20 mins to defrost then sprinkled on rub. Then let them go for an hour and half at 250-275. Then I cranked the heat up a bit to 350-400 for 15 mins or so. I tried something different in that I then let the smoker cool a bit down to 225 or so then I coated the wings in buffalo sauce and the the sauce set on the cooled down smoker. I find this is better than when I tried to sauce the wings and then crisp them up, which usually resulted in pretty heavy char! They came out good. Good luck with yours.

 

[LapunSusu]

Cool set up with the vortex gmc2003

I have a pellet and I smoked some bagged wings over the weekend from frozen. I ran them on low smoke for 20 mins to defrost then sprinkled on rub. Then let them go for an hour and half at 250-275. Then I cranked the heat up a bit to 350-400 for 15 mins or so. I tried something different in that I then let the smoker cool a bit down to 225 or so then I coated the wings in buffalo sauce and the the sauce set on the cooled down smoker. I find this is better than when I tried to sauce the wings and then crisp them up, which usually resulted in pretty heavy char! They came out good. Good luck with yours.

Great tips masssmoke, thanks for sharing.

 

[LapunSusu]

I agree with what the others have already stated. I do think drying the skin in the frige overnight goes a long way... Moisture has to leave the skin before any crisping action will take place... It also forms a pellicle for the smoke to adhere to. And as mentioned a mild wood like a fruitwood goes best. If you dry out in the fridge and can get that smoker in the 300°-325° range you will have crispy skin.. I think i would let the smoke roll the whole time. It will be a short cook...
Post your results! Im always down to look at some smoked wings!!

I have an electric upright masterbuilt with a slow smoke attachment, and a traeger pellet grill. Do you have a recommendation on using one or the other/both?

 

[gouldopfl]

I gave up on Traeger after the past 2 years of frustration. I had a 14 year old 36 inch traeger bought in 2003. It was American built and I finally got rid of it because more smoke was on the outside than inside. In 2018 I purchased a Pro 34. It worked well for that year and then it started having problems. Traeger replaced every part except the wiring harness and after the frustrations of this summer when the upper temperature was 135 both before and after replacing the control for the second time, I decided that I will sell for 100.00 or convert into a garden station and purchased a Camp Chef woodwind 24. So far this does everything and more. I bought with the sear station and it has features like the ash cup that traeger doesn't have. The SS sealed top is wonderful and the pid controller is good +-5 degrees. I trust this on long smokes because it doesn't flame out. I did a large flat brisket on Thanksgiving and it was like the ones I used to do on my original Traeger. I know a few other of my Traeger buddy's that now have a Chinese made version who have has some problems