- Aug 27, 2008
- 5,170
- 409
Hey, all!!! Thought some of you might be looking for ideas for appetizers for the upcoming holidays (Christmas Eve/Day, New Years Eve/Day) and this will give you a quick smoke fix to go along with it. I tried this dry rub recipe with wings and a Butter/Tabasco Sauce (+more dry rub) glaze a while back and it was rather tasty...hot, but tasty. Then I tried the same rub with spiced brine-cured legs...again, very good eating.
Wild Wings from 2010:
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...g-in-town-the-wild-wing-method-recipes-q-view
Hot Legs from 2011:
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/102377/hot-legs-brine-cure-dry-rub-recipes-w-q-view-in-gourmet
This time around I opted to not use a brine-cure, but instead a straight salt-brine. For 7.5lbs of chicken legs I used 2.5 qts cold water and 1/2 cup kosher salt. The legs were brined for 18 hours in the fridge.
WILD WING DRY RUB:
1/2 Tbls freshly powdered Black Pepper Corn
1/2 Tbls minced dried garlic, freshly powdered
1 tsp freshly powdered Onion
2 Tbls kosher salt
1 tsp sweet basil leaves, ground
1 tsp oregano, ground
1 Tbls ancho chili, freshly powdered (sub w/reg chili powder if desired)
2 tsp cayenne pepper powder
2 tsp red pepper flakes (crushed red pepper)
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
I jacked up the Ancho Chili powder, cayenne, cinnamon and pepper flakes about 50%, keeping everything else the same. I also added a bit of sage and thyme. It should prove to pack some heat with a strong, earthy flavor. For the mild(er) legs I left out the cayenne and pepper flakes.
18hr brine:
Hot on the left, mild on the right:
Mild up front (8) and the rest (14) are hot...started out with a cold smoke while the grill heated up with a fresh load of coals with one apple and one hickory chunk for smoke:
I let temps coast up to *200 grate temps for the first 3/4 hour, then cracked the intakes open to push ~250*. These legs are for transporting to my daughter's house for another hot wings & legs night, so, I pulled them out of the smoke early @ ~145-150* I/T to finish in the crock-pot after arrival. I preheated the crock-pot on medium, then cranked it to high for about 15 minutes before hitting the road for a 5-6 minute drive.
So, for an 8-qt crock-pot, it appears that it's about 80-85% full with 7.5lbs of legs. It could handle a max of about 9.5, if I crowded them a little. These are placed sort of loose for steaming from their own water vapor (no added liquids), and I wanted to keep some kind of separation between the milder and hotter so nobody gets any surprises, even though the pepper flakes are my marker for the hot version.
If you don't like heat don't add cayenne, cinnamon, or pepper flakes. The cinnamon is only there to tame down the possible bitterness in the after-taste of the cayenne...but, you could still use it for the spicy, sweetness in the background, if you like. If some of your guests/family like it hot and some don't, just do like I did and make the mild version of the rub and apply to your legs or wings, then add the heat-provoking ingredients and rub the rest of your subjects.
If you decide to follow the original Wild Wings method and recipe with the Tabasco/butter/rub glaze, don't let it fool you...there's plenty of heat and it sneaks up on you after a few minutes. The only difference is there is some vinegary bite to the sinuses up front from the sauce, which makes it seem hotter than it actually is due to sinus stimulation.
BTW, something I learned from Chef Jimmy J: vinegar makes your mouth water and get ready for the next bite...so, don't be surprised if you can't walk away from the original recipe/method with the glaze, even though there's steam coming out of your ears from the heat...
...
Back with the verdict after dinner, but I'm sure these will satisfy the heat-seekers in the family...including me. The 24th is smoked Prime Rib day for us, so you could say we're being adventurous this evening.
Thanks for peekin'!!!
Eric
Wild Wings from 2010:
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...g-in-town-the-wild-wing-method-recipes-q-view
Hot Legs from 2011:
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/102377/hot-legs-brine-cure-dry-rub-recipes-w-q-view-in-gourmet
This time around I opted to not use a brine-cure, but instead a straight salt-brine. For 7.5lbs of chicken legs I used 2.5 qts cold water and 1/2 cup kosher salt. The legs were brined for 18 hours in the fridge.
WILD WING DRY RUB:
1/2 Tbls freshly powdered Black Pepper Corn
1/2 Tbls minced dried garlic, freshly powdered
1 tsp freshly powdered Onion
2 Tbls kosher salt
1 tsp sweet basil leaves, ground
1 tsp oregano, ground
1 Tbls ancho chili, freshly powdered (sub w/reg chili powder if desired)
2 tsp cayenne pepper powder
2 tsp red pepper flakes (crushed red pepper)
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
I jacked up the Ancho Chili powder, cayenne, cinnamon and pepper flakes about 50%, keeping everything else the same. I also added a bit of sage and thyme. It should prove to pack some heat with a strong, earthy flavor. For the mild(er) legs I left out the cayenne and pepper flakes.
18hr brine:
Hot on the left, mild on the right:
Mild up front (8) and the rest (14) are hot...started out with a cold smoke while the grill heated up with a fresh load of coals with one apple and one hickory chunk for smoke:
I let temps coast up to *200 grate temps for the first 3/4 hour, then cracked the intakes open to push ~250*. These legs are for transporting to my daughter's house for another hot wings & legs night, so, I pulled them out of the smoke early @ ~145-150* I/T to finish in the crock-pot after arrival. I preheated the crock-pot on medium, then cranked it to high for about 15 minutes before hitting the road for a 5-6 minute drive.
So, for an 8-qt crock-pot, it appears that it's about 80-85% full with 7.5lbs of legs. It could handle a max of about 9.5, if I crowded them a little. These are placed sort of loose for steaming from their own water vapor (no added liquids), and I wanted to keep some kind of separation between the milder and hotter so nobody gets any surprises, even though the pepper flakes are my marker for the hot version.
If you don't like heat don't add cayenne, cinnamon, or pepper flakes. The cinnamon is only there to tame down the possible bitterness in the after-taste of the cayenne...but, you could still use it for the spicy, sweetness in the background, if you like. If some of your guests/family like it hot and some don't, just do like I did and make the mild version of the rub and apply to your legs or wings, then add the heat-provoking ingredients and rub the rest of your subjects.
If you decide to follow the original Wild Wings method and recipe with the Tabasco/butter/rub glaze, don't let it fool you...there's plenty of heat and it sneaks up on you after a few minutes. The only difference is there is some vinegary bite to the sinuses up front from the sauce, which makes it seem hotter than it actually is due to sinus stimulation.
BTW, something I learned from Chef Jimmy J: vinegar makes your mouth water and get ready for the next bite...so, don't be surprised if you can't walk away from the original recipe/method with the glaze, even though there's steam coming out of your ears from the heat...
Back with the verdict after dinner, but I'm sure these will satisfy the heat-seekers in the family...including me. The 24th is smoked Prime Rib day for us, so you could say we're being adventurous this evening.
Thanks for peekin'!!!
Eric
