Help with smoked chicken wings

Mbranson58

I purchased my 1st BGE a month ago and was hoping I could get some advice on how to smoke chicken wings. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Mattman3969

A lot of people will go 350-400 indirect with fruitwood and then the other side goes 400* raised direct with fruitwood. I am in the latter camp and will flip the wing about 1/2 hr into the cook. The main thing to keep in mind is that poultry can be easily over smoked so take it easy on the chips or chunks. I will generally add a small handful of cherry chips right before I put the wings on. The rub and sauce is up to you, I like Dizzy Pig Swamp Venom mixed 2 to 1 with baking powder for crispy skin, then toss in Franks hot sauce and back on the egg just enough to set the sauce.

Mbranson58

They turned out ok. Used some Buffalo Sauce on half of them.

dagriller

They look good. What was just OK about them? What kind of wings are you looking to do?

Mattman3969

What was missing that make you say they turned out ok ??

Mbranson58

I should have done them indirect, but was in a hurry tonight. A few of them were a little burned. Will go indirect next time.

Spaightlabs

I run mine at 300 - 325, direct and flip every 5 - 7 minutes. Skin seems less rubbery than when cooked indirect.

Mattman3969

Were you raised or at fire ring level? 400 raised direct will make you some awesome crisp wings. Just flip once mid-cook

Mbranson58

Fire ring level.

Philly35

I go indirect at about 350-375 and they come out crispy and nothing but bone every time.

Philly35

IMO you can't overcook a wing. You can burn it by you can't overcook it unless you burn it, so I go indirect. The more you cook it, the more all the other crap in a wing cooks out and softens up so it pulls off the bone nice and clean. Any other small chunk of meat would be over cooked at that temp after an hour. But that's what makes a wing a wing.

Mattman3969

@Mbranson58 - you should try raised direct. If you don't have a woo2 or 3 or the AR you can use firebricks to raise your OEM grid or make the a homemade raised grid with 4-6" bolts and a weber grid. This will make all the difference in the world for the majority of your direct cooks. The only time I am at fire ring level is when I am using a CI skillet or doing a sear everything else is at gasket level.

Mickey

Raised direct 400

DLangley

I was trying to make Buffalo sauce with Sirracha sauce, and decided to smoke my wings instead of frying. I just put them on the grill direct @ 300 for about one hour. The sauce was not as good as the basic smoked wing plain. I think I enjoyed them more than Buffalo wings (and I LOVE Buffalo wings).

CANMAN1976

Air dry in the fridge for a few hours helps to:)

Ragtop99

Both direct and indirect are good. 

Indirect at 400* works well if you plan to sauce then on the grill.  With indirect, they cook reasonably evenly so they don't need constant attention before saucing, and a foil covered drip pan keeps the egg from getting real messy.  I like cooking the sauce onto the wing.

If you sauce off grill or don't sauce, direct can provide some light charring that I think tastes a little better on a plain wing or a wing that is not featuring a lot of heat.  However, they do need to be watched and rotated to avoid some being burnt. I'll do them 400* raised direct.  However, I'd cook at 325* - 350* if the wings are at the factory grill height, unless you cook on a lightly loaded XL, where you can be a little hotter because of the grid distance to the coals.