Secret to making crispy wings?

what works for me is direct, about 300 degrees dome on a raised grid, the thicker skin side down until its cooked, then flip. cook the skin first, then the chicken, comes out crispy even when i take it directly out of the marinade and toss on the grill. im also shooting for about 185 internal with wings

I had some real success this weekend with wings.  I was going to do raised direct using my adjustable rig but at last minute decided to go indirect and still raised way up in the dome.  I am learning that the dome really reflects some nice heat for chicken skin and pizzas.   I cooked mine at only 350 and cooked for 1hr 30 min flipping every 30 min.  I only used salt and pepper seasoning to start but also coated mildly in peanut oil.  I am sure any light oil coating will aid the crisping process.  

For anyone interested, I also made a sauce of chili sauce, spicy garlic chili sauce, some sri racha, a dollop of honey and two tablespoons of soy.  Best Wong sauce I have ever made.

tjv said:

get 'em up in the dome, 350ish temp, little over an hour ...

@tjv ... are you cooking them direct or indirect?

@tjv ... thanks.

I've been cooking them at about 350 raised indirect for approximately 35 minutes when they hit the 190 to 200 degree internal.  Then pull the PSWoo2, plate setter and food grid ... returning the food grid to direct at the fire ring to cook for an additional couple of minutes per side.

Yesterday, I cooked them for about 45 minutes ... well past the 190 to 200 degree IT.  Then did the reverse sear for about four minutes per side.  They were better.

Thus, the question ... do you simply ignore internal temp and cook until the skin is crispy?

for some reason I thought that I could smoke my wings at 250 for 2 hours and then deep fry them for a crisp skin. The wings were already way over done after I pulled them off the smoker and when I threw them in the fryer they seemed to fall apart. I fried them for about a minute and they were like shoe leather. Never again. From now on smoke at 250 for an hour and the 425 to finish and crisp the skin.

I've learned to love wings cooked on my egg without crispy skin. Tender, juicy, flavorful, awesome wings, but not crispy. 
If I had to cook crispy skined wings, I'd fry them.
But that's just me. 
The information and techniques that you received above comes from some very experienced cooks. I'm sure they are giving you solid advice. I've never tried all the suggestions, but what I have tried doesn't produce crispy skin. 
Wings on the egg don't have to be crispy to be great.
Crispy skin is overrated. Imo

@TigerTony   it's not so much about crispy skin, but all about rendered skin.  last thing ya want to do is chew the skin like a stick of bazooka gum........

t

2 big things work for me. The most important is getting the egg hot enough. With indirect or raised direct, if the fire isn't hot enough the skin never gets crispy. I go back and forth between these options as raised direct is great right at 425-450, but you get a ton of smoke with it from the burning fat. Indirect slows the fat coming down, but I've had the liquid fat ignite, taking care of that pesky forearm hair for me.

The other key is letting the egg get to temp, meaning letting the ceramics get hot. When the dome is hot, it will radiate heat back to the wings to act as another heat source, thus getting the skin even crisper. I start skin down for 20, then flip and go skin up until crispy, usually another 15 to 20. This works pretty well for me.

Direct, grate at regular level, 375*.

@tjv: Tom, what is a concentric heat plume?

@Judy Mayberry  

  Judy Mayberry said:

@tjv: Tom, what is a concentric heat plume?

it's where the heat rising off the lump is evenly spread out to match the cooking grid above.   to do this the lump needs to be evenly burning over the entire fire bowl.  

many new folks to ceramic grills only light the lump in the middle with one starter cube when grilling.  then they wonder why the edges of the cooking grid won't cook like the middle.   Simple example of how radiant heat works.

 




 

Ceramic grill store. Call Tom  @tjv and discuss your needs and options. He will set you up. 

Ceramicgrillstore.com

I have had the best results from tossing the wings in corn starch so they are completely covered, then drying on a rack in the fridge for at least several hours or even overnight.  Then I spritz with canola oil just to hold then rub, apply, and cook at 400 for about an hour, moving and flipping to avoid burnt spots.  Raised indirect.  The key is to render out the fat, after which the skin gets crispy.  As you can see, there are about a million "right" ways to do it, but that works for me,

I agree with @Little_Steven.  Buying big wings allows you to cook it long enough to render out the fat without drying out the meat.

blakeas said:

so basically I need to get a raised grid if I read all the responses correct?  what do people suggest?

No you don't. I do mine at the regular level, and they are fine. Just keep an eye on them.