Wings: good, skin: bad

[smokyYank]

Hi All,

Been interested in doing wings without frying for some time now. I have smoked chickens and thighs and of course the skin becomes rubbery. So I thought if I only par-cooked them on the smoker and then quick-seared them on the grill, the skin would be crispy.

Not so much, AND, a bit tough!

Recap of events:
Marinated wings in dry rub for an hour or two. Put on smoker at about 180F for about 2 hours until temp 160-ish. Tossed them in hot sauce, put them on a HOT grill (about 500F) and kept turning them for about 6 minutes.

Suggestions? Thanks in advance!

[FireMan]

2 hours on yer smoker I read & almost jumped out of my socks. Git some chips or a chunk & cook it on whatever kind of grill you have. Don’t dilly dally around with em. Don’t know what equipment ya have, but wrong approach. Folks around here use a vortex, or an SnS on a kettle which is what I use or mebbee a little 2 zone. Cook & prosper!

[smokenoob]

I never had any luck with low temp chicken cooks, go 350°+ or go beef!

[bbqLuv]

Ditto

[RustyHaines]

Yep, what he said

[Greygoose]

I cook my wings on a kettle with a vortex,,,
hot ,fast and toss,,,,,,
the skin isn’t like fried chicken but is reasonably crispy
maybe a little dusting of corn starch would help,,,

[HawkerXP]

+1

[Polarbear777]

Two hour smoke is good IF you fry them after. If you have a wok you can fry a couple at a time in a small amount of oil. It’s hard to finish them direct due to their shape.

if not I’d just cook them indirect at ~500.

[Panhead John]

Getting a vortex to use on the kettle will help a LOT.. tough and rubbery is the result of cooking chicken at too low of a temp. I always do chicken, whole or parts, at least 350-375. It also helps to dry the chicken with paper towels first, get as much moisture off the skin as you can. We’ve all been there too, tough and rubbery skin…yep, I did the same thing, trying to smoke chicken low and slow.

[DaveD]

Same.

[bbqLuv]

Yep
OMG, I agree with Panhead John

[Panhead John]

bbqLuv Damn man, next thing ya know you’ll be drinking Coors Light…

[shify]

Two hours at 180 degrees seems way off to me and a recipe for rubbery skin not matter how you finish. And don’t toss with sauce until after you finish cooking. That will exacerbate the problem.

I cook mine around 375-400 for 40-45 min and then finish over direct heat for maybe 1 min per side. Great smoke flavor, great crispy skin. Do this on both my PBC and SnS. If I used the PBC, I finished quickly on the gasser.

[Troutman]

I use a Vortex ripping hot to 450* for the win 👍

[smokyYank]

WOW! Thanks, all. I was obviously looking for the best of all worlds - moist, smoky, good skin. As Meat Loaf said, "two outta three ain't bad".

So at 375 or so, do you get enough smoke AND are they still juicy?

[grantgallagher]

you will get smoke and juicy going hot and fast, especially if you are cooking with wood even if its only a chunk on charcoal

[Panhead John]

+1

[LA Pork Butt]

The Vortex is an indirect cook at 375+. That’s how I do them on my kettle with the Vortex or I do them indirect at 375+ on my BGE. If you do them direct on high heat they will cook faster, but you will need to watch them closely and turn them often. The amount of smoke will be minimal. Good Luck on your next cook!

[Skinsfan1311]

WOW! Thanks, all. I was obviously looking for the best of all worlds - moist, smoky, good skin. As Meat Loaf said, "two outta three ain't bad".

So at 375 or so, do you get enough smoke AND are they still juicy?

Yes

[Smoked Transistors]

Just watched Chud's BBQ Crispy Skin Chicken on the Weber video. Came out spectacular just using his slow and sear with FOGO lump charcoal for high heat. No more rubbery chicken ever doing it this way. Very simple if you can plan a day ahead to salt brine the chicken first, no reason wings can't be done this way as well. Like the hot sauce added near the end of cook as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ugT4ZfZwHc

[bbqLuv]

The whole chicken as wings attacked, so I surmise this technique would work on only wings too.
Low and slow and finish hot.

How to Smoke Chicken - YouTube

[glitchy]

I’ll throw another vote out for the Vortex. I’m always trying different cookers and methods, but nothing has topped the Vortex yet for grilled wings (legs and thighs too). The air fryer and MAK both do fine, but the Vortex on the WSCG is still quite a bit better.

[texastweeter]

Add a small amount of baking powder (not soda) to your rub before dusting the wings. Raising the ph will cause the skin to crisp better.

[texastweeter]

fzxdoc yeah, bud baking soda taste like gorilla butt (well at least according to Panhead John

[fzxdoc]

I agree with you and Panhead John . I use baking powder. Hate the taste of baking soda. texastweeter .

Kathryn

[texastweeter]

fzxdoc I was just pointing out the fact that don't know what gorilla butt taste like, but I have heard that Panhead John does.

[Troutman]

I'm seeing two concepts here; smokey flavor and crisp skin. I'm also seeing advice on cooking low and slow then upping the heat for a crispy finish. That's good advice for whole chickens and chicken parts. But for wings its about grilling hot and fast as most have pointed out. Baking soda, light spray with a fatty or oily content helps with that but its all about the heat. At least in my experience I'll continue to cook hot and fast grilled wings with great flavor. Give that a try.



Cooked on a Weber kettle with a vortex to mach 10 (maybe 400-450*). Took about 15 minutes then flipped for another 15 minutes. Boom, eating.

[texastweeter]

Hot and fast is for sure the way to go, baking powder amps it up. I add it to my wing rub, sprinkle it on, then fire up the gasser or kettle. Handfuls of pellets on the gasser, or a chunk of wood on the kettle gives the smoke. Remember small pieces of meat, doesn't take much smoke to flavor it. Then put the spurs to her like Troutman mentioned. When you fry 350° oil is in constant contact with the surface of the meat, convection is not as efficient as conduction so you have to compensate.

[Panhead John]

Another good thing about the vortex is you don’t have to rotate your chicken pieces anymore! With the vortex being centered in the grill, all your pieces surrounding it will get equal heat. (In a kettle anyway) Just flip em once halfway through the cook.