Workplace Wings party, but can't bring my smoker!

[abandonedbrain]

Hi, everyone,

At my workplace we do a luncheon once every couple of months, usually based around a theme entree (recently we've done a chili cook-off, taco Tuesday, even a baked potato bake-off). Next week's main course: WINGS! And of course, four of us are fans of smoking EVERYTHING, so we all said "I'll bring smoked wings!"...

I'm trying to figure out the logistics of this, though. I normally do whole wings (usually snip the tips), dry brine them and season them with AP rub from Pit Barrel, lay them on a sheet pan in the fridge uncovered to dry, and cook them on my regular-size PBC the next day. If I have a bunch to do, I do them in two batches split, one on the PBC, the other on my Weber kettle, with more smoke and a different rub. But no matter what, I normally cook to feed immediately.

Because this is a party during work hours, the wings will need to be cooked the day before (or two, depending on Michigan weather this coming week), and stored in the fridge. I can vacuum seal them to keep them fresh and smokey, and can easily warm them back up at work in either a crock pot or an electric roaster oven we have handy. However the wings just will not have crisp skins if warmed back up this way. I do have one of those small Weber portable gas grills, but I'm afraid warming them back up at a hot temp will just dry the wings out before the skin gets crispy again.

Any thoughts on how best to present these come the day? Likely I'll be doing 20-24 full wings (that's about the max for one load on the PBC). I can't bring my PBC to work and run it there... we're in the city (also I drive a Mazda 3). I can get away with the portable gas grill if it's not raining, though!

[djl]

I have done this before (smoked one day and grilled the next until skin was crispy again) with good results.

[Allon]

Sounds like a perfect situation for a SV reheat...

[jfmorris]

If you want soggy wings... I like my SV, but this its not good for finishing anything you want to be crisp. And it takes a while. Skin on chicken wings would turn to rubber I think.

[jfmorris]

Hey - this may be a radical departure but if you want to reheat and keep the wings crispy, do you have an air fryer you can take to work and use? You are not cooking them - just reheating and crisping them back up, so you can probably warm them up in a few batches for serving. Just my 2 cents.

Another option would be a deep fryer if you have one. Just messier to clean up in an office environment. I've had some really great smoked wings at a local BBQ place, and they flash fry them before serving to make them crispy.

EDIT: I just saw you have a portable gas grill. That would also be a good way to reheat and still have crispy skin.

[Oak Smoke]

What Jim said-Airfryer. They are incredible.

[mrichie1229]

+1 on the air fryer if available. Otherwise a quick blast on the portable gasser.

[smokin fool]

I'd be trading that Mazda 3 in for a Denali and take that cooker....
....then again I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
Agree you don't want soggy wings is there an oven or toaster oven you can reheat in.

[mnavarre]

How about something that doesn't need crispy skin? These are probably my favorite wings, super flavorful, bite through skin that's rendered enough to not go soggy in the fridge, and they reheat beautifully (they're even good cold).

1 Good chunk of ginger, about 1.5 ounces
1 shallot (2-3 if using Asian shallots)
6 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon salt

Blitz all that up in a blender and strain through a fine mesh strainer, reserving the juice.

Add:
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons neutral oil
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon pepper

Mix together and marinate 2 pounds of wings over night. You might get away with 3 pounds if you're using party wings.

To cook 'em I use my kettle at 250 with pretty heavy smoke for about 2 hours. After that you can eat 'em as is or crisp 'em up over a hot fire. In your case I'd reheat over low heat on your portable gasser and then crank the temp to crisp 'em up a bit.

[Polarbear777]

I’ll second the deep frying or air frying to finish. When I have time I smoke wings and then quickly deep fry a few at a time (don’t need a ton of oil) in a wok over a propane burner. Just make sure the burner has some power.

I find frying far superior to grilling them to finish, but if that’s what you have it will work. Just make sure to not lose the skin stuck to the bars. ( spatula to scrape and loosen , don’t just lift them with tongs)

[abandonedbrain]

FOLLOW-UP: Sorry I didn't make it back here to report in... life and all that. Thanks to everyone who chimed in!

I brought my portable Weber gasser to the shindig, but ended up using a co-worker's air fryer instead to warm the wings up (it was really cold outside, MI snow keeping us inside), and the wings turned out SPECTACULAR! The air fryer he had, though, was one I'd never seen, and worked amazingly well for the quantity of wings I needed. I can't find it now, but it was almost like a casserole pan with a glass rectangular top, about the size of an electric roaster pan. Plenty of room to spread the wings out. I have a batch that I vac-sealed and threw in the chest freezer, so I'll probably put them on my air-frying basket pan and throw them into my convection oven to reheat them this week.

PBC until cooked, using only a very light coat of canola oil and sprinkling on some Pit Barrel Cooker All-Purpose Rub. A couple of chunks of apple wood on the charcoal to give it a bit of smoke... kept it simple. These were the hit of the party, exactly as I had hoped.

[HawkerXP]

Congrats!

PBC, PBC, PBC!

[abandonedbrain]

Yup! As advertised, PBC is a chicken-cooking machine! I use it for chicken now more than anything else. This is the first time I've done small pieces though; I'd do it again, but I sure do love throwing three chickens (split) onto hooks in it. With a PBC and a Weber bullet grill with a Slow-N-Sear insert, most young'uns just getting started in their new homes would be set for a long time.