This morning I smoked some wings for the first time. Still have two breasts smoking. Simple did a dry brine overnight with salt. Then this morning just a bit of garlic powder, paprika, celery salt, onion powder and a bit of black pepper. For the breasts I added some rosemary - will have to wait to see how that turns out. Used peach wood with a small amount of hickory. Wings taste great! I could get used to this!
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I'll take that one on the very bottom. Yum! -
Here are the breasts. Haven't tried them yet.
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Well done.Comment
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The wings look great - love 'em!Comment
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Oh heck yes! Good job!Comment
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Thanks everyone. Still haven't tried the breasts yet, but the wings seem a bit tough - kinda chewy. I think I over cooked them a bit.
I also have a question. This is only the second time I've smoked meat. First time was 100% hickory - pretty strong smoke flavor - somewhat over powering. This time I used a small amount of hickory and more of peach. Less smokey, but still pretty strong.
Would it be OK to say use some charcoal in my wood box and just a small amount of wood - instead of all wood? I need to be able to keep the heat going, but would like the meat to be less smokey. Thanks!Comment
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First off chewy sounds to me like you may have undercooked them. High heat is what you want, produces crisp skin and moist meat.
Second, what are you cooking on? If it’s all wood are you on a stick burner? If so need to control your fire, make it smaller and hotter to produce blue smoke. Tell us a little more about your method.Comment
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Yeah baby. Those wings and breasts look great.
Damn do I love me some good wings.Comment
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Nice job. Once you have smoked wings it's difficult to go back to fried wings.Comment
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Yes, you can use any combination of charcoal and wood to get the flavor you're after. They look gorgeous!Comment
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What temp did you smoke them at? Was the skin the chewy part or the meat?
For crispy skin poultry likes high heat, indirect cooking unless you hang the chicken in Drum then it's high heat direct.
Once they are at 180 or so, sear them directly over heat source. Do you have a grill?
They do look great from here!Comment
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Thanks Huskee - I think I'm going to start using less wood, and then I can build up over time as I find that sweet spot!
And thanks Mudkat for the comments. The temp was around 250 most of the time, I think. I currently don't have a separate thermometer to measure the smoker temp - for now I'm just using the gauge on the smoker itself. I've read comments elsewhere about how I need that 2nd thermometer and to not count on the gauge, just not there yet.
Regarding the skin, yes, I do have a grill and I agree that I'll need to sear them over direct heat to get that perfect skin. It was raining during all this, so when I saw they were done, I was done!
Thanks again everyone for the tips and encouragement, that really means a lot to me. I think my next big test will be a pork shoulder that I bought. It will have to wait though - I'm getting a liver transplant next Wednesday (9/26) so I'll be out of pocket for a bit. I'll have to spend my time reading through this site vs actual smoking of meat! Who knows, maybe I'll be super lucky and be the October winner and I'll pick an 'egg' grill and be able to sear anything that crosses my path!Comment
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I wish you great success with your procedure! Wings like hot and fast, especially with smoke. Your looked awesome though. Next ry a smoked turkey breast. Delicious!Comment
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if you have a gas smoker why don't you just stop putting wood on if you are concerned about smoke flavor?Comment
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