So this weekend I am home, and we will be smokin' up some meat. Last weekend was ribs and the soon-to-be-famous buffalo wings. This weekend? Not sure yet, we'll see what the butcher has on sale. So far I have smoked chicken wings, baby back ribs, pork shoulder, pork loin, tukey breast...and I think that may be it, with the wings and the pulled pork leading the charge.
I will post a picture of some wings in the future (during the next smoking session), but for now, here is the recipe:
- Take ~6 lbs. of chicken wings out its packaging and trim off all loose / hanging fat and skin. Apply some cayenne pepper and salt to the chicken, rub it in. Easy w/ the pepper, you can always add more later. This really gives the chicken a nice tan when it's smoking. Let the chicken sit for an hour or so, bringing it to room temperature.
- Fire up the charcoal chimney starter (fill 'er up to the top)
- Fill up the charcoal chamber in the smoker about 1/2 way, and wedge in 3 to 4 fist sized chunks of smoke wood (I use oak / mesquite, but am anxious to try apple and cherry wood)
- Once the charcoal chimney is glowing, and all the briquettes are white, dump them on top of the unlit coals in the smoker
- Assemble the smoker and add (hot) water to the water pan
- Place chicken wings on the cooking grate. You can cook up to 12 lbs. if you place wings on both cooking grates (Note, the bottom grate will cook about 10 to 15 degrees hotter than the top grate, so they may cook a little faster)
- Level the smoker at around 220 degrees (F), and start the timer. Keep at 220 degrees for about 3 hours
- When the wings are almost done, fire up the gas grill
- Remove wings from the smoker, and place directly on the very hot (400-500 degree) grill (skin / meat side down)
- DON'T TAKE YOUR EYES OFF THEM! These things will light up if you keep them on too long, you just want them on for 2 to 3 mintes to get the skin nice and crispy
- Remove directly into a large mixing bowl
- Add 1/4 cup of Wegmann's Hot Wing Sauce and toss wings with tongs. NOTE: You don't need a lot of sauce, a little goes a long way, and we are just trying to give them a thin coat of sauce. You don't want to kill the smoked flavor you have just waited 3+ hours for with too much sauce
- ENJOY
As my future brother in law (who is one hell of a chef) said - maybe the best wings he has ever had in his life...but that could have been the beer talking...we'll see
