Smoking wings....issues with skin?

luvysbbq

luvysbbq

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I was curious when you smoke your wings, do you have issues with skin not being crisp? If an issue, should I try flash frying? I have a friend that wants 50 wings for the super bowl and to be honest with you, I've never tried Wings...always chicken on the smoker. I personally take the skin off. I thought about putting them over direct heat to crisp up....but wasn't sure if that would be an issue to start with?
 
Ya know it really depends on the cooker. If I grate cook or roti cook over fire they are ALWAYS crisp. If I cook over charcoal (from a distance) they are fairly crisp and If they are cooked indirect then they are never crisp. That's just my experience anyway.


I used to fry or smoke then fry but those days are long gone.

 
Haven't done wings on my smoker yet, but from what I've read around here you need a higher heat if you want crispy skin, 350+. Or you can smoke at a lower temp and move to direct heat to crisp them up at the end.
 
I use my kamado style cooker for cooking chicken. Short of using a rotisserie, I believe the radiant heat from the lid does wonders for the skin (the best part) IMHO. I have a method I use where I smoke for a little while around 250 degrees, then raise the temp to 375 to 400 to complete the cook. I know the temp is right when the skin starts to sizzle. I also use racks for chicken legs and wings so they hang and not lay directly on the grill. Hope this helps.
 
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frying seems like a pita. if you cook them at 350 to the IT you prefer and they still are not crisp enough try going directly over the fire for a minute or 2. they have enough fat in them that they don't dry out too quickly. i try to cook them in the 400 range if i have the right cooker fired up.
 
You may not have time before your cook but you should consider a Vortex, makes the best legs, wings going IMO,you end up cooking about 400, usually less than an hour for a load
 
Go low and slow for 30 minutes or so then grab another beer, stand back and blast the poop out of them with a weed burner. You will see them crispen as they jump around the grill.

or get the temp to 375-400 and they will crisp up.
 
I just grill em indirect with a chunk or two of smoking wood. 20 minutes in sauce em with Frank's Red Hot and cook til done, another 20 or so.
 
Shagdog said:
Last time I did them on the shirley, I got it up to about 425-450, and then put the wings in. Skin came out great. They only took 20-30 minutes, tops..
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Cooking at that temp......fast.....did they have a smoke taste?

Wonder if I should start out low temp smoking, then increase temp to finish off?
 
luvysbbq said:
Cooking at that temp......fast.....did they have a smoke taste?

Wonder if I should start out low temp smoking, then increase temp to finish off?
Click to expand...

You'll never get there..chicken skin doesn't work that way. If you have to indirect cook as in an offset then HOT HOT HOT the WHOLE way. The skin fats have to render and low temps just won't cut it. If you're talking slow and then going over coals that is different but still your best wings will be grilling from a distance the whole cook from my experience.
 
Most smoke wings... No all smoked wings i have eaten never had crispy skin.... And i like them just fine... I do not want rubbery skin.. But crispy skin is overrated to me... If i want crispy skin i fry it.... Now i am going to make me a direct cook charcoal/ wood cooker that would produce crispy skin if i wanted it... On a reverse flow smoker... You will have to jack the temps up... Be careful to not over cook and dry those suckers out



Mike don't overthink it... I will say this... Your cooker is very large and to get it up to the temps prolly needed on a reverse flow might be more work than it is worth... There are a couple local bbq joints that smoke wings ... They are not crispy... And the wings are great... I am sure whatever you do will be fine... Just don't over cook them
 
The last batch of wings I did were cooked at 275-300* and they were delicious. The skin texture was just fine.
 
I like to add a little olive oil before I rub them. Not much, just enough to coat the wing. Throw them on the UDS at 275-300 and an hour later they are nice n crispy.
 
TuscaloosaQ said:
Most smoke wings... No all smoked wings i have eaten never had crispy skin.... And i like them just fine... I do not want rubbery skin.. But crispy skin is overrated to me... If i want crispy skin i fry it.... Now i am going to make me a direct cook charcoal/ wood cooker that would produce crispy skin if i wanted it... On a reverse flow smoker... You will have to jack the temps up... Be careful to not over cook and dry those suckers out



Mike don't overthink it... I will say this... Your cooker is very large and to get it up to the temps prolly needed on a reverse flow might be more work than it is worth... There are a couple local bbq joints that smoke wings ... They are not crispy... And the wings are great... I am sure whatever you do will be fine... Just don't over cook them
Click to expand...


Paul, thanks for the advice. I thought about smoking in main chamber.....then moving to warmer over direct charcoal to crisp real quick. Like you said, maybe I'm over thinking it :)

I'll just have to do a trial run on Saturday! I could use the vertical smoker type cook as well, I love my options on my shirley! :)
 
I've done a few different ways. On my egg i've found 450 for around 30-45mins is nice. I've also done low around 190 for 2hrs and then ramped to 350 for about 20mins and that works too on my egg. On my previous shirley i've done 350 for and hour'ish and they were great.
 
I don't like soft chicken skin either but I dearly love smoked wings. I smoke mine for an hour. About 45 minutes in I fire up the Cajun Fryer to 350. Drop the smoked wings in when they are at 165-170 on the smoker and 10 minutes later they are crispy smoky goodness.

I have also smoked them and then put them on my gasser. The gasser will crisp up the skin quite well but there is a bit too much char flavor for me.
 
Gary Tomato said:
I've read (http://www.meatwave.com/blog/spicy-chinese-xian-style-grilled-chicken-wings) that leaving them in the fridge for 8 hours or overnight helps get crispy skin, haven't had a chance to try it myself though so i can't vouch for the comments.
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This is true, and how I do mine. The baking powder and sitting in the fridge helps completely dry out the skin, which makes getting crispy skin on at a lower temperature easier. Here's my method, although I'm cooking closer to 300 these days.

http://craftbbq.com/smoked-chicken-wings.html
 
Wings

I can't wait to get my Shirley I'll do wings in the warmer over coal, I load my egg direct at about 350 20 min a side add sauce last 5 min crisp and juicy
 
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