Tonight, wings

Post deep frying.

On the plate (but not for long)....

I have to admit to being intrigued by the pics. The dark color turns me off a little, but your description sounds good. I have done wings for about 90 minutes at 225 and then finished on the grill with limited success - still rubbery skin and the meat was dry. So was the meat tender and juicy? What rub or marinade did you use? I like the frying idea, but the messy cleanup is what keeps me from frying from the beginning. Thanks for posting the pics!

Jay, I agree, the wings are a bit dark. Based on my recent reading, I used 4 oz. of hickory, double what I used in my 009. I used Butt Rub-- need to start making my own rub. The wings were moist and tender, not over-cooked. We fried in a Fry Daddy, 8 wings a time, and clean-up was minimal. Like you, before this go-around, my wings had too-moist, rubbery skin, even after some time on the grill. Until yesterday, I quit making wings for this reason. But, I am now a wing-cooking fool!

quote:

Originally posted by michaelstano:
Sorry to post so much, but I am so impressed by the results...

Keep 'em coming...

Did you ever take the temp of the chicken? If you are going to fry them 3 hours sounds long.

In my restaurant they were big sellers. Smoked at a lower temp, 180, we would smoke 40# at a time. About 1.5 to 2 hours and these were larger wings, not BWW size. We pulled them around 150. The key for use was to chill and then fry. The chill help the smoke settle in and kept the chicken from over cooking.

Smokin, this was an experiment for me, and, frankly, I was surprised the result was not just edible, but delicious. I had smoked wings in the 009 a few times at 250* for 2 hours, and then grilled the wings--the result was such that I gave up on wings. With the new 025, I decided to try again. I read through the recipes on this forum, and the protocol was wildly different--60 mins., 75 minutes, 80 mins., 4 hrs.; 2 oz., 4 oz., 6 oz. hickory. Since I didn't like the result of my earlier attempts, I decided to hit the rough-median of what I recently read--3 hrs., and 4 oz. of hickory. I took your long-ago advice to not open the smoker, and just let them go, figuring I'd adjust the next time. I didn't use a probe to check temperature, but did a "tooth" test before frying. I agree with Jay--they were too dark in color; I don't know if that was the result of too much wood, or the Butt Rub I used. But, even at 3 hours and frying for a minute, the wings were tender, juicy, and crisp. Next time, I'm going to use less wood, a home-made rub, and drop back to 2.5 hours. I'll try your "chill" suggestion, and I'll post new results, which won't be long, because the 34 wing parts I just did are not going to last long!

Great details! Thanks

for wings I like to finish them off in a 450 oven for 10 minutes or so; doesn't seem to hurt the smoke flavor and the skin will crisp up nicely. I tend to use just a small bit of wood for chicken.

TN Q - That's something I'm going to try. No offense to michaelstano or Smokin, but I have a real aversion to frying stuff if I don't have to. I will fry a big mess of okra or bacon-wrapped dogs for special occasions, but I really, really hate the cleanup, even if I do it outdoors. If 450 for 10 minutes gets them crisp I'll be very happy. Thanks for the idea.

I too do wings on my pellet pits quite often. Similar to "TN Q", after smoking I put the wings under the broiler until they are more crispy. Turns out great.

^^^^^^^^^ That's how I do them. Finish under the broiler or on a hot grill. They turn out great.

I've tried grilling as a final step and have concluded that the time and temp under smoke is critical. The wings need to be still a little undercooked out of the smoker for the grilling to work without drying them out while still getting the skin crisp. Even an hour at 225 seems to be too much time in the smoker. I like Smokin's talk about larger wings but don't know where to find them.

I think the key to finishing them is very high temp. If the grill doesn't work, the broiler should do the job. I think you're right about still having some fat in them when they hit the finishing stage to help crisp them up.

I appreciate all the "adult supervision," and suggestions! With left-over wings, I tried finishing them under the broiler, but still prefer the quickness and minimal clean-up of the Fry Daddy. And, on wings or cut-apart ribs, try a flour, egg-wash, flour, deep fry for a decadent treat! First pork butt with the new smoker for dinner tomorrow!

With my Amerique I would pre-heat the smoker to 300, cook my wings for about an hour, then crisp up on the grill. Didn't need the lower temp or a lot of wood to impart smoke flavor.