Rick's BBQ Smoked Wings

Ruth and I are off to her nephew’s graduation party and I was asked, by popular demand, to make my BBQ smoked wings.  Most people are familiar with Buffalo wings, which are fried and then tossed in a hot sauce.  My wings are dry rub seasoned, slow smoked with apple wood and then finished on a charcoal with “Rick’s BBQ and Broilin’ Baste.”  The dry rub I use is a modified rib rub with some poultry seasoning added for a savory note.  These wings “fly off the plate” whenever I make them.  Enjoy!

I use my Cookshack 150 restaurant-grade smoker for ribs, pork shoulders and chickens.  

It uses a thermostatically controlled electric heating element to cook the food at a consistent temperature and also heats a bin filled with wood chips, which generates a nice even smoke.  

Cookshack also makes a smaller model for home use called the “Smokette”.  I highly recommend their equipment, which you can see at www.cookshack.com .  After 3 hours, the wings are smoked, at which point I grill them and apply my BBQ sauce.  

The high heat from the grill caramelizes the sauce and forms a wonderful sweet glaze.  If you don’t own a smoker, you can also prepare these wings on a charcoal or gas grill.  Cook them over indirect heat and wrap some un-soaked apple wood chips in aluminum foil and place the foil packet over the coals or the gas flame to generate the smoke.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Chicken wings, tips removed and separated
Dry rub (recipe below or use Rick’s Ragin’ BBQ Rub, available at www.ricksragin.com)
Mayonnaise
BBQ Sauce (Rick’s BBQ and Broilin’ Baste, available at www.ricksragin.com)
Apple wood chips

Ingredients for the Dry Rub

1 cups light brown sugar
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup granulated garlic
1/4 cup chili powder (I prefer Mexene Brand- order from Amazon.com)
1/2 cup granulated onion
1/4 cup lemon pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 Tbs poultry seasoning
2 tablespoons Accent
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 Tbs corn starch (to keep the rub from clumping)

Directions:

Place all the ingredients for the rub in a food processor and pulse to combine well.

For the party I used two big packages of wings from Sam’s club.  

I use a Chinese cleaver because it has enough weight and size to easily cut through the wings.  First trim off the wing tips and discard or save for stock.

Find the joint between the “drummie” and the wing and cut them apart.

Season the separated wings with the dry rub.

Apply the mayonnaise to the seasoned wings and coat thoroughly.

Use your hands to apply a thin coat of mayonnaise to each piece.

Spread out the wings on a cookie sheet and sprinkle on a little more rub before placing in the smoker.

Arrange the wings in the smoker or place them on a grill opposite the fire.

This is why I like my Cookshack.  Just set the cooking temperature

and the cooking time

and hit start. You don’t need to touch them after that.

The wings are smoked and ready for the grill.

Get some coals going.

Quickly grill the wings and baste with the BBQ sauce.

A whole bunch of wings!

I hope you try them!