Tender mesquite smoked chicken wings tossed in a savory garlic pepper blend. Served with a classic blue cheese dressing.
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CHICKEN WINGS
Chicken wings are made up of skin, bone and cartilage. They make a great option for smoking since they come with enough fat to keep the wing juicy and from drying out. The chicken wing is segmented into three parts the wing, drumette, and tip. When smoking chicken you can either segment. Meaning cutting the sections at the joint, disposing of the tip and cooking the flat and drum, or whole and cooking the entire wing intact.
GARLIC PEPPER SEASONING
The garlic pepper seasoning is a blend of poultry essentials. Its a combination is garlic powder, black pepper and cayenne with some light additions of ground thyme and onion powder.
VEGETABLE OIL
Vegetable oil does two things. It provides a protective layer over the chicken and it also gives the seasoning something to stick onto. Vegetable oil is a neutral oil with a higher smoke point so it wont burn or alter the flavor of the chicken.
TIPS & TRICKS FOR THE BEST GARLIC PEPPER SMOKED CHICKEN WINGS
WOODS OPTIONS
use whatever wood you have on hand. mesquite, apple and hickory are great choices. each wood has its own characteristics some are sweet, some are earthier and some add a ton of smoky flavor.
PREPPING THE CHICKEN
segmenting the chicken is a great option to free up limited cooking space. It also reduces the cooking time on the chicken wings. leaving the chicken wings whole often keeps the chicken juicer but it tends to need a longer cook and uses more cooking space.
COOKING THE CHICKEN
when cooking the chicken, the chicken will have a pink smoke ring that bands around under the skin of the chicken. This part is perfectly safe to eat. just ensure that the chicken internally reached 165F. when cooking the chicken alone you can place the chicken at the highest point of the smoker just incase of flare ups. If the chicken is being cooked with other foods make sure the chicken is at the lowest point at the bottom of the smoker.
CRISPING THE SKIN
sometimes smoking the chicken doesn’t gives us super crispy skin. to get a nice snap on the chicken finish the chicken in an oven once cooked pop it into a preheated 375F oven for 10 minutes.
MAKING THE BLUE CHEESE
making the blue cheese is easy it’s a simple combination of sour cream, blue cheese and mayo, generally thinned out with a splash of milk then given some personality with a array of spices like black peppers, garlic powder, onion powder , celery seed and a variety of other combinations of herbs. for a blue cheese recipe click here.
SIMILAR INGREDIENTS TO
ONE-POT BBQ CHICKEN DRUMSTICKS & BROWN SUGAR BAKED BEANS
SMOKED CHICKEN + HOT BUTTER RICE
HICKORY SMOKED TURKEY LEGS
ENJOY THIS RECIPE WITH
AVOCADO WASABI PASTA SALAD
VANILLA BLUEBERRY JAM CUPCAKES
PAN AU CHOCOLAT BREAD PUDDING
INGREDIENTS
- 3LB Chicken Wings, segmented
- 2Tb Vegetable Oil
- GARLIC PEPPER BLEND
- 2Tb Garlic Powder
- 1Tb Black Pepper
- 1Tb Cayenne Pepper
- 1tsp Ground Thyme
- 1tsp Onion Powder
- 1/4tsp Citric Acid, optional
- 1tsp Salt
- 2Tb Butter, melted
INSTRUCTIONS
- Prep the smoker. While the smoker is coming up to temperature prepare the chicken.
- Take the segmented chicken and toss them in vegetable oil.
- Combine all the seasonings, reserve 1Tb of seasoning for after the chicken is done. Toss the remainder of the seasoning over the chicken till completely coated and worked in crevices.
- Place the chicken in even layers in the smoker.
- Smoke at 225F for 2.5 hours till the chicken is cooked and crisped.
- * The chicken will have a pink smoke ring on the outer band of the chicken under the skin, this is perfectly safe to eat. If you have concern about eating the chicken, the chicken can always be baked in the oven after for piece of mind. Pop the chicken in a preheat 375F for 10 minutes.
- Once removed from the smoker toss the wings in butter and 1Tb of reserved seasoning. Serve.
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