Crispy Smoked Wings Recipe

This smoked wings recipe is a great addition for those summer BBQ’s, fall football games or just when you have a classic American made snack. A versatile dish that can be made spicy, sweet or some combination of both, with a classic Buffalo sauce or a dry rub, you will not be disappointed.

Regardless of what I am smoking, I finish nearly ever smoke off with some smoked wings. Since I have everything up and running, I see it as a “why the heck not smoke them”.

Smoked Wings Recipe – Why Hot and Fast?

With this smoked wings recipe we are going to put aside the smoking low and slow mentality and rethink these for hot and fast. I have used both my WSM and Kettle for wings. Whatever your smoker of choice there may be some differences in how you generate the heat but the overall concepts are the same in that we want to crank the temperature up on these.

Hot and fast will get you that crispy skin on the wings that everyone loves. If you go with low and slow you are more likely to end up with rubbery skin on the wings, which really causes the wings to lose a lot of their appeal. Hey, some may be ok with that but if you want good tasting wings with crispy skin, go with hot and fast.

Smoked Wings Recipe Prep

So prep on these are easy, while prepping, if you are only setting up for wings, you will need to get your smoker up to about 400°, if not higher. If I am using my WSM, I will usually have finished up a smoke on something else so I just will just need to increase the temperature a bit. If I am maybe doing this on my Kettle there is a chance I am starting fresh and will need to get the temperature up to 400°. I usually use either B&B char logs or B&B lump with a hickory wood.

If you are using a Kettle for the wings, there are a couple of ways to do this, you can use the vortex which will really help generate those high temps and definitely get you closer to 600° or you can go with combining your Weber baskets, and get similar effect, but not nearly as hot as the Vortex will get it.

When its comes to prep, I will usually hit the wings with a rub. If you want a sauce on them, we will get to that part later. Make sure you are patting your wings dry and then if you using a rub, like I do, go ahead and place the wings in a bowl, add your rub and mix them in together. Keep adding to your taste and to ensure you have enough coverage on the wings.

One of my recent favorites for rubs is by Dizzy Pig, Swamp Venom. You can get it here. It will not disappoint.

Smoking The Wings

Now that you have the smoker up to temperature at 400°+, go ahead and throw the wings on. Pack them as tight as you need to but if you can leave room between them so they are not touching. If you are at 400°, you will only need to leave them on for about 45 minutes. Depending on your smoker heat source, you may want to turn them.

When I use my WSM, I do not flip the wings, it is rarely needed as they are not that close to the heat source. On my Kettle, depending on how many wings I have on and how close they are to the heat source, I may flip or rotate. Adjust as necessary based on your smoker type.

So chicken should always hit an IT of 165°, measuring that on a wing is not that easy so timing is your best bet and if you have them on for that 45-60 minutes you should be good.

I love my ThermoPro TP20 when it comes to measuring temperature, check them out, bang for buck one of the best you will get. It does not hurt to try and check one of the larger wings and see if it is at the 165° IT. I like to avoid getting guests sick so I will try to find a wing to check the IT on, again sometimes easier said than done.

If you are going to add some sauce to the these, I recommend saucing them up about 15 minutes before they are done. Want coat these wings with a smooth bourbon sauce? Check out the recipe here from The Perks of Being Us. It has some wonderful flavor and is easy to make for a summer BBQ.

Once you get that skin looks like it has the crisp you are looking for go ahead and pull them and serve while hot! No need to waste any time letting them sit and get cold.

Looking for some other ideas beyond our smoked wings recipe, here are a few suggestions!

• Hickory Smoked Nuts
• Easy Cinnamon Smoked Apples
• Winter Spiced Smoked Nuts
• Authentic Elote Recipe
• Smoked Teriyaki Beef Jerky Recipe
• Smoked Steak Bites

Thanks for being here and checking out this Smoked Wings recipe. I hope you enjoy it! We always appreciate comments, 5 star recipe rating and social media shares. As always, keep that smoke rolling!

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