Delicious Smoked Chicken Wings
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In this recipe, we are talking about smoked chicken wings and while these are very similar to hot wings, these are not the traditional chicken wings that are fried then coated in wing sauce.
Instead these are seasoned with my original rub , smoked with cherry wood and then brushed with my delicious barbecue sauce about 30 minutes before they are finished.
I dare say you have NEVER eaten anything that tasted this good right out of the smoker!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Smoker Temp: 275°F
- Meat Finish Temp: 180°F
- Recommended Wood: Cherry
- 5-10 lbs of chicken wings (I recommend doing plenty)
- Large foil pan (very helpful)
- Large ziploc (2 or 2.5 gallon works great)
- Heavy duty foil
- Jeff's original rub
- Jeff's barbecue sauce
- Oil, Olive, Vegetable, Canola, etc.
Did you know? You can order the MASTER FORMULAS which allow you to make Jeff's original rubs and original barbecue sauce at home using your own ingredients! Order the Recipes
This part is extremely easy.. the first step is to put all of the wings as they are into a large ziploc bag.
Pour about 1/2 cup of oil over the wings and then roll them around inside the bag to coat.
Pour 1/4 cup of my original rub per 3 lbs of chicken wings down into the bag. Zip it up then roll and shake the bag to coat the chicken with the rub.
Once the chicken is coated with rub, pour them out into a foil pan for easy access.
These already smell so good!
It does not matter what type of smoker you are using. You can use ANY smoker or grill and get amazing results.
If you are able to maintain close to the recommended temperature and you have a thermometer so you can make sure they are done properly, then it will work.
Regardless of what smoker you use:
- Maintain 250-275°F (a little higher temperature ensures better textured skin)
- Cook for about 1.5 hours or until the meat reaches 175-180°F
- Apply smoke for at least 1 hour. I used cherry wood on these but any good smoking wood will work well.
Once your smoker is maintaining about 250-275°F with 275°F being ideal in my opinion,
Lay the chicken wings onto the grate of your smoker trying to keep a little space between them to allow the smoke to circulate over, under and around each piece.
About 30 minutes from the time when the chicken is expected to be finished, you will want to brush some of my extra delicious barbecue sauce onto the wings.
For this purpose, I wanted the sauce to be a little thinner than usual so I mixed in some Lemon-lime soda to help thin it down. If you purchase the bottled barbecue sauce, you will probably not need to thin it out as it is already a little thinner than what you make at home using my recipes.
Note: you can use almost anything from water to coffee to pop and even cider or apple juice to thin down my barbecue sauce. Sometimes you just want it to flow a little more.
I just happened to have some SunDrop and that's what I used. The lemon-lime flavor won't hurt anything;-)
Just 2-3 tablespoons of liquid is all it takes in a cup of my barbecue sauce. Use more or less depending on how thin you want it to be.
Use a ThermoPop, Thermapen or other thermometer to make sure that the correct finished temperature is achieved in the chicken. You are looking for 175-180°F.
A great tool for checking the temperature on these is the Thermapen ONE which reads in 1 second or less! That's screaming fast folks! This is the ONLY 1 second thermometer in the world and I'm proud to own one.. you can too by clicking HERE.
When the smoked chicken wings are done, get them out quickly and place them into a foil pan or other serving platter or bowl.
This one was begging to be eaten!
Into the foil pan and into the house for serving to the hungry family and friends.
My oldest daughter said they were the best wings she's ever had. Why is this significant? She's very picky about her wings!
Try these and I know you'll love them. I do recommend that you do these exacly as I've instructed the first time.
Enjoy!!
Did you know? You can order the MASTER FORMULAS which allow you to make Jeff's original rubs and original barbecue sauce at home using your own ingredients! Order the Recipes
Notes:
The most popular email question that I receive is how to get chicken skin crispy and this includes whole chicken, pieces and even wings.
There are several methods you can use to help crisp up the skin a little bit
- Flash fry the wings (after smoking) in oil that is very hot (400+ degrees)
- Place them on a very hot grill for a few minutes after they are done smoking
- Place them in a 350-375 degree oven for a few minutes after they're done smoking
- Cook them hotter than usual.. 275°F (135°C) or even 325°F (163°C) if your smoker will do that.
Smoked Chicken Wings
Ingredients
- 5-10 lbs Chicken wings
- ½ cup Oil (Canola, EV Olive, or Vegetable)
- ¼ cup Jeff's original rub
- 1 cup Jeff's barbecue sauce
Instructions
- Remove wings from package and place in large ziploc
- Pour oil onto wings and roll to coat
- Spoon rub over chicken in bag
- Roll and toss to coat well
- Dump wings into large foil pan
- Prepare smoker for cooking at 250-275°F
- Place wings on smoker grate with space between them
- Smoke for about 1.5 hours
- About 30 minutes before finished, brush with sauce
- The wings are done when they reach 175-180°F
Prepared using my own rub and BBQ and the flavor was outstanding. My husband said the best he has had. Thank you for the recipe and now planning on making for Super Bowl party!!
First time I smoked wings. They were great. Next I will try the Fired up wings. Your recipes have NEVER been a disappointment. Thank you!!
I love this recipe! I have made these a lot. A few things I do different are; I use buttermilk with the dry rub, and let them marinate in the fridge for about 2 hours. I love the flavor of chicken with mesquite, so I smoke with mesquite. Lastly, I just put the wings on high heat of gas grill. It finishes them very nicely, no rubbery skin, and no oil needed.
Thanks again Jeff
Crisco eh?
Jeff,
Everytime I smoke chicken wings the skin comes out like rubber. I have tried many different ways to make them crispy. With negative results.
Any further ideas?
Thanks
Dave
My only comment would be to use a better quality oil. Canola (what is a canola) oil and vegetable oils (what vegetable oil) are rancid and man made. They are not good to use in my opinion. I prefer EV olive oil or grapeseed oil which can withstand a higher temperature and are natural products.
After I smoke them I put them in the air fryer for a couple minutes before I toss the sauce
Dave, not sure that you’ll ever see this, as it’s been a couple years. Hopefully you get a notification. I was having the same problem until I did two things. First, add a little baking powder or corn starch to your rub to help crisp things up. Second, end the smoking with a quick high temp roast. They come out fantastic.
I’ve smoked wings for years using a Traeger pellet smoker. My wife HATES rubbery skins. Smoke at 225 for 45 minutes. Place in a semi-sealed container (pyrex 9×13 pan with foil over top for example) and place back on the smoker. Crank the heat up to 400 and cook for about 15-minutes. Take the wings out of the container and back on the smoker for about 15-minutes. Check with a fork for crispiness. If still rubbery or soft, check again in 5-minutes intervals. At 400 degrees, they can burn and therefore dry out very quickly so make sure to check regularly. Toss in your favorite sauce (per 12-wing halves: 1 tsp minced garlic, 2 Tbsp melted butter, 2 Tbsp grated parm, 3 Tbsp Franks Red Hot).
Hey Dave,
You can fix this with two easy steps. First, make sure your skin is dry. Let the wings hang out in the fridge for a while until the skin is try.
Second, smoke at a higher temperature. The magic number is 275. Try not to go below that. Between 275 -300 is perfect. Chicken has a lot of fat just underneath the skin. You need to melt that fat to avoid rubbery skin. The temp range I just suggested gives you enough heat to make sure that fat melts, while being low enough to give you a good smoke profile.
Remember, chicken doesn’t need hours and hours to get a good smoke profile. It absorbs smoke quickly. Plus, there’s no connective tissue or anything to break down, so there’s just no need to smoke chicken for hours. Use a stronger wood flaver and higher temps. You’ll turn out the best smoked chicken you ever had in an hour or so.
For the crispy skin, I found putting the wings (unpackaged) in the refrigerator for a few hours beforehand works wonders. Then following this recipe with the higher temp will yield a great wing.
My family likes very crispy wings. I put rub on them before smoking, after smoking them for 2 hours, I broil them in the oven for 7-9 minutes, fatty side up towards the heat. Keep an eye on them during the broiling process. We add sauces after they have cooked and the skin is crunchy, very easy to just eat the entire wing. We use the one piece wings with the drum and flat still attached. If you are using wings that are in 2 pieces, reduce the broil time as there is less skin to crisp up.
The only thing I’ve done differently with this technique is to brine the wings for 1 to 1.5 hours before smoking. They always come out great!
I used an Asian Sauce but followed your recipe otherwise. To make them a little crispy I used the broiler and top shelf in the oven for about 90 seconds.
I love these wings! I made them for a Halloween party and used them for legs on my Italian sausage spiders. Know they will go over great with our friends! Thanks!
Thank u for the helpful info first time doing chicken wings hope they turn out food and happy 4th to everybody let’s get are grill on
Hey Jeff, thanks for the great recipes, enjoyed by all my friends, one ?. How to prevent wings that stick on the 275 degree grill??
pete
good wings fall off bone.
Hi , I’ve purchased Jeff’s Recipe 4 years ago. Love the recipes every Thursday from smokingmeatcom. My question is I want to smoke wings in my smoker today. The recipe I received from Jeff is called Jeff Naked rib rub.Is this the same as Jeff’s original recipe? I’m having hard time getting an answer because I want to use it on my wings not sure?
Rub seems to cake while in a container. I spread out on a cookie sheet and put in a hot oven for about 15 minutes. Stayed perfectly in the container without caking. Shook perfect.
I have to thank Jeff and give credit where credit is due. I thought my BBQ sauce was good…and it is. But Jeff’s BBQ sauce and rubs are outstanding. I have no regrets buying those recipes. I also got his eCourses on smoking meats as well. Next I am going to get his book. For me it’s a ‘must have’ Jeff thanks for the recipes I get every Thursday too. I’ve tried many of them and so far not one turned out anything other than great! Thanks again!
Here is the Winner! Take Jeffs brine for turkeys (in his book) brine wings . Take out rinse put on Big Bald Rub in the Book . Smoke 1.5 Baste with BBQ sauce .put back in the heat . In 1/2 hour you will be amazed…..Enjoy
CHICKEN WINGS. Don’t know what happen but they came out really chewy skin could barley eat em. any help.
Ron, should these wings cooked direct or indirect?
I have a big green egg and I really wish you would mention that on each of your recipe’s
Bq meat
Just a slight correction in your beginning description.
While original wings are deep fried, they are never rolled in flour!
Lol, I’m from Buffalo and laugh when I try wings at different places advertising “Buffalo Wings” even Buffalo Wild Wings is short of Frank and Teresa’s. (Anchor Bar)
Trying your smoked wings with my sauce and rub. I have a Treager pellet grill.
I smoked 10 lbs of wings over the weekend. Didnt use his rubs or his sauce, used my own rubs and no sauce. But did smoke at 275 for about 1hr 40mins. The internal temp got up to about 190. The wings were super juicy and tender and the skin was perfect, not crispy like buffalo style but completely bite through and not soggy. Everybody at the party loved them. they didnt last long at all. They were devoured.
Smoked 15 pounds of these wings using orange wood. Then used fresh orange juice to thin the BBQ sauce and baste prior to those last 30-45 minutes. Everyone went wild for them!! AT one time I thought a fight was gonna break out. Thanks for all your tips and recipes.
I had a Hasty Bake legacy shipped to me here at South Lake Tahoe and wondering why you don’t mention cooking methods on this Tulsa product?
In the words of my girlfriends daughter, these are simply divine!
Amazing wings. Didn’t use his BBQ sauce since I had some Stubbs Sweet Heat left. Absolutely delicious. Had to rotate between oven and smoker since didn’t have enough room on the Weber Mini Smoker to do 4 lbs.
thanks for all the gooooood tips on smoking , all your meats. PS I LOVE SMOKING CHICKEN WINGS.