Great Grilled Wings


 

Jeff F

TVWBB Super Fan
I'm in the mood for a batch of wings, and realized that I haven't seen the method I use discussed here on TVWBB.

Before I found Alton Brown's Method (and modified it a little) my wings had two textures....rubbery or burnt. I wanted a crisp skin, with moist meat, but I didn't want to deal with the mess and expense of deep frying.

A.B. steams the wings briefly, then chills, then oven bakes at high heat. I steam, chill and grill at high heat. The steaming renders out a lot of fat, so the wings cook quickly without drying out. Like fried wings, I take mine straight off the grill and into a vat of warm sauce to get tossed a bit and served...I don't sauce on the grill. I love good Buffalo Wings, but I am pretty picky about them. I am usually disappointed when I order them someplace I haven't had them before. As a picky wing eater, trust me when I say that the steaming makes a grilled wing the equal or better of any perfectly fried wing.

Think a batch will have to go on the weekend menu, now that I've been writing about how good they turned out last time!
 
I'll have to give it try. I typically deep fry them. I've gotten my grill really hot and smoked them indirect and then hit them with high heat. I'm never let down by simply deep frying. Nothing seems to get the skin better than that. I've gotten good results by smoking them and then hitting them with a quick flash fry.
 
Dustin,

I agree that there's nothing better for a wing than a deep fryer, but a counter-top unit means batch after batch after batch to feed more than a couple people. The alternative is hauling out the outside fryer and filling it with 30 dollars worth of peanut oil. I always save the oil with the intention of using it again, but then by the time I get the urge to fry something again, I feel the oil has been sitting around too long and end up buying new again.

Give the steaming/grilling a try. It's as close to frying as anything I've tried.
 
How about smoking them and then frying them? You don't need to use a big fryer and lots of oil.
A pan with some peanut oil works great.
 
how does the steaming happen? I mean what pans? all in a heap? laid out flat?...speak of the mechanics of steaming wings if you could. I have never done that.
edit: ok never mind...I see how alton and bob did it...I get the picture... duh. :p
 
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Frank,

That's why I linked the A.B. article. I'll tell you how I do it....I let my wife do it!

She took a Chinese cooking class years ago and has a wok that she uses just for water cooking (no oil allowed). She has a bamboo basket that goes in the wok to steam stuff. It has a divider in it for two layers...sort of like what you would have in a dehydrator. She puts a little water in the bottom of the wok, when it comes to a boil, she puts the bamboo basket in the wok and sets the timer for 10 minutes.

If you have one of those vegetable steaming baskets, you could do the same thing...might just take a couple of batches if you want to keep them in a single layer (which we always do).
 
Forgot all about your thread from February, Bob. Old-timer's disease, I suppose.

I like the looks of that jerk method...I'll give that a shot sometime, though I personally prefer clipping the wings in two. I've got a buddy who's a fool for jerk...I'll make those the next time he comes over.
 
My husband started following this recipe several years ago when I got a book of Cook's Illustrated recipes ("The Best Recipe"), and we've continued to use it as we love the results so much. I copied this from the Internet today but it looks right to me. We don't like a lot of sauce slathered on anything until the meat is ready to come off so these are perfect for us. We make a couple of sauces to use when serving. They're nice and seasoned all the way through and are crispy outside due to the two level fire. I didn't mean to insult anyone with the instructions for a two level fire but there are always some people who could use it when they're new to grilling.

Charcoal-Grilled Brined Chicken Wings
Recipe from Cook's Illustrated

3/4 cup kosher salt (or 6 Tablespoons table salt)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
12 whole chicken wings (about 2-1/2 pounds), separated into sections (following illustrations below), wingtips discarded
Freshly ground black pepper

1. In gallon-sized zipper-lock plastic bag, dissolve salt and sugar in 1 quart water. Add chicken; press out as much air as possible from bag and seal; refrigerate until fully seasoned, 30 minutes. Remove from brine, rinse well under running water, dry thoroughly with paper towels, and season with pepper. [You could put a rub on them now if you want, but they’re delicious with just the black pepper. Trust me.]

2. Meanwhile, build a two-level fire in grill by igniting 1 large chimney (or about 6 quarts) of charcoal briquettes; burn until completely covered with thin coating of light-gray ash. Empty coals into grill and spread in even layer over bottom; place another three-quarters chimney full (or scant 4 quarts) of fresh briquettes over one-half of lit coals (pile should come to within about 2-1/2 inches of grill rack). (If using hardwood charcoal, ignite about 10 quarts of charcoal and, once it is completely covered with gray ash, use fireplace tool to push about 3/4 of it to one side of grill.) Position grill rack over coals; heat until very hot, about 10 minutes.

3. Grill chicken pieces over lower-heat area (with single layer of coals), turning once, until color is light spotty brown, skin has thinned, and fat has rendered, 8 to 10 minutes. Using tongs, move chicken pieces to high-heat side of grill; grill, turning constantly to prevent charring, until wings are dark spotty brown and skin has crisped, 2 to 3 minutes longer. Transfer to serving platter and serve immediately, with a squeeze of lemon or lime, or with an accompanying dipping sauce, if desired.

STEP BY STEP: Building a Two-Level Fire

1. Use enough briquettes to make a pile on one half of the grill that rises to within 2 to 2 1/2 inches of the grilling grate. This will amount to about 10 pounds of standard briquettes for a 22 1/2-inch kettle grill, or a little over 5 pounds for an 18 1/2-inch kettle.

2. Light the briquettes using one or two chimney starters, an electric firestarter, or a couple of firestarter cubes. Let the charcoal burn until it's completely covered with a thin coating of gray ash, about 30 minutes. Use a fire shovel to scrape some of the coals off the mound to make a single, sparse layer of coals on the other half.

3. The end result should consist of a large pile of lit coals on one side of the grill and a single layer of lit coals on the other side.

STEP BY STEP: Cutting Up Chicken Wings

1. With a chef’s knife, cut into the skin between the two larger sections of the wings until you hit the joint.

2. Bend back the two sections to pop and break the joint.

3. Cut through the skin and flesh to completely separate the two meaty portions.

4. Hack off the wingtip and discard [I save these for chicken stock].

Notes: Use a grill that is large enough to hold all the wings over roughly one-half of the rack surface. Brine the wings while the grill fire heats up to save time. Serve the wings as is, with a squeeze of lemon or lime, or with an accompanying dipping sauce.
 
Gotta admit, I don't think I've ever used a 2 level fire. I just set up for direct and indirect as my 2 zones. How embarrassed should I be because that's a great idea! I'll usually cook indirect with some smoke and then crisp the wings up at the end. It's almost the same thing but I can see the advantage of the meat dripping in the coals the whole time. Thanks for posting that!
 
Gotta admit, I don't think I've ever used a 2 level fire. I just set up for direct and indirect as my 2 zones. How embarrassed should I be because that's a great idea! I'll usually cook indirect with some smoke and then crisp the wings up at the end. It's almost the same thing but I can see the advantage of the meat dripping in the coals the whole time. Thanks for posting that!

same here, I just bank a >chimney on the left, no coals on the right. I'd say "now I want wings", but I was already thinking about getting some!
 
Gotta admit, I don't think I've ever used a 2 level fire. I just set up for direct and indirect as my 2 zones. How embarrassed should I be because that's a great idea! I'll usually cook indirect with some smoke and then crisp the wings up at the end. It's almost the same thing but I can see the advantage of the meat dripping in the coals the whole time. Thanks for posting that!

Works wonders with wings but you'll also think of other ways a two-level fire works well, too. I find that anything with some fat seems to cook better if you render the fat first and then sear, but you can sear on the hot side and cook on the lower heat side, too, when it makes more sense to sear first. Depending on the size of the grill and what you're cooking, you can use the center for your indirect zone as well. If it's a bit crowded, you can "tilt" toward the lower heat side if you have to. This is really a good way to cook any bone-in chicken.
 
same here, I just bank a >chimney on the left, no coals on the right. I'd say "now I want wings", but I was already thinking about getting some!

I came here to see if the recipe I posted from Cook's Illustrated for wings grilled using a two-level fire (using two levels of hot coals) was still here as a friend wanted it and ended up reading this thread again. Had to laugh as looking back at the method we still use to grill chicken wings, I realized the method used should be re-named -- a snappy "Reverse Seared Chicken Wings!" for today's world!

Thank you, Chris, for maintaining this site for so many years and updating it constantly with not only content but features (and features that wok, too). . It's so organized and nothing ever seems to disappear. It makes it wonderful when I'm thinking of something I'd read about here and want to take another look. I learn something new from one or more of you every trip. And it's such a nice place to come if you've got questions on how to do something or want to know how others handle a particular cut of meat.
 
I cook them similar to the Cooks Ill approach. Bring them but without sugar. I did that once and the skin blackened. The brining and then drying them after with paper towel is a pain, but it keeps them (or other chicken parts) good and plump. Guests can’t believe how meaty our wings or drumsticks are off the grill. It’s the brine. Sometimes I get lazy and dry brine. That works pretty good too, and with a lot less effort and mess.

Put fire bricks in kettle to make a compartment about 1/3 of charcoal grate. Pour a chimney of lit in there. Add a couple pieces of cherry wood. Put wings on indirect side, lid on, with vents wide open. They will roast away. When done, I put them over the hot coals for just a bit to crisp up more. Sometimes I use gloves to remove the bricks and spread the coals for this part.

The wings will sometimes look wet, but go ahead and take them off. They will dry and look good once off the fire and after sitting a few minutes,
 
We have these grilled wings every couple of months. Next to perfectly deep fried, they are the best we've tasted. They are marinated in a spicy marinade, then grilled on a Performer with full baskets on either side and an aluminum catch pan in between. We usually do them for about 30 minutes indirect, then char them a bit directly over the coals. A little bit of pecan wood gives them a nice light, sweet kiss of smoke. Here is a link to the recipe:

https://barbecuebible.com/recipe/buffa-que-wings/

(Edited: Sorry for the wrong link first time around)

They look sort of like this before you dip them in buffalo sauce:

Grilled wings by Jeff Hasselberger, on Flickr
 
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This is the grilled buffalo wing recipe that I use. I do it on my Genesis 1000 gas grill however. Very simple and very tasty.

Buffalo Chicken Wings w/Sauce

Recipe By:Chef John
"If you know someone from Buffalo, they know someone who told them the secret ingredients to the Anchor Bar's famous Buffalo chicken wings. I know people from Buffalo. This is my version, as described to me many years ago, over almost as many beers."

Ingredients
2/3 cup hot pepper sauce (such as Frank's RedHot(R))
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter
1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
salt to taste
4-5 lbs chicken wings
Directions
1. Combine the hot sauce, butter, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and salt in a pot and place over medium heat. Bring to a simmer while stirring with a whisk. As soon as the liquid begins to bubble on the sides of the pot, remove from heat, stir with the whisk, and set aside for use.

2. Bake Chicken Wings for 400 degrees for 35 minutes, then place in a bowl, coat with sauce. They can be served as is or baked to allow the sauce to glaze on the wings.

GRILL DIRECTIONS: You can half the recipe for smaller batches. But they are good as left overs warmed up. Also, if you do them on the grill, heat the grill up and turn down to medium heat and put the wings on. Turn them a couple time and they will probably take less time than in the oven. Then put the wings in a pan with the sauce and make sure they get fully coated. Then place back on the grill for another 5 minutes or so to glaze the wings.
 
I watched this vid today from Malcolm Reed. He uses corn starch to get wings crispy, like they're fried. I may have to try this ...............


 

 

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