Hi Frank. We were just discussing grilled wings in the grilling area of the forum. I posted the following recipe (not too different from yours, but we use a two-level fire instead of hot and indirect fires. I think our tastes must be very similar. See "reprint" of my message below...
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.