First cook on Summit Kamado - chicken wings

[Tony P in Florida]

This may be a bit long. And I do have pictures

Did wings tonight. Used charcoal baskets and lump. Lit each basket with a separate cube.

I also use the heat deflector and Cooked about 320° Had some mesquite wood in there too. It was a short cook.

After I lit the charcoal baskets, and the charcoal is burning very well, I went to put on the deflector shield. I'm used to doing it that way because I did that on my vision kamado. And I thought 320° would not be too high to have the deflector on. I thought about doing indirect with the cold baskets on the high setting. But in the end, I went with the deflector.

For the rub, I tried something new. I always used amazingribs.com Memphis Dust. The version of the recipe that has the salt in it. Tonight I tried McCormick's grillates smokehouse maple. I've had this on steaks with great success.

Overall, this did not turn out as well as I wanted... the Memphis Dust has much more sugar in it. And it's a balanced formula that works great on chicken and ribs in my experience.

So lesson learn: I'll use the grillmates SmokeHouse maple for steaks still... definitely NOT on chicken. And I'm glad I tested this out before I did the ribs this weekend because I thought about using the SmokeHouse Maple on one of the racks of ribs. But not now

As for the weber, this is a night and day difference from my vision kamado in terms of the number of times I had a adjust the vents during the cook. And it was a short cook... 35 minutes I think since the chicken went on to the time the chicken came off.

Pics attached. They're not glamorous. But it is my initial cook on the Weber.

Edit:. I didn't realize I was out of foil so no coverage on the deflector. I'll have to give it a scrub and when the kamado cools down.

 

[EricV.]

Look's good but I still prefer the "Vortex" which pegs my thermometer!

 

[Brett-EDH]

Look's good but I still prefer the "Vortex" which pegs my thermometer!

yeah, vortex that wing cook and get some crips on those wings. heck, dust em with seasoning and flour and then vortex them for "fried" wings on the grill. hotter is better on wings to render out the fat.

personally, i don't like sweet on chicken. SPOG, extra hot chili powder and some cayenne. good to go every time.

the deflector works well on longer, slow cooks; ribs, butts, roasts, briskets. i tend to run most of my direct/indirect cooks in the CBs with the CBs on the higher coal grate position. there's enough coal in each CB (both together) for every usual cook without the need for adding more coals.

how'd you think your wings came out? your opinion is the only one that really matters.

 

[EricV.]

Damn dude I wasn’t disagreeing with the poster I was just providing my insight. Most people try to emulate wings that are fried & crispy, I wasn’t trying to down play his cook as much as you seem to be on the defense regarding my post.

 

[Tony P in Florida]

yeah, vortex that wing cook and get some crips on those wings. heck, dust em with seasoning and flour and then vortex them for "fried" wings on the grill. hotter is better on wings to render out the fat.

personally, i don't like sweet on chicken. SPOG, extra hot chili powder and some cayenne. good to go every time.

the deflector works well on longer, slow cooks; ribs, butts, roasts, briskets. i tend to run most of my direct/indirect cooks in the CBs with the CBs on the higher coal grate position. there's enough coal in each CB (both together) for every usual cook without the need for adding more coals.

how'd you think your wings came out? your opinion is the only one that really matters.

In terms of the wing texture, they were definitely crispy. I don't like wet wings when I cook them. That's why I never put on any kind of sauce.

The flavor was good too.

I just find that the Memphis dust gives them a sweeter flavor and more of a mahogany color. I've used that Memphis dust a lot over the last 5 years... Mainly chicken and ribs. I'm definitely going back to it.

 

[Tony P in Florida]

Look's good but I still prefer the "Vortex" which pegs my thermometer!

I do see a lot of people cooking with either the baskets in the center or a vortex. And all of the food cooked indirect along the outside ring.

This is the first time I've had this kind of grate. So I'm still kind of experimenting.

I think the next time I do wings I'll go ahead and use the charcoal baskets in the center. Do an indirect cook.

I keep watching videos on the vortex. Still contemplating if one of those are in my future.

 

[GrantT]

I think you will find there are about a dozen ways to cook on the S6/E6....

Personally, for chicken, I am a high heat fan...450-500 degrees for wings, thighs, drumsticks - even whole spatchcocked. That is the beauty of this grill - so many options. Experiment and post your pics...fantastic first cook!!

 

[JohnTak]

Welcome to the club! The Kamado is way more versatile than the Kettle and temperature control is awesome. I really like the two positions for the charcoal gate. I am still experimenting with the deflector plate but am leaning to the lower position without the deflector plate for a lot of my not low and slow cooks. I like the flavor from the juices falling on live fire instead of the deflector plate, plus you can open up the vents and get good high temps to cook on. Naturally if you really want super high temps the upper position is the one to use. Just my humble opinion. Keep making the neighbors jealous when you fire it up! I love the smell of charcoal cooked food.

 

[Tony P in Florida]

Welcome to the club! The Kamado is way more versatile than the Kettle and temperature control is awesome. I really like the two positions for the charcoal gate. I am still experimenting with the deflector plate but am leaning to the lower position without the deflector plate for a lot of my not low and slow cooks. I like the flavor from the juices falling on live fire instead of the deflector plate, plus you can open up the vents and get good high temps to cook on. Naturally if you really want super high temps the upper position is the one to use. Just my humble opinion. Keep making the neighbors jealous when you fire it up! I love the smell of charcoal cooked food.

I can really appreciate the two levels for the charcoal grate... As of today

I smoked sausages today. Had the charcoal baskets on the top position. Sausages on the outer ring to smoke at 250. Then it was a simple matter of putting the sausages over the charcoal baskets to sear them. The coals were piping hot and right under the charcoal grate I did not have to open the vents and wait for the unit to heat up like I did with my ceramic kamado.

This technique is so much better than what I did on my kamado with the divide and conquer. Others may have different opinions. I think this is a superior system.

 

[Jeff Boudman]

Those wings look great!