I can’t get over how good these smoked wings are. Every time I make them, I tell myself I’ll save a few for later — but somehow they always disappear.
The slow smoke with cherry or apple wood gives them that perfect deep flavor, and finishing them hot on the grill makes the skin crispy in all the right ways.
Toss them in your favorite sauce and you’ve got wings that beat anything you’ll get at a restaurant. Even better – toss them and then grill them. Up to you!
Servings: 4
Cook Time: About 1 ½ hours
Ingredients
- 2 lbs chicken wings, split and tips removed
- 2–3 tbsp of your favorite dry rub (BBQ, garlic-pepper, or all-purpose)
- 1 cup wing sauce (buffalo, BBQ, or your favorite)
- Cherry or Apple wood chunks or chips
Instructions
- Prep the wings:
- Rinse and pat wings completely dry.
- Coat evenly in your favorite rub.
- Place on a wire rack in the fridge, uncovered, for at least 1 hour (this helps the skin crisp).
- Smoke:
- Preheat smoker to 225–250°F. Add cherry wood for flavor.
- Place wings on smoker grates and insert a probe if you have one.
- Cook for 45 minutes, then flip and cook another 30 minutes or until internal temp hits 165°F.
- Crisp:
- Remove wings from smoker. Take out the smoker plate/heat deflector and return the grates. Raise heat to 400°F.
- Toss wings in your sauce of choice and return them to the grill.
- Cook another 5–10 minutes, turning once, until the skin is crisp and the sauce is set.
- Serve:
- Pull wings off, rest a couple minutes, and dig in while they’re hot and smoky.
Tips
- Leaving the wings uncovered in the fridge not only helps dry the skin but also lets the rub penetrate deeper.
- If you like your wings extra crispy, skip saucing before crisping and just sauce after pulling them off the grill.
- Cherry wood gives a nice balance of sweet smoke, but apple or hickory also work great.
