enough wood chips or chunks to produce smoke for about two hours.
Place the chicken pieces on the grate and smoke cook for about two hours, or until the chicken is close to being done (about 150° F ; the small size of these pieces of chicken makes it difficult to measure the temperature, so insert a thermometer as well as you can into the thickest part of a drumette). I don’t worry about cooking these wings completely in the smoker, since the frying step cooks them further. However, if you decide not to fry them, make sure that the chicken pieces are 165° F before removing them from the smoker.
FRYING
In a large iron skillet, heat a ½ inch of the oil to 375° F . Brush each piece of smoked chicken with the melted butter, roll it in the flour, and place it into the hot oil. Fry the chicken pieces for 45 seconds, then turn them over and fry for another 45 seconds. Lay the fried pieces on a paper towel to drain as they come out of the pan. Repeat this process until all the wings and drumettes are finished frying.
FINAL PREPARATION
Brush each piece of fried chicken with the wing sauce—or if you want to do it right and don’t mind a little mess, put a little of the sauce and some of the chicken pieces (I like to do a dozen at a time) together into a lidded plastic bowl or a large Ziploc bag, and toss to coat. Repeat until you have coated all of the chicken with sauce.
Place the chicken pieces in a pan in a warm oven until all of the chicken is ready to serve.
Basic Wing Sauce
----
ESTIMATED COOK TIME 20 minutes
MAKES about 1¾ cups
1 cup Frank’s RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce
½ cup (1 stick) butter
¼ cup light brown sugar (optional)
Place the Frank’s RedHot sauce and butter, and, if you want the wing sauce to be a tad sweet, the brown sugar, into a small pot on low heat. After the butter is completely melted, let the mixture simmer gently for 15 minutes.
Hot Barbecue Wing Sauce
----
ESTIMATED COOK TIME 20 minutes
MAKES about 2 cups
1 cup thick tomato-based barbecue sauce
½ cup Louisiana Wildly Wicked Wing Sauce (or another brand of really hot wing sauce)
½ cup (1 stick) butter
Place all ingredients into a small pot on low heat. After the butter is completely melted, let the mixture simmer gently for 15 minutes.
Monster Wings
----
This is something I came up with a few years back due to my intense love for hot wings. I use regular sized chicken legs instead of the smaller portions of wings or drumettes that you would normally use. To up the ante on the meat-to-sauce ratio, I inject the wing sauce into the meat and pour it over the outside just before serving. This is truly man-food, but the ladies will probably like them just as well.
RECOMMENDED WOOD Mesquite and hickory at a 50:50 ratio
ESTIMATED COOK TIME 2 hours
SERVES 6 to 8
4 lb chicken legs
3 cups vegetable oil (amount depends on the size of your pan)
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups wing sauce (I like Frank’s RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce, but other brands will work, or you can make your own using the recipes on the previous page)
PREPARATION
Rinse the chicken legs in cool water and pat dry with a paper towel. Use a meat injector to inject about half an ounce of the wing sauce into the thickest part of each leg. Inject half of the sauce into one side, then rotate the leg 180 degrees and inject the other half of the sauce into the opposite side. Once you are finished injecting the sauce into the chicken legs, set them aside while you set up your smoker.
SMOKING
Prepare your smoker for cooking at 225° F to 240° F . If you are using a charcoal, an electric, or a gas smoker, be sure to have enough wood chips or chunks to produce smoke for about two hours.
Place the chicken legs on the grate and smoke cook for about two hours, or until the chicken is 165° F using a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the leg.
FRYING (optional)
I enjoy the crispy texture
Place the chicken pieces on the grate and smoke cook for about two hours, or until the chicken is close to being done (about 150° F ; the small size of these pieces of chicken makes it difficult to measure the temperature, so insert a thermometer as well as you can into the thickest part of a drumette). I don’t worry about cooking these wings completely in the smoker, since the frying step cooks them further. However, if you decide not to fry them, make sure that the chicken pieces are 165° F before removing them from the smoker.
FRYING
In a large iron skillet, heat a ½ inch of the oil to 375° F . Brush each piece of smoked chicken with the melted butter, roll it in the flour, and place it into the hot oil. Fry the chicken pieces for 45 seconds, then turn them over and fry for another 45 seconds. Lay the fried pieces on a paper towel to drain as they come out of the pan. Repeat this process until all the wings and drumettes are finished frying.
FINAL PREPARATION
Brush each piece of fried chicken with the wing sauce—or if you want to do it right and don’t mind a little mess, put a little of the sauce and some of the chicken pieces (I like to do a dozen at a time) together into a lidded plastic bowl or a large Ziploc bag, and toss to coat. Repeat until you have coated all of the chicken with sauce.
Place the chicken pieces in a pan in a warm oven until all of the chicken is ready to serve.
Basic Wing Sauce
----
ESTIMATED COOK TIME 20 minutes
MAKES about 1¾ cups
1 cup Frank’s RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce
½ cup (1 stick) butter
¼ cup light brown sugar (optional)
Place the Frank’s RedHot sauce and butter, and, if you want the wing sauce to be a tad sweet, the brown sugar, into a small pot on low heat. After the butter is completely melted, let the mixture simmer gently for 15 minutes.
Hot Barbecue Wing Sauce
----
ESTIMATED COOK TIME 20 minutes
MAKES about 2 cups
1 cup thick tomato-based barbecue sauce
½ cup Louisiana Wildly Wicked Wing Sauce (or another brand of really hot wing sauce)
½ cup (1 stick) butter
Place all ingredients into a small pot on low heat. After the butter is completely melted, let the mixture simmer gently for 15 minutes.
Monster Wings
----
This is something I came up with a few years back due to my intense love for hot wings. I use regular sized chicken legs instead of the smaller portions of wings or drumettes that you would normally use. To up the ante on the meat-to-sauce ratio, I inject the wing sauce into the meat and pour it over the outside just before serving. This is truly man-food, but the ladies will probably like them just as well.
RECOMMENDED WOOD Mesquite and hickory at a 50:50 ratio
ESTIMATED COOK TIME 2 hours
SERVES 6 to 8
4 lb chicken legs
3 cups vegetable oil (amount depends on the size of your pan)
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups wing sauce (I like Frank’s RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce, but other brands will work, or you can make your own using the recipes on the previous page)
PREPARATION
Rinse the chicken legs in cool water and pat dry with a paper towel. Use a meat injector to inject about half an ounce of the wing sauce into the thickest part of each leg. Inject half of the sauce into one side, then rotate the leg 180 degrees and inject the other half of the sauce into the opposite side. Once you are finished injecting the sauce into the chicken legs, set them aside while you set up your smoker.
SMOKING
Prepare your smoker for cooking at 225° F to 240° F . If you are using a charcoal, an electric, or a gas smoker, be sure to have enough wood chips or chunks to produce smoke for about two hours.
Place the chicken legs on the grate and smoke cook for about two hours, or until the chicken is 165° F using a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the leg.
FRYING (optional)
I enjoy the crispy texture
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