Description

Smoky, crispy grill roasted chicken wings tossed in Frank's Red Hot wing sauce - healthier than deep fried, and I think they taste better.

Ingredients

Scale

Wings

3 pounds chicken wings
1 fist-sized chunk of hickory, soaked for 1 hour (or 1 cup hickory chips, soaked for 1/2 hour and drained)

Marinade

1/2 cup Frank's Red Hot sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Juice of 1/2 lemon (or 1 tablespoon cider vinegar)

Hot Wing Sauce

1/2 cup Frank's Red Hot sauce
1/4 cup melted butter

Instructions

Prepare the wings: Separate the wings into drumette, wing, and wingtip sections by cutting through the joints. Throw away the wingtips (or save them in a bag in your freezer for chicken stock).
Marinate the wings: Mix the marinade ingredients in a bowl, then add the wings. Marinate, refrigerated, for up to 4 hours, stirring occasionally. (Now is a good time to start soaking your wood chunk.)
Prepare the grill: Set up your grill for indirect high heat. On a Weber kettle, light a chimney starter full of charcoal, wait for it to be covered with ash, then pour it in two equal piles on the sides of the grill, with an aluminum foil drip pan in the middle. Put the wood chunk on the coals, put the grate on the grill, cover, and wait five minutes for the wood to start smoking. Brush the grate clean.
Cook the wings: Put the wings on the grate, over the drip pan. Cover the grill and cook for 20 minutes. Turn the wings, re-cover, and cook for another 10 to 20 minutes, or until the skin is nice and crispy. While the wings cook, whisk the hot sauce and melted butter together.
Glaze the wings: Brush the wings with the hot wing sauce, remove to a platter, and serve.

Notes

Equipment: A grill (I use a Weber kettle), an aluminum foil drip pan (9x11 inches, or whatever fits your grill), and a chimney starter - I like the Weber Chimney Starter, which holds exactly the right amount of charcoal for this recipe.

Heat level: Vary the proportion of butter to Frank's Red Hot. Super-hot: all Frank's. Hot: 1/2 cup Frank's, 1/4 cup melted butter. Medium: 1/2 cup Frank's, 1/2 cup melted butter. Mild: 1/4 cup Frank's, 1/2 cup melted butter.

Teriyaki variation: Replace the hot wing sauce with 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup soy sauce, and 1/4 cup mirin, simmered in a small saucepan until the sugar melts. I usually make half the batch with hot wing sauce and brush the other half with barbecue sauce or teriyaki for the kids.

Frank's Red Hot is the key to good chicken wing sauce - it has the right balance of pepper taste and heat. Tabasco is way too hot for this recipe.

Hickory is easy to find, but apple, cherry, and oak wine barrel staves work well too. Skip mesquite - its distinctive taste doesn't go well with this recipe.

A Weber kettle holds 3 to 4 pounds of wings (3 pounds is 24 pieces once sectioned). Leave a little space between them so they crisp up. The recipe works fine without the smoking wood, and you can use a large gas grill to cook more wings.

Adapted from Steven Raichlen's Buffa-q wings in BBQ USA.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Marinate: 4 hours
Cook Time: 40 minutes