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Wonderfully smoky, tender meat with a lightly crispy skin, these smoked and then fried chicken wings were a thing of beauty. These are one of the most dangerous things you could ever put in front of me. I don’t even need any sauce to toss or dunk them in, either. Just give me a big basket of them and get out of the way! When I’m serious about my wings, I put my head down and get to eating. Don’t expect me to say much. I might make sounds. Weird sounds. But I ain’t talking until I’m done!
First You Smoke ‘Em
The process is simple. Season your wings, and place them onto your smoker. No messing around with them either. Just smoke for 2 hours.
Then You Fry Them
When the wings are done you toss them into a deep fryer for a minute or so, until golden brown and lightly crispy. You can also make a big huge batch and freeze the smoked wings (before frying). All you have to do is thaw them and deep fry them when you’re ready to serve them at a later time. I was worried that making them from the frozen smoked wings would result in over-cooked, tough wings, but oh no, they were fantastic!
There’s a brewpub by our house that makes crazy-good chicken wings. They smoke them first over a mix of mesquite and cherry woods, then flash fry them. They sauce them then place them over a hot flame to finish them off. My approach is similar, but I don’t always put them onto the grill at the end. They are fantastic either way, but grilling them real quick does help set the sauce.
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Fry, Baby!
I love deep-fried wings. But it’s usually just me I’m cooking for. So there’s no reason for me to drag out my big deep-fryer that could easily cook for a crowd. No, this calls for my Fry Daddy. Perfect for one-to-four people’s-worth of wings. And it doesn’t use a lot of oil, that’s a major plus. It gets to temperature quickly and maintains it even when I add cold wings. It’s priced right too and lasts forever!
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Got an air fryer too? Also try some air fryer wings.
Check out my always-growing list of over 200 favorite store-bought wing sauces and seasonings!
Smoked and Fried Wings
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3-4 pounds chicken wings flats and drumettes separated, tips saved to make stock
- Your favorite wing seasoning
- vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Fire up your smoker for 225 F. Use any wood you like. I used Jack Daniel’s whiskey barrel chunks because I wanted a good, noticeable smoke flavor. Use a lighter wood if you want your wings to be a little less smoky.
- Toss the wings with plenty of the wing seasoning.
- Place the wings onto the smoker and smoke for 2 hours. No need to rotate or flip them.
- When done, remove from the smoker. You can deep fry them immediately or freeze them for thawing and frying later.
- To fry, heat canola oil to 350 F.
- Working in batches, add the wings and fry for 1-2 minutes or until they are the desired color.
- Let cool slightly. Serve tossed with your favorite sauce and your favorite dipping sauce on the side. Click here for our guide on how to sauce your wings.
- Optional: Toss the wings onto a hot grill for 1 minute after saucing them to set the sauce.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional values are approximate and will not include any store-bought wing sauce or seasoning nutritional values.
- MIld Sauces
- Made for wings and more