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Smoked chicken wings are always a hit at parties, game days, and backyard barbecues. When wings are cooked right, smoking them adds a huge depth of flavor. The smoke gets into the skin and meat and gives it that delicious smoky taste.
It can be hard to figure out exactly how long to smoke chicken wings, though. Undercook them and you’ll end up with tough, rubbery wings. If you smoke them for too long, the wings will become dry. These tips will help you figure out how long to smoke chicken wings based on their size and temperature.
Choosing the Right Chicken Wings
When it comes to smoking, not all chicken wings are the same. Bigger wings with more meat can handle longer smoking times than smaller wings. For wings that are cooked evenly, pick wings that are about the same size. Don’t buy chicken wings that come in packs with wings of different sizes mixed in.
To smoke chicken wings more easily, buy them already cut into drumettes and flats. This prep work is already done for you. You can also buy wings that are already cut, and then separate the drumette and flat parts yourself.
When buying chicken wings, look for wings that have a decent amount of fat and skin. The fat under the skin will keep the wings nice and moist during smoking. The skin will crisp up for finger-licking perfection.
How Temperature Affects Cook Times
The number one factor in how long you will need to smoke chicken wings is the temperature you are smoking at Just a small fluctuation of 25 degrees can add or subtract up to an hour of cook time. That’s why maintaining a steady temp in your smoker is crucial.
Most barbecue experts recommend smoking chicken wings between 225-250°F. At these low, slow temperatures the chicken has time to absorb all that delicious smoke flavor.
Here’s a rough estimate of cook times based on smoking temperatures:
- 225°F – Smoke for 2.5 to 3 hours
- 250°F – Smoke for 2 to 2.5 hours
For any temperature, make sure you use a meat thermometer to check that the wings have reached an internal temperature of 165°F when done. Check temperature early and often to monitor doneness.
Other Factors that Change Cook Times
Along with temperature, other things impact total cook times including:
- Size of wings – Larger wings take longer
- Meat temperature when put on smoker – Wings that go on cold take longer
- Your smoker – Consistency matters. Some smokers have hot/cold spots
- Outside temperature – Cold weather = longer cook times
Get to know your individual smoker. Cook a test batch of wings while monitoring closely. Make notes of cook times and temperatures to learn how your smoker works. This helps you better estimate cook times for future smokes.
Step-By-Step Guide to Smoking Chicken Wings
Follow this simple process for smoking juicy, flavorful chicken wings every time:
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Start with dry wings – Pat down fresh wings with paper towels to remove any excess moisture. Dry wings help achieve crispy skin.
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Season the wings – For extra flavor, coat your wings with olive oil then add your favorite dry rub or seasoning.
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Smoke the wings – Place wings directly on the grill grates and smoke at 225-250°F, flipping occasionally. Add your favorite smoking wood for flavor.
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Monitor temperature – Start checking internal temp after 1 hour. Remove wings when they reach 165°F.
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Finish on grill – For extra crispy skin, finish wings over direct high heat on a grill for 2-5 minutes per side.
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Toss in sauce (optional) – For sauced wings, toss in your favorite sauce after smoking.
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Enjoy! – Let wings rest 5 minutes before serving. Dig in!
Tips for Moist, Tender Chicken Wings
Here are some top tips for keeping your smoked chicken wings extra juicy:
- Pat wings dry before smoking – this helps achieve crispy skin
- Smoke wings on a baking rack over a foil-lined pan – allows airflow
- Spritz wings with apple juice or broth during smoking
- Avoid opening smoker often to maintain even temperature
- Brine wings in saltwater solution before smoking for added moisture
- Use a water pan in smoker
- Wrap wings in foil if smoking longer than 3 hours
Smoking chicken wings low and slow is the key. Resist the urge to rush the smoking process or crank up the heat. Patience leads to perfectly tender, smoky wings.
How Long Do Smoked Wings Last?
Like any smoked meat, wings should be eaten within 3-4 days for maximum freshness. Properly stored smoked wings keep well in the fridge or freezer.
To store:
- Refrigerate in sealed container up to 3-4 days
- Freeze in air-tight packaging up to 2-3 months
To reheat:
- Place in oven at 300°F until heated through, 10-15 minutes
- Grill over medium heat until hot, 5-10 minutes
- Microwave on medium power in 30 second intervals
Reheated smoked wings won’t have quite the same texture as freshly smoked. But the flavor will still come through.
Popular Wood Choices for Smoking Chicken Wings
The type of wood you use when smoking chicken wings makes a difference in the final flavor. Fruit woods like apple, cherry, and peach provide a milder, sweeter flavor that pairs beautifully with poultry.
Here are some top wood options:
- Apple – mild, sweet, fruity smoke
- Cherry – slightly stronger smoke with sweet notes
- Peach – imparts a subtle fruitiness
- Pecan – nutty and mild like hickory but sweeter
- Alder – delicate flavor that enhances poultry
- Maple – light smoke with subtle maple syrup tones
Stay away from very strong mesquite or oak smoke. You want the flavor of the wings to still come through.
Hickory is a classic pairing with chicken but can overpower the wings if using too much. Mix in some apple wood to mellow out the harsh hickory smoke.
Serving Smoked Chicken Wings
Smoked chicken wings really shine when served plain, letting the flavor of the smoke and seasoning come through. But you can also toss them in your favorite wing sauce.
Here are some tasty ways to serve smoked wings:
- Naked – Simple and delicious, let the smoke flavor shine
- Tossed in buffalo sauce – The classic hot wing flavor combo
- Honey sriracha wings – Sweet with a kick of heat
- Jerk wings – Smoky and spicy
- BBQ wings – Smoked then sauced with your favorite BBQ sauce
- Korean wings – Toss in spicy, sweet, and savory Korean sauce
Serve wings with crunchy celery and creamy blue cheese or ranch dipping sauce. Cool and creamy dips balance the heat of spicy wings.
How Many Wings Per Person?
When buying wings to smoke, plan for about a pound of chicken wings per 3-4 people. For big eaters plan for up to 10 wings per person.
Remember that chicken wings have a good amount of bone vs. meat. If serving wings as an appetizer or snack alongside other food, you can get away with less.
Buy extra wings! Even if you have leftovers, they make great snacks and sandwiches later in the week. Extras can be kept in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Make Your Best Wings Yet!
Now that you know exactly how long you need to smoke chicken wings, you can make the juiciest, most flavorful wings ever off your smoker.
Smoking brings out so much more flavor in wings than just baking or frying them. Be patient and keep temps steady for the perfect wings every time.
Adjust cook times based on the size of your wings and the temperature you are smoking at. Use a meat thermometer to check for doneness.
Follow these simple steps for finger lickin’ good smoked chicken wings all summer long. Your family and friends will be begging for your recipe!
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In this recipe, we are talking about smoked chicken wings and while these are very similar to hot wings, these are not the traditional chicken wings that are fried then coated in wing sauce.
Instead these are seasoned with my original rub , smoked with cherry wood and then brushed with my delicious barbecue sauce about 30 minutes before they are finished.
I dare say you have NEVER eaten anything that tasted this good right out of the smoker!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Smoker Temp: 275°F
- Meat Finish Temp: 180°F
- Recommended Wood: Cherry
- 5-10 lbs of chicken wings (I recommend doing plenty)
- Large foil pan (very helpful)
- Large ziploc (2 or 2.5 gallon works great)
- Heavy duty foil
- Jeffs original rub
- Jeffs barbecue sauce
- Oil, Olive, Vegetable, Canola, etc.
Did you know that you can order the MASTER FORMULAS to make Jeff’s original rubs and barbecue sauce at home with your own ingredients?
This part is extremely easy. the first step is to put all of the wings as they are into a large ziploc bag.
Pour about 1/2 cup of oil over the wings and then roll them around inside the bag to coat.
Pour 1/4 cup of my original rub per 3 lbs of chicken wings down into the bag. Zip it up then roll and shake the bag to coat the chicken with the rub.
Once the chicken is coated with rub, pour them out into a foil pan for easy access.
These already smell so good!
It does not matter what type of smoker you are using. You can use ANY smoker or grill and get amazing results.
It will work as long as you can keep the temperature close to what is recommended and have a thermometer with you to make sure they are done right.
Regardless of what smoker you use:
- Maintain 250-275°F (a little higher temperature ensures better textured skin)
- Cook for about 1. 5 hours or until the meat reaches 175-180°F.
- Apply smoke for at least 1 hour. Any good smoking wood will do; I used cherry wood for these.
Once your smoker is maintaining about 250-275°F with 275°F being ideal in my opinion,
Lay the chicken wings onto the grate of your smoker trying to keep a little space between them to allow the smoke to circulate over, under and around each piece.
About 30 minutes from the time when the chicken is expected to be finished, you will want to brush some of my extra delicious barbecue sauce onto the wings.
For this purpose, I wanted the sauce to be a little thinner than usual so I mixed in some Lemon-lime soda to help thin it down. If you purchase the bottled barbecue sauce, you will probably not need to thin it out as it is already a little thinner than what you make at home using my recipes.
Note: you can use almost anything from water to coffee to pop and even cider or apple juice to thin down my barbecue sauce. Sometimes you just want it to flow a little more.
I just happened to have some SunDrop and thats what I used. The lemon-lime flavor wont hurt anything;-)
Just 2-3 tablespoons of liquid is all it takes in a cup of my barbecue sauce. Use more or less depending on how thin you want it to be.
Use a ThermoPop, Thermapen or other thermometer to make sure that the correct finished temperature is achieved in the chicken. You are looking for 175-180°F.
A great tool for checking the temperature on these is the Thermapen ONE which reads in 1 second or less! Thats screaming fast folks! This is the ONLY 1 second thermometer in the world and Im proud to own one. you can too by clicking HERE.
Quickly remove the smoked chicken wings from the oven and place them on a foil pan or other serving dish or bowl.
This one was begging to be eaten!
Into the foil pan and into the house for serving to the hungry family and friends.
My oldest daughter said they were the best wings shes ever had. Why is this significant? Shes very picky about her wings!
Try these and I know youll love them. I do recommend that you do these exacly as Ive instructed the first time.
Did you know? You can order the MASTER FORMULAS which allow you to make Jeffs original rubs and original barbecue sauce at home using your own ingredients! Order the Recipes
Notes:
The most popular email question that I receive is how to get chicken skin crispy and this includes whole chicken, pieces and even wings.
There are several methods you can use to help crisp up the skin a little bit
- Once the wings have been smoked, quickly fry them in oil that is very hot (400 degrees).
- After you smoke them, put them on a very hot grill for a few minutes.
- After you smoke them, put them in an oven set to 350 to 375 degrees for a few minutes.
- Cook them hotter than usual. 275°F (135°C), or even 325°F (163°C) if your kettle can handle it.
Smoked Chicken Wings | Crispy Smoked Chicken Wings On A Pellet Smoker
FAQ
How long does it take to smoke wings at 225?
It will take wings about an hour to reach 165 °F, which is the safest temperature for wings when they are smoked at 225 °F. Larger wings will take longer to get to 165 °F. Smaller wings won’t take quite as long. If you don’t have a meat thermometer, there’s another way to test the internal temperature.
How long to smoke chicken wings at 420?
Place wings on grill at 250* for 1 hour 15 mins. 5. Turn temp up to 420* and wings are done in 10- 15 mins when it reaches an internal temp of 175* 6.
How long to cook chicken wings at 250 on a pellet smoker?
Heat your smoker to 250°F (121°C). Place the wings in the smoker so that they don’t overlap. Smoke them at 250°F (121°C) for 30 minutes. May 14, 2021.
How long do you smoke chicken wings in a smoker?
Place the wings in a disposable aluminum foil tray with the butter and place them on the smoker. Let them smoke uncovered at 250 degrees for about 45 minutes. Flip the wings after the first 25 minutes to make sure they are all coated in butter and getting kissed by the smoke.
How long do you smoke chicken wings on a pellet grill?
Keep the temperature of your pellet grill above 275°F but no higher than 350°F. Smoke the wings for 45 minutes each side. In the last 10 minutes of the cook, brush the wings with teriyaki sauce, then place back into the smoker for 10 minutes and allow the glaze to set. Should You Brine Wings Before Smoking?.
Do you have to wing smoked chicken wings?
Smoking chicken wings is an easy method to make crispy and flavorful chicken wings. You don’t have to wing it when it comes to making smoked chicken wings with this simple recipe. Beginners and smoking pros alike will love the juicy meat and crispy skin combo with their favorite wing sauce.