Thanks Steve, an air fryer will crisp them up as I've smoked and then air fryed mine. My wife, who's my biggest critic, loved them. Another great video.
Always learn a lot from your efforts. I've found he best vessel for deep frying is a wok. It doesn't really matter if it is stainless steel, carbon, non-stick, cast iron, etc. if you are only using it for deep frying. The advantage the wok has is very simple; it gets wider towards the rim. This means that the rising foam/oil has more and more surface area to spread and cool which, if you fill it less than half way, will almost always prevent any boil-over. It also is the most economical and functional for the same reason: you get the most surface area per volume of oil and it's width (14" recommended) allows you to turn the flame as high as you need and it will all hit the wok. Fo this reason, a smaller, straight sided pot can't have the same recovery rate.
Great vid - I have totally struggled to make smoked wings that didn't have chewy skin... going to try this! (BTW, I'm trying your hot hold brisket this weekend!)
A fews years back, I did a straight smoke and fry method. It looked to be the same process just without the freezing. Your wings looked and sounded great!
When it's winter, I throw the wings on a wire rack and hit them with s&g. Take the rack to the garage where it's super cold and put a box fan on them and let them dry. Then I just air fry them. Easy peasy. Kenji also has tips for a peeking duck that uses baking powder and air chilled over night in the fridge, same effect but the baking powder causes more air bubbles on the surface
Here in good ol Farmville Nebraska I use a plow disk on a burner to fry the wings after I smoke them in the offset. Everyone should have a disc! It's like a flattened wok but way better
Gary I too not a fan of a beard with Steve but the recent studies in UK show women see men as more masculine with a beard combine that with cooking .he is top of the hit parade .I think I should grow a beard lol
I find my best results are on my SNS grill using the vortex and turning the damper a 1/4 every 15 mins at 350-400, I usually marinade them overnite in buttermilk, then I make up a flour mix, usually corn flour, sometimes arrowroot flour, with my KFC herbs n spice mix, I also use corn chip crumbs which are awesome, they’re ready in an hour and I also swear by franks red hot, sometimes I’ll make a blue cheese ranch too
Did you fry them from frozen? I would have thought you would leave them to thaw out? I like to just throw them on my kettle with my home made vortex at 200c (392f) 250c (480f) the hotter the better. Flip them once and spin the lid 120° every 10- 20 minutes. Usually I get crispy wings and then a light coat of sauce with 5 more minutes (usually about a 50 to 70 minute cook depending on temperature and wings). I do find this only works with whole wings. I have wanted a offset recipe and have thought about deep frying to finish as I'm not sure its realistic to get an offset hot enough to make chrispy wings without burning through wood. This is a great video and has definitely got me thinking. Thanks!
For smoked chicken wings I always get better results when I marinade them for at least a few hours, a whole day is better. I use Italian dressing, hot sauce, and lots of salt and seasonings. Then I smoke the chicken at about 275. I'm going to try the frying method soon!
What about smoking them at 250 then finishing them at 400? Or maybe smoking then broiling them? What about using fat and rub in the beginning to slow down the drying?
Thank you for a great video again. Similar to what I do but I'll smoke them on my Weber Smokey Mountain with a fire dial as opposed to a water bowl sometimes, put them in the fridge overnight, and then put them on the gas grill when we're ready to eat them the next day. Still not as crispy is deep frying but I guess healthier. Still no such thing as a free lunch no beating the taste of a fried wing. Cheers!
That is a great way to enjoy wings. I had fried some frozen presmoked wings, available from a commercial supplier, they were pretty good. However it is more fun to smoke in the backyard and cook from scratch..
What if you smoke them low and slow until they hit say 120 - 130 F internal (leave 'em so there's cooking to be done, but long enough to catch decent smoke), and while you are smoking them have a pan of beef tallow on, maybe instead of your water pan. pull the wings off at 120, throw a log on and open the vents, get the tallow up to like 350 or so, and then drop the wings in for 12 -15 min to deep fry in the tallow. Side note, I appreciate your use of Fahrenheit for us cretons in the United States who refuse to use a superior system of measurement. I might try this on my weber kettle this weekend.
I have smoked wings then fried them but found that the oil washed out a lot of the smoke flavor. But I would like to try it again but this time put a pan of oil in the smoker to add smoke flavor to the oil itself. I am hoping this will help the wings to retain more smoke flavor.
Easiest buffalo sauce ever: Stick of butter, melt with two cloves smashed garlic. 1/2 cup hot sauce. Combine and stick blend. Try it, takes less than five minutes.
How long did you fry the second batch (the one that wasn't confit)? Great video, by the way. I've always just deep fried my wings, but I've been thinking lately of smoking first on my Highland. Love your videos...keep it up!
Very cool experiment! Seems like it's worth the effort to break up the cooking process as you suggested. I think you just needed a control of just purely confit+freeze+fry to compare the crisp factor!
Wait…… Your cooking chicken wings and not a brisket. Wow. Biggest thing I got was wearing a shirt sleeve shirt with snow on the ground. Props to that. I might if missed it. How long was the fry on the 400 degree fry? Great video. Love the smoke and store for later technique.
So this is confusing me. I’ve been dry brining for DAYS to dry my chicken out for optimal smoke/crisp combo. Now I’m finding out that too dry makes it rubbery? I’ve had such good luck with a 225 smoke on a DRY ass wing then broil. Darnit I feel like I need to go back to the drawing board.
If you want crispy smoke fry If you want smoked only with bite thru skin simply cover with foil after adding butter and cook until an internal of about 200. Remove sauce and set or just sauce and enjoy.
I have never had "fried" "smoked" wings that I've enjoyed. They just taste like plain deep fried wings with the faintest memory of seasoning and smoke.
