chicken wings on a weber kettle

[bennos]

Didn't know exactly where to put this post as it relates to the weber kettle as well as poultry in equal importance. Anyway, here it is.

So I've been doing chicken wings on the kettle with relative success. My judging stick is by how crispy and golden the skin looks and feels. Hwever, I've never been real happy with the tenderness/moistness of the meat.

My method is high heat in the baskets in the middle and the wings spread around the outside edge of the direct heat. Spritz every 10 minutes and take them off at 40 minutes. Comes out great on the skin however the meat is a little on the chalky (dry) side.

Looking for advice on what I could change to get the moistness in the meat as well as crispy skin. Cheers and looking forward to some replies (hopefully).

[Davo]

Try brining the wings to get some moisture into the meat.

A simple 1 TBS salt mixed with each litre water needed.

Leave o/night in fridge. If you pull them out when you first get up, place on a rack in a tray uncovered in the fridge to dry the skin. Rinse the wings first though then pat dry.

Cheers

Davo

[12x7]

I normally do the wings indirect.

Pat down the wings to remove excess moisture.
Put wings into a bowl and roll them around in some vegetable oil.
If you like to season eg salt, pepper, chillies, spices etc add it into the oil before you roll the wings in the oil.

Using weber charcoal baskets. Half fill them using ready heat beads from a charcoal chimney.

Put the baskets in the outer position for indirect and the wings in the middle.

Open top and bottom vents wide open.

What you are trying to do is to blow heat the wings. You don't need a lot of heat, just hot air to cook the wings.

The oil and the hot wind will cause the wing skin to go goldie and bubble off the meat. When this happens they are ready to take them out of the kettle. If you leave them in longer they dry out.

This also works for drumsticks.

Instead of placing the wings or drumsticks on the grill try hanging them on a rack.



You can also smoke the wings/drumsticks with a few wood chunks in the charcoal baskets but the smoke makes the chicken look darker/blacker and lose its goldie colour but you get a nice smokey flavour.

[bennos]

Thanks for the reply fellas. Will try some of your ideas.

[Bumpt]

Hey there bennos,

A method I have had some success with has been to do a dry rub, that includes baking soda. I chuck in about a tablespoon baking soda to 24 wing pieces. The rib mix includes all the usual suspects, and is more of a taste it and see approach. I prep this in the morning, and pop it on a trivet and into the fridge for about 8 hours, or even overnight if you are organised enough. I would reference where I originally found the approach with the baking soda - definitely not my original work! - but I cannot recall where it came from. It dries out the skin, or something just as technical, but the end result is wonderfully crisp skin, juicy flesh, all in about 40 minutes indirect heat on a 47cm Weber. I could just get the lot into the middle of the grill, and would pass them for a couple of minutes over the coals at the end to give a touch of charring to them.
My brand new 57cm Weber GBS turned up today, so looking forward to running some wings through it later this week!

[joey13]

I normally do the wings indirect.

Pat down the wings to remove excess moisture.
Put wings into a bowl and roll them around in some vegetable oil.
If you like to season eg salt, pepper, chillies, spices etc add it into the oil before you roll the wings in the oil.

Using weber charcoal baskets. Half fill them using ready heat beads from a charcoal chimney.

Put the baskets in the outer position for indirect and the wings in the middle.

Open top and bottom vents wide open.

What you are trying to do is to blow heat the wings. You don't need a lot of heat, just hot air to cook the wings.

The oil and the hot wind will cause the wing skin to go goldie and bubble off the meat. When this happens they are ready to take them out of the kettle. If you leave them in longer they dry out.

This also works for drumsticks.

Instead of placing the wings or drumsticks on the grill try hanging them on a rack.

You can also smoke the wings/drumsticks with a few wood chunks in the charcoal baskets but the smoke makes the chicken look darker/blacker and lose its goldie colour but you get a nice smokey flavour.

Where did you get that rack?

[beginner]

Yeah that rack looks wicked.

Wings for me are pretty neglected considering how often I do em. I usually grab a box / bag from wherever's closest and dump them on just to hold people down while the slower stuffs going. Direct or indirect I decide based upon the sauce / rub, something sugary like your off the shelf honey soy for example I find just burns too much when done direct, but will go OK at a lower temp indirect. Other wing setups can often benefit a fair bit from some charring so I'll try and keep a bit of heat right under them, or for a bit of fun even just crank the grate heat a little more and and go lid off. 180 is probably my go to ambient and adjust out to 20c or so each way depending what I reckon at the time. I use a thermapen to make the call on when to pull them off, with the variations in dimensions along with the bones I just find them too fiddly to try and time / temp.

Since I'm always using them as a side dish / hold off the complaints type thing they always end up on the gasser for me, tongs usually just go to whoever looks hungriest. This thread's inspiring me to give them the respect they deserve though and put some prep in, get em on the charcoal and make them a highlight. Simple lime / chilli based setup with more than a few beers could go even better than a whole bird on those late summer afternoons. Will be trialing these suggestions!

[Michael_Dunn]

> Where did you get that rack?

I have this one
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Bayou-Classi ... SwYHxWPL8-

bought mine a few years back, also on eBay (different seller and a fair bit cheaper).
Wouldn't use anything else for chicken pieces - so simple to use, don't have to turn anything etc,

[joey13]

> Where did you get that rack?

I have this one
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Bayou-Classi ... SwYHxWPL8-

bought mine a few years back, also on eBay (different seller and a fair bit cheaper).
Wouldn't use anything else for chicken pieces - so simple to use, don't have to turn anything etc,

That link doesn't seem to be working.

[joey13]

I do my wings like this in the weber kettle and they come out perfect every time.

40 beads to one side. Vents all open. Indirect for 20-25 minutes turning once.

Move them to the direct side (just spin the grill a full 180), brush the wing sauce on then cook for 5-7 minutes turning once or until i'm happy with the charring.