The BBQ Blog

The BBQ Blog chronicles our adventures in search of the perfect all-natural BBQ.

Monday, July 07, 2008

Fourth of July Menu: SmoFried Chicken Wings

After the fatty, it was on to SmoFried Chicken Wings. I am a big fan of hybrid cooking methods, and this one combines two of my favorite methods - smoking and deep frying. I have my own variation of how to do this, but you can find a great primer on smoked and deep fried wings on the TVWB.

First I salted and then smoked the wings - I only smoked them for about an hour and then fried them. I used to use a full dry rub them, but most of the rub would burn by the time it got to the fryer afterwards. I think the skin holds up better this way but you still get the tenderizing effect of slow cooking the meat and I add the dry rub to the sauce. Here are the wings about 45 minutes into the smoke:

As I am smoking the wings I prepare my buffalo sauce. I added some dry rub, ground rainbow pepper corns, and Franks' Hot Sauce to a reduction of blood orange juice. I bring it to a boil, remove it from the heat and then add butter. I keep stirring and let the butter slowly emulsify until it forms a nice sauce.

I fried the wings in peanut oil at 350° for about 3 minutes or so.

When finished I pulled them out of the oil and let them air for about 30 seconds, then I toss them in the sauce. When finished this is what they looked like:

These take more time than your regular wings, but the flavor is so good you should give it a shot. Since the oil was hot, I went on to cook up a SmoFried Turkey Breast as well.

Labels: chicken, Fourth of July, wings