Smoked Chicken Wings
So for Memorial Day I wanted to do something a little different. We were going to a friends house and they just wanted something we could snack on and nothing big. That is when I decided to take a shot a making my Spicy Honey wings with a twist. Instead of frying the wings I put a rub on them and smoked them first. This is very simple and very fast...well in terms of smoking it is fast. I used Cherry wood today but any good smoking wood like hickory, apple, or pecan will do. I like the added flavor of fruit wood.
I bought a 4.5lb pack of fresh wings from the local Wal-Mart grocery store. They were on sale for $5 and when you trimmed them up you had between 30 and 40 wings total. I like these better than the frozen drummets because those have a ton of sodium in them and since I would be adding my own spices I didn't want anything additional I don't need. Plus, for the same price I get fresh? No contest.
I rub them down with a special little seasoning. Drop them on the smoker (225 degrees) and away we go for about three hours. You want them internally to be about 165, but it is hard to measure so I just pull one apart and make sure the juices are clear. They will be nice and smoky by no more than four hours. Pull them off. Toss them in the Spicy Honey sauce and bake them in the oven at 450 degrees for about 12 minutes. This makes the nice, sticky and oh so good. A little heat and the sweet honey are a great combo. Give it a try for your next weekend event. You can even do these while smoking a butt, shoulder, or ribs if you like. That way you have an appetizer ready before the meal.
Rub
1/4 Cup Paprika
1/4 Cup Ground Sweet Pepper (Green or Red Bell) Optional
1/4 Cup Black Pepper
1/4 Brown Sugar
1/4 Granulated Sugar
1TBS Garlic Powder
1 TBS Ground White Pepper
2 TSP Cayenne Pepper
Rubbed and ready to smoke!
Spicy Honey Sauce
1 Cup of Hot Sauce
1/2 Cup of Honey
1/8 Cup Molasses
1tbs Garlic Powder
*I thank Emeril for this sauce idea. His wings are good when fried. These are great when smoked.
There are also some smoked wings that I just flavored with salt and pepper. Smoked and tossed with a combination of 1 bottle Papa Johnny's BBQ Sauce and 1 Bottle Papa Johnny's Hot Sauce. See our links to go to their website and find a store near you that carries their products.
So for Memorial Day I wanted to do something a little different. We were going to a friends house and they just wanted something we could snack on and nothing big. That is when I decided to take a shot a making my Spicy Honey wings with a twist. Instead of frying the wings I put a rub on them and smoked them first. This is very simple and very fast...well in terms of smoking it is fast. I used Cherry wood today but any good smoking wood like hickory, apple, or pecan will do. I like the added flavor of fruit wood.
I bought a 4.5lb pack of fresh wings from the local Wal-Mart grocery store. They were on sale for $5 and when you trimmed them up you had between 30 and 40 wings total. I like these better than the frozen drummets because those have a ton of sodium in them and since I would be adding my own spices I didn't want anything additional I don't need. Plus, for the same price I get fresh? No contest.
I rub them down with a special little seasoning. Drop them on the smoker (225 degrees) and away we go for about three hours. You want them internally to be about 165, but it is hard to measure so I just pull one apart and make sure the juices are clear. They will be nice and smoky by no more than four hours. Pull them off. Toss them in the Spicy Honey sauce and bake them in the oven at 450 degrees for about 12 minutes. This makes the nice, sticky and oh so good. A little heat and the sweet honey are a great combo. Give it a try for your next weekend event. You can even do these while smoking a butt, shoulder, or ribs if you like. That way you have an appetizer ready before the meal.
Rub
1/4 Cup Paprika
1/4 Cup Ground Sweet Pepper (Green or Red Bell) Optional
1/4 Cup Black Pepper
1/4 Brown Sugar
1/4 Granulated Sugar
1TBS Garlic Powder
1 TBS Ground White Pepper
2 TSP Cayenne Pepper
Rubbed and ready to smoke!
Spicy Honey Sauce
1 Cup of Hot Sauce
1/2 Cup of Honey
1/8 Cup Molasses
1tbs Garlic Powder
*I thank Emeril for this sauce idea. His wings are good when fried. These are great when smoked.
There are also some smoked wings that I just flavored with salt and pepper. Smoked and tossed with a combination of 1 bottle Papa Johnny's BBQ Sauce and 1 Bottle Papa Johnny's Hot Sauce. See our links to go to their website and find a store near you that carries their products.
Smoked Turkey Breast
When my wife recently asked what I wanted to do with the turkey breast she bought all I could think about was how much I love smoked turkey and while it may be cold, I wanted to get back out to the smoker. Due to time limits on my weekend I decided against a brine and went with injecting this bird. I started with a cup of water and a cup of honey then added a variety of spices that included onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, salt, rosemary and cayenne pepper and chicken seasoning. Brought it all to a boil and simmered until the spices were dissolved. After adding a little ice and letting the mixture completely cool I then liberally injected the breast on both sides and let it sit for about two hours before smoking.
In the mean time I got the fire in the smoker going. Now I figure forty five minutes to an hour a pound for cooking and with this breast being 8lbs I got started early around 7a.m. and had my temperature up at 8a.m. After about an hour when I was sure I had leveled off the temperature to a constant 225 I added the breast and wood chunks that had been soaking for several hours. This time I used a mix of cherry and peach wood for the main smoke. These came off the trees in our yard that I had trimmed back for the upcoming spring. I am a big fan of fruit wood and have even found a local source for apple wood thanks to my buddy Darren. Fruit wood works well for almost any meat you smoke and generally will not have a bitter flavor that I think some of the traditional hardwoods add. If you are lucky like me then you have a couple of fruit trees in your yard you can trim annually and add to the wood collection. Now if you do this on a Sunday like I did, you drop the bird on the smoker right before you go and you can arrive at the early service smelling like smoke and make all the good folks around you hungry. I always get a kick out of people sniffing and looking around trying to figure out where that wonderful odor is coming from.
I smoked the breast for close to 4 hours. Some argue that any longer is a waste of wood because all the smoke will be absorbed by the meat within two to three hours. I am not sure about that fact but since I was low on wood I went to straight charcoal at that point to finish cooking. At this point I wrapped the turkey breast in aluminum foil, inserted the cooking thermometer probe and waited...and waited...and waited. At 3:30 the thermometer read 165 so off it came and I let it rest for just over an hour. Some folks will tell you to cook to 170 degrees but there will be close to a 10 degree carry over so at 165 degrees puts me safe without drying out the meat from over cooking.
After resting I trimmed the breast for serving. I decided that I would let my family pick out their favorite sauce to add for a couple of reasons. First, the kids like a sweeter BBQ sauce than I do and use more of it. Second, I feel one of the best leftover meals ever is a turkey breast sandwich with mayo and pepper. You can't have that if you drench the bird after trimming.
So to recap. 1 1/2 hrs to prep smoker. 6 hours to cook. 1 hour to rest. 1 week thinking how wonderful smoked turkey can be. Chalk another up to a Backyard BBQ Stud!
When my wife recently asked what I wanted to do with the turkey breast she bought all I could think about was how much I love smoked turkey and while it may be cold, I wanted to get back out to the smoker. Due to time limits on my weekend I decided against a brine and went with injecting this bird. I started with a cup of water and a cup of honey then added a variety of spices that included onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, salt, rosemary and cayenne pepper and chicken seasoning. Brought it all to a boil and simmered until the spices were dissolved. After adding a little ice and letting the mixture completely cool I then liberally injected the breast on both sides and let it sit for about two hours before smoking.
In the mean time I got the fire in the smoker going. Now I figure forty five minutes to an hour a pound for cooking and with this breast being 8lbs I got started early around 7a.m. and had my temperature up at 8a.m. After about an hour when I was sure I had leveled off the temperature to a constant 225 I added the breast and wood chunks that had been soaking for several hours. This time I used a mix of cherry and peach wood for the main smoke. These came off the trees in our yard that I had trimmed back for the upcoming spring. I am a big fan of fruit wood and have even found a local source for apple wood thanks to my buddy Darren. Fruit wood works well for almost any meat you smoke and generally will not have a bitter flavor that I think some of the traditional hardwoods add. If you are lucky like me then you have a couple of fruit trees in your yard you can trim annually and add to the wood collection. Now if you do this on a Sunday like I did, you drop the bird on the smoker right before you go and you can arrive at the early service smelling like smoke and make all the good folks around you hungry. I always get a kick out of people sniffing and looking around trying to figure out where that wonderful odor is coming from.
I smoked the breast for close to 4 hours. Some argue that any longer is a waste of wood because all the smoke will be absorbed by the meat within two to three hours. I am not sure about that fact but since I was low on wood I went to straight charcoal at that point to finish cooking. At this point I wrapped the turkey breast in aluminum foil, inserted the cooking thermometer probe and waited...and waited...and waited. At 3:30 the thermometer read 165 so off it came and I let it rest for just over an hour. Some folks will tell you to cook to 170 degrees but there will be close to a 10 degree carry over so at 165 degrees puts me safe without drying out the meat from over cooking.
After resting I trimmed the breast for serving. I decided that I would let my family pick out their favorite sauce to add for a couple of reasons. First, the kids like a sweeter BBQ sauce than I do and use more of it. Second, I feel one of the best leftover meals ever is a turkey breast sandwich with mayo and pepper. You can't have that if you drench the bird after trimming.
So to recap. 1 1/2 hrs to prep smoker. 6 hours to cook. 1 hour to rest. 1 week thinking how wonderful smoked turkey can be. Chalk another up to a Backyard BBQ Stud!
