Ain’t No Thang but a Chicken Wing

Makes about 16 whole wings or about 36 flats and drumettes

Our version of chicken wings tops several “best wings” lists, including one compiled by Food & Wine magazine. The secret is twofold: a two-step cooking method and our spicy wing sauce. Our wings are first smoked, then finished on the grill to crisp the skin before being mopped with the sauce. The combination of smoke and char and spice is unbeatable.

• 2 pounds chicken wings, whole or split into flats and drumettes, tips removed
• Garlic salt
• Pure Magic dry rub (page 29) or your choice
• 17th Street Wing Sauce (page 56), warm
• Blue Cheese Dressing (page 57) or Buttermilk Ranch (page 57), for serving
• Celery and carrot sticks, for serving
• 2 pounds good-quality lump charcoal (we use Royal Oak)
• 1 small (8-inch) piece of apple wood or 2 store-bought chunks

Prep the wings: Very lightly season the wings with garlic salt, coating them so thinly that it’s barely visible. Set the wings on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until you’re ready to put them on the cooker.

Set up the cooker for indirect-heat smoking: Open the top and bottom vents. Pile 1 pound of the charcoal in one half of the cooker, leaving the other half empty. Load a charcoal chimney one-quarter full of charcoal and light it. When the coals in the chimney are glowing, dump them on the charcoal in the cooker. Set the wood on top of the coals, replace the grate, and put the wings over the side with no coals (the indirect cooking area).

Don’t open the cooker for 30 minutes, but keep a close eye on the temperature (see page 84 for how best to assess and monitor cooker temperature); when it reaches 200°, which might happen very quickly, close the vents about halfway so that less air comes in to feed the fire and the heat in the cooker rises slowly. Let the temperature climb to between 225° and 250° (see page 77 for how to determine your target temperature).

After 30 minutes, open the lid and check the edges of the wings closest to the fire. If they look like they’re beginning to brown, rotate the wings without flipping them over, moving the pieces that are farthest away and placing them closest to the fire, and vice versa.

Close the lid and continue smoking the wings for another hour, checking the color and the edges every 20 minutes. Never flip the pieces over; just continue rotating them to cook evenly. If at any point the temperature climbs above your target by more than 5°, close the top and bottom vents further so that even less air comes in to feed the fire.

After the wings have been on the cooker for 1½ hours, reload the chimney halfway with charcoal and light it; you’ll need additional hot coals to sear the wings at the finishing stage, after they’re done smoking. Use an instant-read thermometer to check for doneness: Insert the probe into the thickest part of a wing. When the wings reach 155°, pull them off the cooker and set them aside on a baking sheet. (At this point the wings can be cooled, packed into freezer bags, and refrigerated for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 3 months.)

Add the chimneyful of hot coals to the cooker, spreading them out all over the bottom for direct cooking. Replace the grate. Put the wings back on the cooker and sprinkle with dry rub. Sear for 2 to 4 minutes on each side, flipping once, just until charred but not burned, and the internal temperature is 165°.

Sprinkle the wings with a final light coat of dry rub and mop them with wing sauce. Pull the wings off the cooker and serve immediately with dressing and celery and carrot sticks.