Keep it Simple – Grilled Chicken Wings

Chicken wings can be an awesome grilling experience or can be a horrible mess! Let’s see if our pal Steve Waldron can set us straight with his version of Simple Grilled Chicken Wings.

Keep it Simple – Direct Heat or Indirect?

One of the challenges to cooking chicken is to make sure it is cooked all the way through AND to not burn it at the same time! To do this, the cook needs to grasp the idea of how their grill can help them achieve this result.

To properly cook chicken thoroughly, it is best to turn one burner of the grill on – say the left side – while leaving the other side cool or with no heat – say the right side. The chicken will placed on the “cool” side of the grill and when the lid is closed the grill will reflect the hot zone heat off the lid and downward onto the chicken. This is called indirect cooking. There is no heat of flame underneath the chicken.

This method allows the heat to circulate within the cook chamber of the grill and “roast” the chicken. The benefit of this is that the meat will cook through and not just on the surface.

So, in short, yup, cook your chicken indirectly!

Keep it Simple – When Do You Sauce the Wings?

Some cooks will apply sauce at the beginning of the cook time. That is, if you can imagine with me, chicken comes out of the fridge, onto the grill and brushed with sauce… then the grill is turned on.

Here’s what happens in this situation. The grill will increase in heat and the sauce, which often is higher in sugar content, starts to caramelize and even burn. Meanwhile the chicken remains raw in the centre of the meat. This is out of balance.

Most cook educators advise to cook the chicken partially before saucing. Our rule-of-thumb at House of Q is to cook until the wings are “3/4 of the way done”. In this instance, it will be when the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 150-155 F. Then you are ready to sauce, return to grill and let the chicken finishing to cook.

Steve says when he cooks these wings he wants “messy, spicy, sweet.” And this simple recipe is exactly that!

Keep it Simple – Grilled Chicken Wings

Print Recipe

Course Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine Grill, Smoker

HoQ Product House Rub, Sugar & Spice BBQ Sauce

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Servings 2

Author House of Q

Ingredients

• 2 lbs Chicken wings, split
• 2-3 TB House of Q House Rub
• 2 TB Butter
• 4 TB House of Q Sugar and Spice BBQ Sauce Or the milder Five Star BBQ Sauce

Instructions

• Place the chicken wings in a bowl and sprinkle on the House Rub. Toss with tongs or a spoon so that all side of the wings have a good coating of seasoning. Set aside.
  
• Prepare your grill for medium high heat and indirect cooking (one side off). Place the wings on the cool side separated apart so there is even heat distribution between the wings. Close the lid. After 15 minutes or so, rotate the wings if the ones closer to the heat have taken on more colour than those that are further away. Close the lid. Check the meat temperature and if they are above 150 F, you are ready to sauce your wings!
• In a small sauce pan melt the butter and add the Sugar and Spice BBQ Sauce. Heat through and mix well.
• Remove all the wings from the grill and place in a bowl. Pour the warmed sauce on the wings a again with a spoon or tongs, toss the wings around so that all sides are coated with sauce. Of course, they can be brushed with the sauce as an alternate method. Return the wings to the grill and finish cooking with the lid closed.
  
• Turn the wings over and check the meat temperature. If the wings have reached 170 F they are ready to eat. Remove from the grill, open a beer and get ready for a tasty adventure! Yum!

Let’s Shop for Chicken Wing Ingredients

Another Chicken Wing Recipe? But There’s a Video!

It’s true! There’s another video recipe that might show you more about Chicken Wings. Follow this link to Step-by-Step Guide to Perfect House of Q BBQ Chicken Wings!