Smoked Chicken Wings

Note: I was sent samples of Bear Mountain BBQ Wood Pellets in order to write this post. Opinions are mine alone.

I’ve mentioned many times in the past how much I love to grill, but last summer I began dabbling in smoked foods. I don’t own a smoker, so I just use my grill, and Bear Mountain BBQ Pellets make it super simple to do so! Last year I made an awesome recipe for Smoked Potato Salad using Bear Mountain’s Gourmet Blend. This time around, I’m sharing a more traditional smoked food recipe: Smoked Chicken Wings!

My husband is kind of chicken wings obsessed. His current favorite wings dry rubbed smoked wings from our local pizza place, Pizza Plus, so I decided to try to make some of my own at home. I used Bear Mountain Bold BBQ Pellets for this recipe, but their Gourmet Blend would also work.

Ingredients (makes 3 lbs wings, or 2-4 servings. Multiply as needed):

• 1/2 tablespoon each:
  • smoked paprika
  • Hungarian paprika
  • chili powder
  • garlic powder
  • onion powder
• 1 teaspoon each:
  • salt
  • ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon each:
  • cumin
  • ground mustard
• 3 lbs wings
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1-2 cups Bear Mountain Bold BBQ Pellets
• blue cheese dip, for serving

Combine the smoked paprika, Hungarian paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, cumin, and ground mustard in a small bowl.

Take out your wings and pat them dry. Add the wings to a large bowl.

Drizzle the wings with 2 tablespoons olive oil, tossing to evenly coat. Then season the wings with the spices, tossing to evenly coat. Let sit for 1 hour.

After 1 hour, preheat your grill to 225 to 250 degrees F, keeping one side of the grill off to have a place for indirect heat for the wings. Add the pellets to a small aluminum tin and top with aluminum foil. Poke a few holes in the top of the foil.

Add the wings to the grill over indirect heat, and place the tin with the pellets over direct heat.

Close the lid and let cook for 2 hours. Check occasionally to make sure the pellets are smoking. Flip the wings halfway through. If needed, add more pellets to the tin about 1 hour in.

After 2 hours, check the temperature of your wings.

When they reach 160 degrees F, quickly move them to direct heat and cook for about 1 minute on each side until the wings are crisp.

Remove from heat and serve with blue cheese dip.

These were definitely worth the wait! The wings have a nice smokiness to them that pairs really well with the dry rub. If you want, you can also baste the wings in your favorite barbecue sauce of choice before moving them to direct heat. However, I think the dry rub is pretty amazing on its own!