I just did some chicken wings on my Mak 2star. The flavor was good but the skin was rubbery. I cooked them at the smoke setting for 2 hours & then bumped it up to 300 for about 15 minutes. Any one have any tips on how I might get the skin a little crisper & still get the smoke flavor. Thanks
Some help with wings on my Mak 2 star
- Thread starter Genmeyer
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TentHunter
Moderator
Yes, This is a classic issue.
Basically chicken skin, to be crispy, needs a high enough temperature so the fat gets hot enough to fry & crisp the skin before it can drain off. If you cook the chicken at a low enough temp for too long the fat will just melt off, but not crisp the skin, leaving it to dry and turn leathery.
I've been playing around with this a lot this past year and for crispy skin have been getting best results by cooking at temps around 400°. If I want smoke, then I either cold smoke for 30 minutes first, or run the MAK in smoke for no more than 30 minutes (otherwise the fat starts to render off too soon) then bump the temp up to 400°+.
On your 2 Star, you have a nice advantage; the cold smoking chamber. Try putting the wings in the cold smoke chamber for 30 minutes or so to get the smoke, then crank the grill up to 350° - 400° and move the wings over to cook them.
Give this a try, see how it works, and be sure to share your results so we can all learn!
FlBentrider does a lot of wings too. He may have some good insight.
Basically chicken skin, to be crispy, needs a high enough temperature so the fat gets hot enough to fry & crisp the skin before it can drain off. If you cook the chicken at a low enough temp for too long the fat will just melt off, but not crisp the skin, leaving it to dry and turn leathery.
I've been playing around with this a lot this past year and for crispy skin have been getting best results by cooking at temps around 400°. If I want smoke, then I either cold smoke for 30 minutes first, or run the MAK in smoke for no more than 30 minutes (otherwise the fat starts to render off too soon) then bump the temp up to 400°+.
On your 2 Star, you have a nice advantage; the cold smoking chamber. Try putting the wings in the cold smoke chamber for 30 minutes or so to get the smoke, then crank the grill up to 350° - 400° and move the wings over to cook them.
Give this a try, see how it works, and be sure to share your results so we can all learn!
FlBentrider does a lot of wings too. He may have some good insight.
fishingbouchman
New member
Think I have been running the one star around 350 375 the whole cook and have been happy with my wings.
FLBentRider
New member
I do mine at 375-400F. I have not really tried to get more smoke flavor, when I've tried (like Cliff stated) if the fat renders out before you can get the temps high enough to crisp the skin you are not going to get the texture you are looking for.
I have not acquired an a-maze-n smoker yet, and I do not know how it will perform at 375-400F.
Just did wings yesterday while watching the Niners win. I have been using Chris Lilly's spicy apricot wing recipe and cooking them on the Mak 2 star at 450. Works great. You have to watch em and turn and move them around every 8-10 minutes. They turn out great and very crispy. View attachment 1940View attachment 1941View attachment 1942View attachment 1943
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Pappymn
New member
Those look better then mine. Did you use the flame zone?
TentHunter
Moderator
Stone, those look & sound really good! I think I want to give them a try.
Can you re-post them in the gallery section as well with a few more details?
Can you re-post them in the gallery section as well with a few more details?
Pappymn
New member
I know what you mean....the ones around the edge char pretty quickly.
Chili Head
New member
I've been smoking mine for 30 minutes then cooking at 425-450 on the upper rack with great results.
Try an iron dutch oven with peanut oil @375, smoke the wings first, then deep fry to desired crispiness. That is how I make mine, I put the dutch oven on the gas grill and take the wings from the smoker a dozen at a time, I prefer mesquite, and smoke the wings from a frozen state, frying them while they are still cool and raw yet smoked enough to really set off the flavor of the sauce.