Smoked Caveman-Style Chicken Wings

Like many of you, I’m a huge chicken wing fan. But eating deep-fried chicken on the regular isn’t good for the ol’ arteries. In this recipe I’m going to show you how to make flavorful and crispy smoked wings without the deep-fryer. I’m also attaching my favorite blue cheese dip recipe that’s so easy to make, you’ll never buy blue cheese dip from the store again.

Ingredients

• 10–12 chicken wings
• 1/4 cup chicken wing rub
• 1/4 cup blue cheese dip

Rub the chicken wings generously with the chicken wing rub.

Cover them and let them rest in the fridge for 6–12 hours to marinate.

Once the wings have marinated, remove them from the fridge.

Heat up a charcoal grill to low heat. In this recipe, I'm using my Big Green Egg.

This method works best with lump charcoal. I used briquettes this time because that's what I had on hand, and it worked fine, even though it produces more ash.

Add hickory chips and smoke the wings on low for 30 minutes. In the Big Green Egg, I'm using the heat deflector (ConvEggtor) to make indirect heat for this phase of the cook.

Once the wings are smoked, remove them from the grill and get the charcoal burning red-hot.

Once the coal is glowing hot, blow away the accumulated ash and cook the wings directly on the glowing coals, rotating them constantly so they don’t burn.

Once the wings are crispy on all sides, place them on indirect medium heat until they are cooked through and tender.

Season the wings with salt and serve them with blue cheese dip.

Chicken Wing Rub

• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon granulated garlic
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon raw sugar

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Store the rub in an airtight jar until use. The rub will keep for several months if it’s sealed properly.

Yields 1/3 cup.

Blue Cheese Dip

• 1/2 cup mayo
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2–3 ounces crumbled blue cheese (more if you like the funk)
• 1 scallion, green part only, chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon granulated garlic

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and place the dip in the fridge until you’re ready to serve it.

Yields 1 cup.

This article is part of Issue 72 of StoryQue magazine. Used by permission.