There are lots of ways to prepare chicken wings. You can fry them, bake them, air fry them, or broil them. But when it's grilling season, it's only natural to want to fire up the grill and cook them that way. But what about all the different factors? Marinade or dry rub? Grill open or closed? Frozen or fresh? How much seasoning? There are more-or-less right answers to all those questions, and if you don't know them, you may send the guests at your next cookout home pretty unhappy. Don't get yourself caught up in the biggest mistakes everyone makes when grilling chicken wings, and make your next barbecue a big hit.
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00:00Grilling chicken wings just right requires careful planning from start to finish.
00:05Trust us, there are lots of grilling pitfalls that can ruin chicken wings.
00:09But while these mistakes are easy to make when grilling wings, with just a little effort,
00:14they are also easy to avoid.
00:17Instead of oiling the grill to keep your chicken wings from sticking to it,
00:21what you actually want to do is oil the wings. Not a ton of oil, mind you, because the wings
00:26already have plenty of fat in them, and adding too much oil could prevent them from crisping up.
00:31But a thin layer of oil will do the trick, and even help the food cook more evenly.
00:36The main reason not to oil the grill is that the oil will reach its smoking point
00:40faster than if you oil the food itself, which means you'll end up with more potentially
00:44cancer-causing char. Having a thin layer of high-heat oil on the grill is fine if
00:49you're not going to be using high heat, but wings are probably going to need high heat.
00:54So you're better off just cleaning your grill and leaving it clean before you throw on the meat.
00:59Experts recommend, however, oiling your grill if you don't know if there's oil on your food already.
01:04The only other reason to oil the grill and not the food is if your wings are pre-seasoned,
01:09and you don't want to mess up the seasonings on the skin.
01:12What you don't want to do when grilling is create excess char. None of us need cancer,
01:17but we all know that the best parts of a juicy chicken wing are the crispy outer bits.
01:22That means making sure the temperature isn't too high, but is high enough to create that crunchy,
01:27gently blackened outside and tender inside. Because the worst thing would be to end up
01:32with burnt wings. You especially don't want excess char with chicken wings because they're already
01:37so fatty that when that fat drips, it'll create extra polyaromatic hydrocarbons,
01:43which are also carcinogenic. So the trick is to find the balance between high enough heat for
01:48crispy skin, but low enough so the wing cooks all the way through and there's, ideally,
01:53less cancer in your future.
01:56Most barbecue gurus will tell you that you want your meat dry before putting it on the grill.
02:01But what about marinated chicken wings? It probably won't make the biggest difference
02:05if your meat is damp if you're using fairly high heat. But to avoid disappointment,
02:10the easiest solution is to use a dry rub or a dry brine instead.
02:14Even if marinating meat doesn't negatively affect the exterior of the wings, it can make it mushy.
02:20It also doesn't infuse the meat as much as a rub applied far enough in advance.
02:24Since marinades are often oil-based and meat has a lot of water in it,
02:28the marinade has a hard time getting deep inside it. That's not the end of the world for chicken
02:33wings, which aren't that big, but you don't really need to be adding a ton of excess oil
02:37to your fatty wings anyway. A lot of it will just drip out through the grill grates, which is a
02:42waste of your marinating efforts. So if you really love teriyaki sauce, it's best to add it
02:48partway through cooking instead. Or if your marinade is incredibly liquidy, you might just
02:54have to be okay with less crispy wings. Definitely avoid marinades with a lot of sugar, though,
02:59or they'll burn quickly under direct heat. Salting meat in advance is how you infuse flavor.
03:05You don't want to over-salt, especially if you're going to be adding sauce or
03:09dipping the wings in something salty. But if you're a wing purist, toss in some seasonings
03:14and then throw your chicken wings back in the fridge until you're ready to grill them.
03:18You can do the same with a dry rub, which is a blend of spices sprinkled on meat.
03:23If you actually rub it, you can end up with more spice on your hands than the meat,
03:27but go for it. These rubs could range from paprika and black pepper
03:31to curry blends or cayenne-based hot wing rubs.
03:35You know how this one goes. You walk away from whatever you're cooking without setting a timer,
03:40and 20 minutes later, your wings are burnt. So whatever recipe you're making,
03:44whether it's your own or someone else's, get a timer going, preferably a loud one.
03:49It's a little bit of effort for a big reward. And if that doesn't convince you,
03:53think about the flip side. If you don't do it and you end up burning your chicken wings,
03:58you're wasting time and money. Most ovens have timers, but so does your phone.
04:03There's no need to buy a little egg timer or, say, a cute Mozart timer for your kitchen.
04:08If your wings are soggy or burnt, barbecue sauce isn't going to save you.
04:13It's not going to swing in like Falcon or Captain America and make everything okay.
04:17If you overcook your chicken or end up with mushy skin,
04:21you're on your own, which might even mean your wings aren't worth eating.
04:25That also goes for hot sauce, teriyaki sauce, ketchup, honey mustard sauce,
04:30ranch, or whatever else you think might be a good idea when you're in a chicken wing-related pickle.
04:35Needless to say, don't mess up those wings in the first place,
04:38and you won't feel like you need to cover up a problem that can't be fixed.
04:42The safe internal temperature for cooked chicken wings is 165 Fahrenheit, according to the USDA.
04:49So the best plan is to get your meat to the tiniest bit below that, because unless you live
04:54in an ice house, they're going to keep cooking inside after you take them off the grill.
04:58That should result in the ideal temperature of 165 Fahrenheit.
05:02Wings don't retain heat like larger pieces of meat, though, so don't dip much lower than 165
05:08Fahrenheit. Then again, some people like the texture of the meat when it's a little more well done.
05:13So feel free to cook them to a slightly higher temperature, if that's you.
05:17Now, you might think your wings are cooked through because they're charred and crispy on the outside,
05:22but if you used high heat, there's a chance they're not cooked through in the middle.
05:27The larger your wings, the more likely that is.
05:30Just because restaurants that sell chicken wings often use low-quality chicken,
05:35that doesn't mean you should. In fact, grilling chicken wings at home is an opportunity to buy
05:40better chicken. Wings are a relatively inexpensive piece of meat compared to chicken breasts,
05:46so long as you don't wait until the Saturday before the Super Bowl to buy them. If you can
05:50afford it, go for free-range organic chicken, or at least something that didn't lead to a chicken
05:55having an unhealthy life in a feedlot. FYI, only chicken labeled raised without antibiotics
06:02were actually raised without them. Even organic chickens can be given antibiotics before coming
06:07out of the egg, or on their very first day outside of the egg. And whether you can afford higher
06:12quality or more expensive chicken or not, remember to save those bones for stock. Chicken wings are
06:18the perfect opportunity to create your own homemade broth for soups, and basically everything that
06:23needs some extra flavor.
06:25"...Baby, you got a stew going."
06:27Yes, you can cook frozen meat directly on the grill, without thawing it in advance,
06:31from wings to thighs to breasts. But you might not end up with the juiciest results,
06:36and your cooking time is going to be a lot longer. The heat can cause the outsides of
06:40the chicken to burn before the wings cook all the way through. If you really want to
06:45cook them from frozen, it's best to cook the wings gently over indirect heat first,
06:50to make sure the insides get almost cooked through. Use that handy meat thermometer here,
06:56then move them to direct heat to finish. They may take double the time versus cooking in
07:0120 minutes for fresh or thawed wings, but be careful not to go too low with the temperature,
07:06or you could end up with food poisoning. The safest way to cook frozen chicken wings
07:10is to thaw them fully first in the fridge overnight, and make sure the heat isn't too
07:15low in your grill. This might sound silly, because who's not going to turn their wings?
07:21But it's an easy one to mess up if you're preoccupied with your backyard barbecue party.
07:25You leave the wings a little too long, and they've cooked so much on one side that if you
07:29turn them over, they'll be bone dry. This is another example of one of those times when you
07:34should use a timer. The point of a grilled chicken wing is usually to have a consistently crispy
07:39outside. You're not usually aiming for one that's charred on one side and soft and gelatinous on
07:44the other. The good news is that with all the fat in chicken wings, you don't even have to worry
07:49about turning them too often. A lot of recipes say to turn the wings occasionally, which seems
07:55like a safe bet unless you're a true chicken wing gourmet who will die without perfect grill marks.
08:00So set that timer multiple times and reap the rewards.
08:04If you leave the lid open on a barbecue grill, you'll lose all the heat. It's fine to open it
08:09to turn, flip, or rotate the meat, but you set that temperature to where it needs to be for a
08:13reason. And the worst thing would be to end up with undercooked chicken. Keeping the grill closed
08:19also helps the chicken cook all the way through, instead of just being cooked on the outside from
08:23the flicks of flame that jump up through the grill. The second worst thing would be to waste
08:28all that gas or charcoal and also have to wait an extra hour for your chicken wings to be ready.
08:33Yes, the wings will eventually cook if you leave the lid off, but that's not very efficient.
08:38Do you really want to wait twice as long for your wings for no good reason? So keep a lid on it.
08:45You only need to do a major cleaning on your barbecue once a year, but you do need to brush
08:49it clean regularly. When you brush it, though, is a matter of contention. Some experts say to
08:55do it after cooking, once the grill has cooled a little. But Weber says you should preheat your
09:00grill well and then scrape it immediately before cooking, because the preheating gets rid of a lot
09:05of what's left anyway, making your work easier. Either way, you definitely do want to brush it or
09:10wipe it before cooking something else on it. Otherwise, you'll have gross black bits sticking
09:15to your food. Besides being unattractive, it can make you sick. The reason you don't do a major
09:21cleanup every time is that you want some of that blackened grease to stick around on the sides of
09:25the barbecue and add flavor. But food residue should definitely be burned and scraped off
09:30before cooking something else. And be careful about using wire brushes, which can end up in
09:35your meal and potentially cause serious harm. The number one mistake people make when grilling
09:41chicken wings is probably adding a sugary sauce too soon and having it burn. If you add a sugary
09:47sauce — or any sauce — too soon, it can wreck your chicken wings. The sugar will burn quickly,
09:53which is why you should add it just a little before the end.
09:56Hey, what's on this corn? Barbecue sauce?
09:58Sam's blood.
10:00Adding any sauce too soon can also keep the chicken wings from crisping up,
10:04which defeats the purpose of grilling them. If you wanted gelatinous wings,
10:08you could have just baked them or, heaven forbid, boiled them. So don't slather on the barbecue
10:14sauce or honey garlic until your well-chosen recipe tells you to do so, generally anywhere
10:20from two to five minutes before they're done. Or dip the chicken wings in sauce after cooking.
10:25Or toss them directly in the sauce after cooking for full immersion.
10:29But make sure to serve them right away before the skin softens and the meat cools.