If you are looking for a simple and delicious way to smoke chicken wings – this is it!

Have you ever walked outside when someone is grilling and felt instant envy?

That smell of charcoal? Or even better – wood chips smoking gently?

Over this past weekend, we finally had a couple of extra hours at the house that we could dedicate to our home project list.

We decided to take advantage of that opportunity to heat up our gas smoker.  We began to search our freezer for what we could smoke and found several pounds of chicken wings and drums just waiting to be used.

And in an instant, we had the perfect dinner planned – it was time to smoke chicken wings!

The key to smoking any type of meat is “low and slow”.  This is especially true with chicken wings since it isn’t a thick cut of meat and the wings can become dried out quickly.

Using a smoker adds so much natural flavor and keeps the meat nice and juicy. So juicy that traditional wing sauces aren’t even necessary.

That definitely saves on the amount of calories consumed and also the amount of napkins needed.

With our easy how to smoke wings instructions below – you can create amazing wings for any party, tailgate – or like us, an amazing dinner!

The recipe for the dry rub below combines a variety of blends of spices which can be adapted to your individual preference.

Add more cayenne pepper for additional heat, or add more smoke paprika for more of a barbecue flavor.

The possibilities are endless – and they all let you smoke chicken wings perfectly!

How To Smoke Chicken Wings – Dry Rub Recipe

Ingredients:
3 pounds chicken wings

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon sweet smoked paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

How To Smoke Chicken Wings:

*If wings are frozen, thaw.

1. Place approximately 3 cups of wood chips in a large bowl and cover with water. Let sit for at least one hour prior to heating.

2. Rinse wings with water and pat dry with paper towels to remove excess liquid.

3. Place wings in a large bowl/plastic bag and rub olive oil evenly into each piece.

4. Combine all seasonings in a bowl.

5. Sprinkle half of the season mix onto the chicken wings and rub in. Flip wings and sprinkle remaining half onto wings and rub in.

6. Let the dry rub sit on the wings for at least 30 minutes.

7. Preheat smoker to 250 degrees.

8. Place chicken wings on the racks, placing the largest pieces (usually the legs) closest to the heat source.

9. Add water-soaked wood chips to the box/tray on your smoker

Keep that temperature steady…

10. Smoke/heat wings maintaining a 250 degree temperature for the 45-60 minutes.

11. Flip wings and add more chips if desired (not necessary). After 90 minutes, check internal temperature of wings. Heat to 165 degrees.

12. Increase temperature to 375 degrees F and crisp the outer edge for approximately 20-30 minutes.

13. Remove from heat and cover until served.

**If wing sauce is desired, brush on the wings for the last 20-30 minutes of cooking.

Enjoy!

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Mary and Jim