Things You'll Need To Pull This Off:
- 1 Family pack of chicken wings. Using Organic non-antibiotic chicken wings reduces your chances of having a tough rubbery skin, because the skin is thinner and less fatty.
The Brine:
- 1 &1/2 cups Orange Juice
- 1/2 cup Molasses
- 2 tablespoons Your Choice Of Rub
The Rub:
- 1/2 cup of your favorite rub
- 1 tablespoon baking powder or cornstarch
The Process:
Make a brine using 1 &1/2 cups of Orange juice, 1/2 cup of molasses, and 2 tablespoons of rub. Use any rub you like, I use a rub that I created called Grave Diggers Dirt but it’s not on the market yet, coming soon.
Put the wings in a large Ziploc bag and pour in the brine. Squeeze all the air out so that the wings are covered completely, and put em in the fridge. Brine em about 6 hours flippin em every hour or so, I do em overnight most times, but 4-6 hours is sufficient.
Now take em out of the fridge. No need to rinse em off, jus pat em dry, put em on a rack over a drip pan, and put em in the fridge for 4-6 hours uncovered (overnight is even better). This will allow the air to flow all around the wings and dry up moister that causes tough rubbery skin. Then take em out and lightly spray em with an EVOO spray and dust em with rub. Now get your smoker or grill fired up! If you're using a grill make sure you're set up for indirect heat, that's coals on one side and meat on the other for those who may not know.
Now off to the smoker they go, 45 minutes indirect heat at 325-350. Once you get your desired color, move em to direct heat for 15-20 minutes. Watch em closely and flip em often so they don't burn. I use apple wood for the smoke on these wings.
You should now whip out your instant read thermometer and check the internal temp of your wings. Put it in the thickest part of the meat and don’t touch the bone. The recommended safe cooking temp for chicken is 165 degrees.
Now if you don’t have an instant read thermometer you should really consider adding one to your list of weapons. After all, Smokin & grillin is mostly about internal meat temp, not time. Here is the one I’ve used for years and it has never let me down, and I highly recommend it! It’s my go to Instant Read Thermometer for gettin it right!
That’s it, total cook time 1 hour - 1 hour & 15 minutes. You just made yourself a couple of pounds of smoked Orange Molasses Chicken Wings! You will love this brine on wings! You can also up the amount of brine and use this recipe for whole chicken too, it's AWESOME!
You know what time it is now… If you made enough for friends and family, give everyone their share and watch em smile! If no one is talkin, or makin some noises that you may or may not have heard before, you know you did good!!!
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Enjoy and smoke on brothers and sisters!!!
Sidenote: Some people will reserve the brine to baste their chicken... I SAY DON'T DO THAT!
Straight From The