SMOKED CHICKEN WINGS
Does it get much better than a good batch of wings?? Take them up a notch by doing a chamber vac marinade, smoking them and adding a peanut butter dipping sauce.
You don’t need a sporting event to eat wings. We’re ditching the fryer on this one and throwing them on the smoker for an extra flavor boost. I love Bachan’s Japanese BBQ sauce (not a sponsor, I just love it!) on many things, but this smoked wing combo has been my favorite! I HIGHLY recommend grabbing your wings from a local butcher vs big box shop. Flavor will be way superior and you will be supporting a local business! The chamber vac sealer is not required, but helpful boosting flavor in a shorter amount of time. Lets go!
Running short on time and need that marinade to penetrate faster? Or need pickled onions in a hurry? You need a chamber vac. We love ours because we are bad at planning, but also vac seals soups & other liquids in a flash saving your freezer space by allowing you to freeze flat & stack. 100% worth the investment.
Total prep & cook time ~ 2+ hours
Equipment:
Wire rack
Large mixing bowl
Smoker
Ingredients:
2 pounds chicken wings (from your local butcher!)
Sesame seeds to taste
1 Green Onion
Marinade
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green onion, sliced
1 tbs ginger, fresh grated
1 cup teriyaki sauce (or Bachan’s!)
Dipping Sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tbs peanut butter
1 tbs red pepper flake (less if you need)
1/2 cup teriyaki sauce or Bachan’s
1/4 cup buttermilk (optional)
Directions:
Combine marinade ingredients and chicken wings into the chamber vac bag and seal up under pressure.
Let marinade for 30 min - overnight. The longer the better, the chamber vac helps get more flavor quicker, but in my experimenting time is still better.
Preheat smoker to 180º
Pull wings and place on wire rack(s), discard marinade.
Place wire rack(s) on smoker and cook for about an hour or until wings reach 125º
Pull wings and set smoker to 350º
While smoker is preheating, mix up the dipping sauce by melting peanut butter, Bachan’s sauce, garlic and red pepper flakes in a skillet on medium heat.
Simmer for 5 minutes or until thickened to your liking. (My sauce thickened a bit too much and I had some buttermilk on hand, so added that. It gave a nice tangy bump to the sauce and I really enjoyed how it came out!)
Once smoker hits temp replace wings and cook until internal temp is 165º and have a nice crispy crust.
Transfer to your serving dish, dust with the sesame seeds and chopped green onion (to taste).
Enjoy piping hot!
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Hot Tips:
For an extra tingly zip add some Szechuan peppercorns! Start small, they pack a big punch
Air fryers and ovens work just as well if you are not a fan of smoke.
You can also use liquid smoke if you don’t have a smoker. No judgement.
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Yeti is by far our favorite cooler brand. Outside of keeping things cold we love to rest briskets & pulled pork in ours.
NEUTRAL CHICKEN STOCK
Truly use all of your food and minimize food waste by making stock! Use in place of water in most dishes to amp the flavor and turn average dishes ultra savory.
This crazy simple stock base is the easiest way to jump into utilizing all of the ingredients in your kitchen and reducing your food waste. We chat about this process with Ian Groesbeck in EP 43. This stock is super flavorful, but also pretty neutral so you aren’t so boxed in when you go to use it.
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Aprons from Hedley & Bennett are built to stand the abuse from the most rugged cook. have the style options to match any persona. We adore our old school camo print apron.
Total prep time ~ 15 min, smoking / simmering time ~ 4-12 hours
Equipment:
Smoker
Stove top
Ingredients:
Bones & Skin from 1 chicken
1/2 yellow onion quartered
1/2 carrot diced into 1/2 inch pieces
Directions:
Preheat your smoker (or oven) to 400°
Place all ingredients on a baking pan, in the photos I used some avocado oil thinking it would help keep items from sticking, but the chicken released a lot more fat than I anticipated so the oil is not as necessary in my opinion.
Place in pan in your smoker/oven once it has reached temp for 10-15 min.
Cook until you see a nice color build up on the food items, but don’t let it get too dark (like my carrots.. FYI finely diced carrots are not the best idea to use.), this will impart some bitter flavors that are not the best.
Once the bones have hit a nice color, remove from smoker/oven and place into a medium size pan.
Add just enough water to cover the food items and bring to a light boil. Immediately reduce heat to a light simmer and cook between 4 & 12 hours.
We recommend cooking with a lid on or keep an eye on the liquid level and replace lost liquid with hot water.
Keep tasting the stock and stop cooking when you like the flavor or when you stop noticing a change. Remove all solids by dumping the stock through a fine mesh sieve into a new vessel.
If desired return the liquids to the stove, bring to a simmer and reduce to desired concentration.
Place into a jar and refrigerate until use or freeze. We recommend using a chamber vac sealer (we use Anova) for an air tight seal and freezing laying flat for optimal space saving in your freezer.
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Hot Tips:
Label how concentrated your stock is! Is it ready to use or does it need a bit of water?
Don’t add additional seasonings until you know how you will use it.
Watch salt content! If you got a pre cooked chicken that was already brined chances are the stock will be super salty.
Don’t be afraid to change things up! Add things you like, skip what you don’t. This is neutral for a reason, to be the most compatible with a variety of dishes.
Support Okayest Cook
Yeti is by far our favorite cooler brand. Outside of keeping things cold we love to rest briskets & pulled pork in ours.
