If you have been following me for any amount of time, you probably know by now that I am a fan of chicken wings. Some people call them buffalo wings thanks to where they supposedly originated in Buffalo New York. Buffalo style is usually associated with spicy and while I occasionally like spicy wings, that isn't always the case.
You also might remember me writing this post where I talked about getting the Vortex accessory for my Weber Kettle grill. As I said before, one of the things I love about the Weber Kettle is the versatility it affords, the number of accessories that are available for it, and the ease of which you can get replacement parts for it.
While they aren't cheap (unless you can find a good deal on Facebook Marketplace), they are well worth the money and I'm a bit sad I don't have a couple more of them. My dream home has an outdoor kitchen with a couple of Weber Kettles on the patio as well as maybe one or two other smokers and a flat top griddle.
As with most accessories and the Weber Kettle grill itself, it's often a good idea to do an initial "burn in" before you actually use them with food. This gets any chemicals, wax, or oils off the items that may have purposely or inadvertently found their way into/onto the items.
@mrsbozz and I were grilling for dinner on Saturday night, so I decided to start the grill a little early and get a nice trial run done with the Vortex before I used it on Sunday morning to grill my chicken wings.
As you can see from the previous photo, the Vortex basically concentrates the heat and flame from your charcoal into a single column that burns super hot in the center of the grill. The heat then radiates out and makes for super high temperature conditions inside the grill.
Let me be clear, this is not low and slow BBQ, this is screaming hot and fast. Many people use the Vortex under a cast iron inset for searing off steaks and it only take a couple of seconds on each side, that's how hot it gets.
In fact, you can see from the photo above I was probably pushing over 500 degrees F in the kettle on this trial run.
When I went to the butcher shop on Saturday morning after picking up our travel trailer from my parents house, I decided to grab some chicken wings. I've honestly never cooked chicken wings before besides the frozen ones you get from the freezer section. This whole process was all new to me.
In fact, when I told the guy at the counter I wanted a pound of chicken wings, he laughed a little bit and pointed out to me that would only be about three wings. I said okay, give me 2 pounds then and I ended up with five whole wings.
Because they were whole wings, I had to do the prep work of cutting them up and separating the "drum" from the "flat". There is a great deal of debate among wing lovers about how restaurants serve wings and flats individually can call each piece one wing. When really the two pieces together constitute one wing.
Interesting the things people fret over isn't it? Talk about first world problems!
There is also a ton of debate over how to prepare the wings. Dry brine, wet brine, baking powder, baking soda, corn starch, etc. When grilling wings like this, the ultimate goal is to get that crispy outside like you get with deep frying without the skin getting rubbery and the inside staying moist and juicy. Hence the reason you cook them with screaming heat for this method, it helps to crisp up that skin right away.
2 pounds of wings was the perfect amount for my first time. I didn't want to get too many in case I ruined them, but I wanted to get enough so that it was worth all the effort and so I could perfect the method. With the pieces all separated, I decided to go with a dry brine of some Trader Joe's BBQ seasoning I had picked up a while ago.
I applied the rub and let the wings sit overnight in the refrigerator.
Sunday morning about an hour and a half before lunch I got the coals going in my chimney starter.
I also grabbed a chunk of hickory wood to put in the center of the Vortex.
When the coals were ready I threw them into the Vortex and then I laid the hickory chunk on top.
I then placed the wings around the Vortex as you see in the photo above and shut the lid of the grill. I left both the bottom and top vents wide open.
After a half hour I came out to check on the wings. I flipped each of them over and I was a bit surprised to see that my temperature gauge was only reading around 450 degrees. It should have been much hotter than that. I ended up moving the coals around a little bit and leaving the lid open just a crack to see if that would make a difference.
When I came back out about a half hour later, the temperature gauge was now almost pegged at 600 degrees, so the adjustments I made definitely did the trick.
Plus the wings looked amazing! The smells were pretty amazing as well! If I could share them with you I totally would.
Honestly, for my first time, the wings turned out pretty amazing. That doesn't mean there aren't a few things I would adjust for next time. The hickory wood was a bit overpowering for something as delicate as poultry. I think next time I would use a smaller chunk or use a fruit wood like apple instead. Perhaps a little of both. I'd also like to try to get a proper rub next time. There hundreds if not thousands of different brands out there, it's just a matter of finding one I like.
While most wings are often dredged in sauce after cooking, I decide to leave these ones plain so I could get a real feel of how they turned out.
These probably aren't something I am going to grill all the time, especially since @mrsbozz doesn't eat chicken with the bone still in it. I can definitely see myself buying five to ten pounds and cooking up a big batch for a small family gathering or party though. I have some brother in laws and nieces who were drooling when I sent them the photos from this weekend!
My guess is a few of you will be too after reading this post!
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I have never seen or heard of a vortex before. That is really neat. The wings look amazing. Guess it’s time to dust off our grill and get to work.
Best of luck to you!
I like the grill I need to look at one for myself up north. The weber is great but that looks next level.
It's not cheap, but it is so versatile and it will likely last you decades. Don't let it intimidate you. I'd keep an eye on Facebook for a nice used one. If you can find a master touch for $50 that's a steal.
Looks very tasty, maybe in a few days I will also prepare wings )
Good luck! They were delicious!
Well they look amazing! I like the looks of the vortex, but interesting you had to crack the lid to get it going a bit. Did you order the vortex or just pick one up locally. I might have to have a look around to see if anyone local has one.
I got the vortex on Amazon. There are a bunch of different sizes and brands, but I think the Vortex brand is the original. Some people say to wait until it goes on sale, but I think I only paid like $30 for it. Some people also flip it upside down and use it that way if you don't have the Weber baskets. They also use it to make "party ribs" which I will be attempting for sure one day.
Reminds me a bad assumption I did when I went to US in 2007 - FOR few days, I thought, they are extracted from buffalo :) and did not even dare to order. But then after few days, I figured out :) The chicken (buffalo) wings looks crispy and must be very tasty.
Haha, that is a good story! Nope, just chicken, but never order "rocky mountain oysters", you definitely wouldn't like where those come from! I'm very happy with how these turned out.
Those look quite appetizing and even more so at 7 AM when I know I am not going to eat anything until noon :)
Sorry! I totally understand your predicament!
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I love chicken wings too 😍😍
These were pretty amazing!