Today’s the first day back in the USA from a week home in the UK. There aren’t many benefits of trans-Atlantic jetlag…probably just one…mornings start really early (3am today) and are so looooong.
So THIS morning, in the middle of a Chicagoan Heat Warning, I thought I’d take another crack at wings.
My go-to setup for wings is my Kamado Joe Classic (v1) with the Joetisserie and OneGrill Performer Basket.
My goal for wings with this method is a crispy outside and a juicy inside, and the benchmark is set by a small wing restaurant in Himeji, Japan, which makes absolutely delicious “pull off the bone”, crunchy wings.
There are various opinions on how to get wings crispy. There seems to be agreement on “air drying” – i.e. drying them uncovered in the fridge. Also there’s consensus on using some sort of drying agent such as baking powder or cornflour. The latter seems to be more natural tasting – anything with Bicarbonate of Soda (another alternative) is likely to affect the taste adversely. Then there’s the process of cooking – rotisserie seems to offer a hot-air environment with the wings tumbling around which I guess eliminates moisture.
Problem number one was that my wings were frozen. I’ve heard they can be cooked from frozen, but I’ll leave that for another test. They were defrosted for a few hours in cold water, which of course, got them wet ! These wings were due to be ready around lunchtime and so the fridge “air-drying” would also have to wait for another test.
Time not being on my side, then, I also elected to mix the “cornflour” drying with the rub I’d picked. Actually I picked two rubs that I’d been sent from Atlanta Grill Company (a great mail order and physical company here in the USA for all things BBQ) and just mixed equal parts.
And this nifty little rub shaker which I’d picked up somewhere is where it all came together…
End result was a bowlful of defrosted, paper-tower-dried ribs coated with a rub/cornflour mixture approximately 90:10 ratio.
The KJ had been lit a little while earlier – target temperature of 300F which I reasoned would take around 40 minutes to reach. I used KJ Big Block (also a good deal here in the USA from Costco if I recall) and the KJ Ash Basket with divider. Coal was banked in the rear and lit.
Wings were loaded after we’d got to temperature (actually before we got to temperature – the deadline was looming !) and the system started.
About an hour later and they were done. Now rather sadly I failed to take a photo of the finished result until the kids had eaten about 60% of them, but I managed to get something on record. I guess that’s testament to how successful this test had been…
In all honesty, the crunch was there, as was the juiciness of the meat. The kids ate them “as they were” while the wife dipped them in some buffalo sauce. Both ways delicious !
Lessons learned for next time :
- Defrost overnight on a plate in the fridge to try to get to an air-dried state in a reasonable time. Paper towels are going to be a must.
- Might be a case for doing the cornflour stage separately from the rub. Will probably try that and add more air-dry time before then adding the rub.
- I cooked with the lid closed. It struck me as I did this that KJ’s are great smokers and at keeping the moisture in. I wonder if cooking with the lid open would offer a much less humid, drier cooking process ? Worth a try.
Anyway, the reaction from the family, and the results I thought I’d got based on the effort I’d put in made this a “cautious success” with “room for improvement” for next time !
0 comments on “Spinning winning wings – first go”Add yours →