I love chicken wings and I used to think that nothing could be better than a wing that was smoked. But then I discovered amazing Nashville Hot Wings that are smoked, then deep fried, and then hit up with Nashville hot chicken oil!
These wings are going to be incredible and you will wish you made them sooner. They are going to be amazing because they can be smoked at a lower temperature. This will allow the chicken to absorb tons of delicious smoke before they go into the deep fryer and hit the required temperature. Once up to temperature they will have that amazing crispy finish that we all love so much. This is not enough though. Then we will cover them with Nashville hot chicken oil before adding even more seasoning and spice to complete the job.
Nashville Hot Wings Preparation
Before doing anything for this recipe you will need to get the wings prepped. Depending on how many people you want to serve the number of wings you need will change so make a judgment on how many wings a person has and go from there. I like to use party wings because you get the flats as well as the drum part. I also like them because you can buy them already separated which makes life easier.
Before getting them on the smoker there is a couple of things that you will need to do. Give each wing a splash of Avocado oil. If you don’t have avocado oil sitting around then olive oil will also do just fine. The oil is so that you can sprinkle kosher salt and pepper on them and it will stick to the chicken. That is all the seasoning for now as there will be plenty more later. Place the chicken wings on a wire rack and it’s time to get out to the smoker.
Fire up the Smoker
With the Nashville hot wings seasoned it’s time to get the smoker lit. You want to bring it up to about 200 degrees, once it reaches that temperature you should put the rack full of chicken wings in. You are looking to bring the wings up to an internal temperature of about 110 -115 degrees. It could even be lower than that as they are going in the deep fryer but you want them to have a chance to get a lot of smoke flavor in them. This is the reason why you don’t want that smoker running too hot either. The more time they have to absorb smoke now the better the end result will be.
Whilst the wings are smoking away you can do part of the preparation for the spicy oil. To do this you will need
- 1/4 Cup Cayenne
- 2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
- 1 Tbsp. Garlic Powder
- 1 Tbsp Smoked Paprika
- 1 Tbsp Chipotle Chili Powder
- 1.5-2 Teaspoons Red Pepper Flakes
Mix all of these dry ingredients together. Once mixed put about half into a metal pot and keep half for sprinkling on the chicken at the end.
Into the Oil to Fry
Get yourself back out to the smoker and see if the wings are coming up to temperature. Once they are there get them off and get back in the kitchen. If you have a dedicated deep fryer then that’s great. If you do not then bring up a large pan of oil to a high temperature on a stove. You really want your oil up around the 375 degrees mark.
The wings will only take a couple of minutes in the oil until they are all crispy and look incredible. Get them out of the oil and put them on another rack. If you did too many wings to fit them all in the oil at once just repeat the process until they are all completed.
Earlier you should have put half of your seasoning into a metal bowl or pot. Take a four-ounce scoop and fill it with the hot oil and pour it into the bowl of seasoning. Repeat twice so you end up with eight ounces of oil mixed in with the seasoning. Mix it all up together and it will look and smell fantastic.
It’s really important that it’s mixed up well as all the chili flakes will sink to the bottom. Once it is all mixed take a brush and start to brush the tops of all the chicken wings. They are small and will be packing a ton of heat so there is no need to turn them over and brush the bottom of them.
Final Seasoning for the Nashville Hot Wings
Earlier I said to keep back some of the Nashville Hot Wing seasoning powder. Get that and sprinkle it over half of the wings. It is probably best to only do half because some people are not going to be able to handle all the heat that the final sprinkling will bring. You are finished! These wings are going to be juicy, crispy, tender, smokey, hot, and amazing all in one.
We all like different sauces but I love eating these with Ranch Dressing – Better Than Restaurant Made! The two work very well together.
