So, since my beloved Dallas Cowboys are playing a preseason game tomorrow against the Arizona Cardinals my buddies and I decided to smoke some birds to show our symbolic support. I wanted to try something a bit different (and a little more economical with the price of poultry lately) so I hit a Sam's Club for 10 lbs. of frozen drums and flats. After a 24 hour defrost in the fridge, they were added to the following brine in preparation for a morning smoke tomorrow.
HOT WING BRINE 2 Qt filtered water
1 Qt ice cubes
2 Cups hot sauce (Crystal Hot Sauce)
1 Cup dark brown sugar
1/2 Cup salted butter (8 tbsp = 1 stick )
1/2 Cup molasses
3 Tbsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp coarse ground black pepper
1 Tbsp ground thyme
1 Tbsp cayenne pepper
- Mix water, dried spices, butter and sugar over medium heat until dissolved; add ice. Add hot sauce, stir well and remove from heat.
- When the brine is room temperature, add your washed and butchered chicken wings (drums and flats) to the brine and refrigerate 12-24 hours. This test batch accommodated 10 lbs. of chicken.
- Remove wings, pat dry, and rub with molasses, hot sauce, and
Smoked Hot Wing rub.
