How to Cook Chicken Wings on the Grill
Baked, grilled or fried? When it comes to cooking wings, each has their benefits. For the sake of this article, we are going to walkthrough the steps for properly grilling your wings for the optimal level of flavor and texture. While the approach isn’t dissimilar to any other fired foods, there are a few small details to make the final product really shine.
Marinating
One of the best things to do before you start the cooking process is to make sure you marinate your wings before you start to cook them. Now, this will depend largely on the flavoring you want to impart on the wings, and preparing a marinate in advance is a good idea. Soaking the wings in the marinate for a long period of time, preferably overnight, is recommended as it will help ensure that the flavor is distributed evenly and also has time to integrate into the meat.
Note: Some people elect to marinate their wings later in the process, and this is also fine. However, simply tossing them as you would with fried wings may not give you the same flavor. Additionally, marinating the wings before you grill can help to ensure that the crisp char you get on parts of the skin maintains its texture.
Grilling
Next up is going for the optimum grilling process, and there are a few steps you should look to take if you want to make the most of this right now.
Step 1.
Oil up your racks and make sure you get the grill to the right sort of heat, around 350ºF would be ideal. Skewers are optional, but can be a good means of making handling the cooking process easier. If you’re using the whole wing, stretching them out before skewering them can also help to expose more of the skin to to the flame – assisting with getting an even cook and a good char.
Step 2.
You’re going to want to cook them for around 20-25 minutes, and the best way to start with this is to cook them, lid closed, on the grill for several minutes. Move and turn them periodically to ensure even cooking. At this point you might want to remove and slice the whole ones so they will lay more flat and cook more evenly.
Step 3.
After 15 minutes, transfer the cooked wings to a bowl using tongs, turn the remaining and give them an additional 5 minutes until they are cooked through.
Seasoning
Once the cooking process has been done, it’s time to think of final flavorings and presentation. If you didn’t marinate at the start then this would be a good time to add sauce or create your own. You can also use things like salt & pepper and herbs to season the wings and make sure they taste great.
These are just some of the key steps to consider in order to help you when it comes to improving the flavor of your wings, and making sure you grill them as effectively as possible.