Crispy Smoked Chicken Wings: Hey Grill Hey’s Method

Close-up of crispy fried chicken wings on a white plate, perfect for food presentations.

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This recipe is taken from Hey Grill Hey — Susie Bulloch’s Crispy Smoked Chicken Wings, adapted from a baking-powder method originally developed by Nagi at RecipeTin Eats. It’s a hot-smoked wing, cooked well above the smoke-flavor-only territory covered elsewhere on this site, and its finishing temperature is worth comparing against the USDA’s official minimum safe temperature guidance for poultry.

Ingredients

  • 5 pounds chicken wings (flats and drumettes)
  • 2½ Tablespoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Method

  1. Dry the chicken wings thoroughly on all sides with paper towels.
  2. Place the wings in a zip-top bag, add the baking powder and salt, close the bag, and toss to coat evenly.
  3. Preheat your smoker to 250°F (121°C) using your favorite wood.
  4. Place the wings directly on the grill grates, close the lid, and smoke for 30 minutes.
  5. Increase the smoker temperature to 425°F (218°C) and continue cooking until the internal temperature of the wings reads 175°F, rotating or flipping as needed to avoid hot spots.
  6. Remove from the grill and serve plain, or toss in a BBQ seasoning or hot sauce of your choice.

Why Baking Powder, Not Baking Soda

The dry-brine step is where this method earns its “crispy” name. Bulloch is explicit that the ingredient has to be baking powder, “NOT baking soda,” because the powder is what draws moisture out of the skin during the smoke. Getting the wings bone-dry with paper towels first matters for the same reason: any surface moisture left on the skin works against the baking powder and slows down the crisping that’s supposed to happen once the heat goes up.

Two Temperatures, One Cook

The recipe runs in two stages rather than one steady temperature: 30 minutes at 250°F to render fat out from under the skin and build smoke flavor, then a jump to 425°F to actually crisp the skin and finish the wings through. That’s a deliberate departure from the steadier low-and-slow range USDA’s own consumer guidance describes for smoking in general — “the air temperature in the smoker or grill stays between 225 and 300°F throughout the cooking process,” per USDA’s 2024 grilling and smoking safety release. Wings are thin and quick-cooking compared to what that steady-range guidance is really aimed at, and Bulloch’s method leans on that by using the low stage purely for smoke and fat rendering, then finishing hot and fast for texture — something a pellet smoker that can climb quickly handles directly, while a slower-recovering smoker may need the wings finished in a preheated oven instead.

175°F, Not 165°F

USDA’s food-safety guidance is unambiguous on the minimum: “cook all poultry to a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 F.” Bulloch’s recipe pulls the wings well past that floor, to 175°F, and explains why in her own notes: wings are “actually best cooked to 175 degrees F, instead of the usually recommended 165 degrees F for chicken,” because the higher temperature has more time to break down the tight connective tissue running through a wing joint, leaving the meat closer to fall-off-the-bone than a wing pulled at the bare minimum. It’s a texture choice built on top of the safety floor, not a substitute for it — 165°F is still where poultry becomes safe to eat, 175°F is simply where Bulloch’s wings become the texture she’s after. Either way, the recipe calls for checking with an instant-read thermometer rather than going by time alone.

Two Thermometers, Per USDA

USDA’s smoking guidance calls for two separate thermometers on any smoke, not one: “one for the food to determine safe internal temperature and an oven-safe thermometer to monitor that the air temperature in the smoker or grill stays” in range. Bulloch’s recipe only calls out the first of those directly — “make sure to use a thermometer to check for doneness” on the wings themselves — but the same USDA release is clear that watching the smoker’s own air temperature during the 250°F stage and the 425°F stage is a separate check from watching the meat, not something the meat reading substitutes for.

Saucing Without Losing the Crisp

Bulloch’s own tip for serving is to only toss wings in sauce that’s been warmed through first, since cold sauce straight from the bottle or fridge will soften the crispy skin on contact. Her suggested Buffalo sauce is simply 1 cup of Buffalo sauce warmed with 2 Tablespoons of butter over medium heat, stirred until combined and kept below a boil so the butter doesn’t separate out.

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