Extra Crispy Smoked Chicken Wings on the Pellet Grill

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The best crispy smoked chicken wings can come off your pellet grill, without baking powder or a deep fryer! This smoked crispy chicken wings recipe will teach you how to make the best crispy wings on the grill by adjusting your temperatures, so you get the best of both worlds – nice smoky flavor and crispy skin!

There are few things better than perfectly smoked crispy chicken wings.

But here’s the conundrum with making smoked crispy wings on the pellet smoker… If you want the smoky flavor, then you typically have to smoke the chicken wings at a lower temperature, like the 225-250°F range.  But smoking chicken wings at that low temp often leads to rubbery skin because the chicken skin doesn’t have a chance to properly render and crisp up.

On the flip side, if you cook the wings at a higher temperature, then you don’t get as much smoke flavor.  If you’re familiar with pellet grilling, then you know that you get the maximum amount of smoke on a low heat.

So what’s the solution?  How can you get the best smoked chicken wings with crispy skin?

The secret lies in the smoker temperature and adding a coating of frying oil part-way through the smoke time.  By smoking the chicken wings at a low temperature first, you get that smoky flavor that adds some extra oomph to your wings.  But then, when you rub the smoked wings in oil and then crank up the heat on the pellet grill, you can actually “fry” the wings, too.

The result is delicious smoked crispy chicken wings that you’ll swear were deep-fried to perfection!  Here’s my new favorite smoked chicken wings recipe:

The Methodology Behind Crispy Wings

Here’s my thought… we all know that the best way to get super crispy skin on your chicken wings is to deep fry them.  But you would never deep fry chicken (or any food for that matter) at 225 or 250°F.  The typical oil temperature for deep frying is 350-375°F.  Chicken wings already have a ton of fat, and it’s how you render that fat and crisp up the skin that makes the biggest difference in crispy wings versus chicken wings with rubbery skin.  And you’re never going to get crispy wings in a 250°F grill.

But if you smoke the wings first at a lower temperature to get as much smoke flavor as possible, and then you fry them at a higher temperature with a coating of oil, you can have the best of both worlds – smoked wings with crispy skin!

And it can all be done on your pellet grill or smoker… no deep fryer needed!  Just follow these steps:

Ingredients for Crispy Smoked Chicken Wings

Most recipes for crispy party wings include baking powder.  And while sprinkling the baking powder on the raw chicken wings before smoking them does help the skin to crisp up a bit, the results aren’t as good as my method.  Here’s what you need to make delicious chicken wings with a nice smoke flavor and crispy skin:

• chicken wings – We prefer to cut off the wing tip and separate the wings into drumsticks and flats.
• high-heat cooking oil – We prefer to use avocado oil, but any high heat cooking oil that’s good for frying will work.  We have also made this crispy smoked chicken wing recipe using our favorite sprayable duck fat.
• seasoning or dry rub of your choice – We used Shake That All-Purpose Seasoning for our buffalo wings and ‘Que That Barbecue Seasoning for our sweet and spicy barbecue wings.
• your favorite wing sauce – Choose buffalo sauce, your favorite bbq sauce, or leave the cooked wings “naked”.  These crispy chicken wings are so good that they don’t even need sauce!

How to Make Crispy Smoked Chicken Wings on the Pellet Grill or Smoker

These crispy smoked wings are so easy to make, especially if you have a pellet grill or electric smoker and can easily adjust the temperatures by just turning a knob.  Here’s how to make crispy smoked wings without deep frying them:

Prep the Chicken Wings

We prefer to cut off the wing tip and separate the wings into flats and drumsticks.  If you’re trying to get crispy chicken wings on the smoker, then you’ll want to expose as much of the skin to the smoke and frying oil as possible.  And the cut wings are easier to eat and give a nicer presentation, in my opinion.

If you don’t want to do the work of cutting your own whole wings, then you can also buy “party wings” at the grocery store.  The frozen bags of party wings typically come pre-cut with the wing tips removed.

After the wings are cut, one of my secrets to crispy wings is to make sure that your chicken is dry before putting it on the smoker.  You have two different options for drying your wings:

1. Dab the wings with paper towels to remove as much moisture as possible.
2. Lay the chicken wings in a single layer on a wire cooling rack set on top of a large baking sheet.  Then, refrigerate overnight uncovered to dry out the wings.  This is the method that we used.

Smoke the Chicken Wings

When the wings are completely dry, preheat the pellet grill or smoker to 225 degrees F.  If your grill has a “Super Smoke” mode like the Traeger, then you can turn that on for extra smoke flavor.

Once the grill is heated up, place the wings on the smoker in a single layer with the fat side up. Make sure that you allow enough space between the wings so that the wings can cook evenly and develop enough smoke flavor.  Here’s what my wings looked like when I put them on the smoker:

*Chef’s TIP – When cooking smaller items like chicken wings or pig shots on the smoker, I prefer to place them on a wire cooling rack first (see photo above).  Then, you can set the wire rack directly on the grill grates to get all of your wings on and off the smoker quickly.  You can turn the wire rack upside down so that it can slide easily on top of the grill grates to move your food around in the grill chamber also.

​After about an hour to an hour and a half, your smoked wings should look something like this with a light golden color… Keep in mind that we haven’t added any seasonings, dry rub, or oil yet – this is just the plain chicken wings:

Coat the Smoked Wings in Oil

Next, take the smoked wings off the grill and add them to a large bowl.  Immediately after taking the wings off the smoker, crank up the temperature on your grill to 400 degrees F so that it can be heating up while you prep the chicken wings.

Drizzle the wings with a high-heat cooking oil that’s good for frying (like avocado oil) or you can use a sprayable oil if you prefer.  I really like sprayable duck fat for crisping up the skin on chicken.  See my favorite duck fat spray and other oils and seasonings here: My Favorite Grilling Products

Toss the wings in the bowl so that they are evenly coated with a thin layer of oil and look something like this:

Season the Oiled Chicken Wings

Now it’s time to season your wings.  The thin coat of oil on the wings acts as the perfect binder plus it helps to crisp up the skin at the higher grill temperature.

With the wings still in the bowl, sprinkle on your favorite seasoning or dry rub.  *If you’re planning to make two different flavors of chicken wings like we did, then go ahead and separate the wings into two batches first.

For our buffalo wings, we seasoned with Shake That All-Purpose Seasoning (a perfect all-purpose blend of salt, pepper, garlic powder, butter flavor, and a hint of citrus).  And for our barbecue wings we seasoned with ‘Que That Barbecue Seasoning (a nice blend of sweet and smoky flavors with a hint of brown sugar).

Toss the wings in the bowl after sprinkling on the seasoning so that it is evenly distributed. Then, place the seasoned wings back on the wire cooling racks with the fat side up.

When you’re done seasoning the wings, your pellet grill should be up to the higher temperature for the next step.

“Fry” the Smoked Chicken Wings on the Pellet Grill

​When your smoker reaches 400°F, place the seasoned wings back on the grill a second time.

Cook the wings on the hot grill for about 45 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the fattest part of the wings reaches about 185-190°F.  This is where an instant-read thermometer, one of my must-have pellet grill accessories, comes in handy!

Now let’s talk a bit about the internal temperature of the wings…

Most people know that the minimum internal temp for chicken is 165°F, but chicken wings actually benefit from being cooked past that.  Because of the high fat content of wings, you can go above the typical 165°F minimum internal temp to get crispy skin without sacrificing moisture, and in fact, some experts recommend cooking chicken wings to an internal temp of 180-200 degrees F.  

Chicken wings have a good amount of connective tissue, so to break down that tissue and end up with tender meat and the best results, you really need to grill the wings to a minimum of 175°F.  Plus, at that higher temp you have the added benefit of being able to leave your wings on the pellet grill for a longer period of time, which helps to crisp up the skin even more.

Sauce the Smoked Crispy Wings and Serve

When the wings are done cooking, transfer them to a large bowl and toss with your favorite sauce for hot wings.

This is largely based on personal preference, but we like either Frank’s Buffalo Wing Sauce or Texas Pete Wing Sauce for buffalo wings.  For the bbq wings, we used KC Masterpiece Original Barbecue Sauce mixed with one chipotle pepper in adobo (from a can) and a splash of apple cider vinegar.

Or, if you prefer your smoked wings “naked” without sauce, then that’s fine, too! This crispy grilled chicken wings recipe is so perfect that the wings don’t even need sauce:

You can serve your smoked crispy chicken wings with blue cheese dressing, ranch dressing, celery sticks, carrots, or your favorite sides… and tell me that these aren’t the best wings that you’ve ever made!

How to Make Smoked Crispy Wings on the Charcoal Grill

Before I got into pellet grilling and discovered this method for crispy smoked wings, my favorite way to make chicken wings was on the charcoal grill.  If you don’t have a pellet grill, you can still make some delicious smoked wings with crispy skin by following the steps above.  

The cooking process is the same whether you have a pellet grill or a charcoal grill, the only difference is you’ll have to manipulate your charcoal bed and grill vents to get the lower smoking temperatures and the hotter searing temperatures.

FAQ’s about Making Smoked Crispy Wings

Want to print this simple smoked chicken wing recipe to save for later?  Print the recipe card down below and add it to your favorite pellet grill recipes:

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