Grill Maestro

For the AFC and NFC Championships, I prepared some wings for a few friends that came over and they were a supreme hit. Grilling up some wings on a propane grill is ridiculously easy and something you should try if you have some extra time. While it’s convenient to get an order delivered, rather than preparing it yourself, there’s something to be said for making your own grub, right?

Preparation
Preparation is key here and you should always start with a nice pack of full wings. You could go with ones that have been separated for you but I like doing things straight from scratch. What you’ll want to do is pull the wing “straight,” such that the segments are pretty much in line. Cut off the third that is the farthest from the bird, the wingtip if you will. Then, separate the remaining two joints with a swift cut into the joint. The two pieces are separate by cartilage so it’ll take a few tries before you get a feel for where that is. It’s okay if you miss a few times, in general people won’t eat that closely to the ends anyway so you won’t have an errant cartilage consumption.

Marinade
I like to use a tried and true tasty bbq chicken marinade I discovered a little while back. Since it does contain sugar, which burns easily, you need to be cognizant of that when you put them on the grill. I let it sit in the marinade for an hour or so prior to cooking. Of the 80 or so wings (really half wings), I prepared 40 of them in the marinade. The remainder I seasoned with a mixture of salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic (they would eventually be hot wings).

Grilling
You don’t want your grill terribly hot because that will sear the skin on the wings onto the grill, just get it nice and hot prior to cooking. When you put them on, you should hear a little bit of sizzle but not too much. Wings are delicate so having them stick could easily rip the skin off. Now, if you used a marinade with sugar in it, you’ll want to check on it regularly. If not, every few minutes is fine. Just grill them as usual and they should come out nice and tasty.

Sauces
If you want your wings to be wet, you’ll want to put them in the sauce mixture afterwards. For hot wings, I use some butter, Frank’s Red Hot, some sugar (to cut the vinegar flavor) and then some Sriracha sauce (we call it cock sauce) to give it more heat (I find Red Hot isn’t hot enough, but it’s too vinegary!). Give that mixture a flip or two in a big bowl and you’re ready to feast!