Crispy Smoked Chicken Wings In Electric Smoker with Dry Rub

Smoked chicken wings in an electric smoker with dry rub is an easy recipe that gives you that crispy chicken skin that we all love! The chicken wings are coated in a homemade dry rub that gives these wings so much flavor. These are not boring chicken wings. The smoked wings come off the grill super crispy, and it's amazing how tender and juicy they are. Serve as is or toss with one of your favorite wing sauces or dipping sauce before you dig in! Perfect as a main course or as an appetizer!

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If you're a fan of chicken wings, but find that they're always way too greasy, then this recipe is for you! No deep frying or oil is needed!

Chicken wings are a staple at many gatherings of friends, family, or sports fans. Especially Super Bowl fans. This electric smoker recipe is easy, flavorful, and perfect for Game Day.

Everyone loves a big batch of party wings!

One of my favorite ways to make the best wings is on the pellet grill! The wings are cooked over indirect heat so they are super juicy.

Plus, flavorful smoke is infused into each bite of tender and juicy chicken. I love that it doesn't take too long to smoke these delicious chicken wings!

This recipe was inspired by my other chicken wing recipe, Extra Crispy Air Fryer Chicken Wings.

For a great pellet smoker chicken recipe, try my Smoked Chicken Thighs, also made with my favorite dry rub recipe.

👩🏻‍🍳 More easy smoker recipes

Jump to:

• 👩🏻‍🍳 More easy smoker recipes
• ❤️ Why you will love these smoked chicken wings
• ⭐ What is so great about a pellet grill?
• ⭐ What is the best wood for smoked chicken wings?
• 🐓 Ingredients
• ♨️ Prep the pellet smoker
• 🐓 How to smoke chicken wings in electric smoker
• ⏲️ How long to smoke chicken wings?
• 🧂 Substitutions
• 📖 Variations
• 🍽 Equipment
• 🌡️ Storage
• 💭 Top tips
• ⭐ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
• 🍽 What is the best way to serve smoked chicken wings?
• 📋 Recipe
• 📋 Food safety
• 💬 Comments

❤️ Why you will love these smoked chicken wings

EASY, HANDS-OFF COOKING: With an electric smoker, the process of making smoked chicken wings is simple and easy. Simply put dry ingredients in a plastic bag, add the wings, and place them on the rack of the smoker. Close the lid and let them smoke until they are done cooking. So easy and very little effort involved!

SO DELICIOUS: These electric smoker wings are covered in a dry spice rub that elevates the flavor. The chili powder in the rub adds a little bit of heat, and the spice is perfectly balanced with the chicken. It is just so good!

GREAT SMOKE FLAVOR: Crispy smoked chicken wings have the perfect amount of smoky flavor and a satisfying crunch! I love how it has deliciously crisp skin!

RESTAURANT QUALITY: With this electric smoker recipe, you will have the most delicious crispy smoked chicken wings in about 1 hour!

⭐ What is so great about a pellet grill?

A pellet grill, or electric smoker, cooks your food using hardwood pellets instead of gas or propane like a gas grill.

The wood smoke adds great flavor and aroma to the food. Plus, it cooks the meat at a lower temperature so it doesn't dry out. The flavor of smoked food is amazing, and you always get juicy meat.

When using a pellet grill, you get a consistent temperature, and even cooking every time. You set the smoker temperature to the temperature you want to cook your food at, and that's it! Easy, right?

No more fires on the grill, no more burnt food, it's practically foolproof! This is my preferred method to cook just about anything!

⭐ What is the best wood for smoked chicken wings?

The best wood for smoking chicken wings is a hardwood that has a mild smoky flavor like apple wood or cherry wood. Hickory wood pellets are also a good choice. Although it has a stronger flavor, when combined with the savory rub, it has a fantastic flavor.

I also like the Competition blend, which is a combination of maple, hickory, and cherry, which has a uniquely delicious flavor and goes with just about anything.

Because the bags of wood pellets can be expensive if you buy a bunch of different types, my favorite wood chips are the Competition blend as they go with everything, and a bag of Hickory pellets for when I want that stronger hickory flavor. Oh ya, and Applewood for when I'm cooking pork or ham. 🙂

Grab some wood pellets for smoking and let's go!

🐓 Ingredients

You can prepare these delicious, juicy, flavorful, crispy smoked chicken wings on the electric smoker with basic ingredients you can find at all grocery stores.

• Chicken wings. I used split chicken wings with the skin on.
• Baking powder. This is the secret ingredient to getting crispy skin on the wings. The baking powder breaks down the peptide bonds in the chicken skin so that it will crisp up.
• Dry rub. I used my favorite dry rub for chicken, which is fantastic on chicken AND pork. It contains brown sugar, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, roasted garlic and peppers seasoning, chili powder, seasoning salt, and black pepper.

See the recipe card for quantities.

♨️ Prep the pellet smoker

First things first, make sure your smoker is ready to go. Make sure the grill grates are clean and that the fire pot is not full. I keep a small vacuum cleaner by mine and use it to suck up any debris in the bottom.

Also, make sure that your smoker is properly vented and not blocked by anything so that the smoke has a good path to flow out.

Make sure you look in the smoker box and top up your wood pellets before you start cooking. There's nothing worse than running out of pellets in the middle of cooking. Trust me, I've done it!

I would also like to note that all pellet grills are not created equal. So whether you are using a Traeger, Pit Boss, or even a charcoal grill, the smoke time may vary depending on many factors, eg. wind, outside temperature, the type of smoker, etc.

🐓 How to smoke chicken wings in electric smoker

I love how easy this recipe is. With just a few basic steps you will have the tastiest wings ever.

First, preheat the electric smoker to 250 degrees F.

Dry chicken wings really with paper towels.

Place chicken wings in a large freezer bag or large bowl.

In a small bowl, mix the dry rub ingredients. Add the baking powder and dry spice rub to the bag or bowl. Zip up the bag and shake to coat the wings evenly.

Shake off excess dry rub and place the whole chicken wings directly on the smoker racks.

⏲️ How long to smoke chicken wings?

The smoking process for the best wings takes about 1 hour, until they reach an internal temperature of 175 degrees F. Use a temperature probe to ensure the chicken is at the right temperature.

First, smoke the chicken wings at 250 degrees F for about 45 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 160-165 degrees F.

Next, turn the grill temperature up to high heat. Increase the temperature to 425 degrees F for about 15 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 175 degrees.

The idea is to turn up the pellet grill to a high temperature to give the wings their signature crispy skin.

Remove the wings from the grill, and serve as is with your favorite dipping sauce, or toss the wings in your favorite wing sauce.

Enjoy!

Hint: Use a large sheet pan to carry the wings back into the house, or wherever you are going to serve them.

🧂 Substitutions

• Baking powder: No baking powder? Use cornstarch instead! The wings will still crisp up, just not as much as with baking powder.
• Dry rub: Don't want to use my homemade spice rub? Use your favorite dry-rubbed seasoning. Some great spices to add are kosher salt, and for added flavor, smoked paprika or Cajun seasoning.

📖 Variations

Change the flavor of the smoked wings by changing the spice rub ingredients. Go ahead, have some fun with it! Don't forget to dip the wings in your favorite sauce!

• Spicy - add cayenne pepper, chili pepper flakes, or chipotle powder
• Sweet - Add extra brown sugar to the spice rub.
• Less Sweet - Decrease the amount of brown sugar in the BBQ rub.
• Saucy - Add your favorite BBQ sauce 5 minutes before the end of cook time. If you add it any earlier, the sugar in the sauce may burn.
• Buffalo wings - Toss the cooked wings in buffalo sauce, or make your own using hot sauce and butter! Yum!

🍽 Equipment

Smoker: Our smoker is an electric smoker, a Pit Boss smoker 8-1 pellet grill that uses 100% wood pellets as fuel instead of gas or propane.

Wood pellets: We like the Competition Blend, Hickory Blend, and Applewood Blend.

High-quality temperature probe: This is a must-have item if you own a smoker. We invested in a ThermoPro Wireless Digital Cooking Food Meat Thermometer with Dual Probes as soon as we bought the smoker; it's an absolute necessity!

🌡️ Storage

FRIDGE: These smoked chicken wings can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for 3 days.

FROZEN: These smoked chicken wings can also be frozen for up to 3 months. To freeze, wrap them tightly in plastic wrap before placing them in a Ziploc bag or airtight container.

💭 Top tips

• Do not overstuff the Ziploc bag with chicken. I like to mix the wings with the dry rub ingredients in two batches.
• Tap off any excess dry rub before placing the wings on the grilling racks. That way you won't get a bitter taste.
• Flip the wings over halfway through for even cooking.

⭐ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

🍽 What is the best way to serve smoked chicken wings?

One of the best ways to serve smoked wings is with a side of ranch dressing, barbecue sauce, hot sauce, or buffalo sauce.

I like to serve my crispy wings with celery sticks, carrot sticks, and a green salad.

These wings also go well with Air Fryer Sweet Potato Fries, Oven-Roasted Potatoes, and Frozen Broccoli in Air Fryer.

I hope you enjoyed this Crispy Chicken Wings recipe. If you try it out and like it, I would appreciate it if you could take a moment to leave a star rating below.

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📋 Recipe

📋 Food safety

• Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
• Wash hands after touching raw meat
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
• Never leave cooking food unattended