Smoked Al Pastor Chicken Wings

After a fun and successful cooking fest over a campfire this weekend, I can came back to the city with uneaten, uncooked perfect order of 20 wings – half Greek/souvlaki-style marinade, half Al Pastor-style marinade. So rather than toss them in the freezer, I turned on the smoker and voila: Smoked Al Pastor Chicken Wings emerged1

Smoking considerations

Smoked Al Pastor Chicken wings are so good. Unlike when we adventured with cooking wings on fire, this is a much more drawn-out process. There is almost never a time that I would take wings on BBQ over wings on smoke.

So, smoking wings is easy, but you have to make some hard decisions.

The VERY HARD decisions:

• Smoke/wood type: if you’re on pellets or wood chips, choose your flavour! Hickory, Cherry, Applewood, Mesquite, all popular choices… none are wrong, but you just may like some of them better! Smoke lots and smoke often to find your favorites.
• Smoke Temp: Starting around 225F, you’re good to go. If I’m smoking wings alongside other meats (shoulder, ribs, etc), there’s a good chance the temp will be down around 225F since the slower, longer cook can be nice on longer cooks. BUT, if I’m doing straight wings, especially if they are sauced (not just rubbed), I’ll have that at 250F and finish them off at 275F for the last 30 minutes to crisp them up.
• Smoke Time: Of course, you can’t put your meat in a cold oven, so don’t do the same with a smoker. Always pre-heat your smoker… you’ll be at it for several hours, so what’s an extra 15-20 minutes? At 225F, your wings will run around 3 hours and depending on fat/skin, you could be looking at some dryer wings. I prefer to smoke my wings at 250F and start keeping a closer eye after about 2.5 hours.

Really all that matters is when you eat your chicken/pull it off the cooker, they are completely cooked through. Before removing from your kit, double check the internal temp with a thermometer. For perfectly cooked chicken, you should be in around 165F internal temp.

Smoking: Chicken Below!

If you recall from the Al Pastor Ribs or the Cajun-style Chicken Quarters, if you are smoking different types of meat in the same, multi-rack smoker, always remember to keep these on lower racks than your pork, beef or veg.

This Al Pastor recipe is not authentic by any means, but mimics flavours nicely and uses ingredients you definitely have in your kitchen and works great when making smoked al pastor chicken wings at home!

My makeshift Al Pastor Recipe is EASY:

Sauce:

• 1 cup fresh pineapple
• 1 ½ jalapeno
• 1 tomato, fresh
• 1 juice full lime
• 1 tbsp salt
• 2 tbsp cane sugar (substitute for piloncillo)
• 4 tbsp “achiote” sauce 

“Achiote”

• 1 tsp oregano for achiote
• 2 clove garlic for achiote
• ½ tsp cumin for achiote
• 2 tbsp paprika for achiote (more for more red colour)
• ¼ cup cider vinegar for achiote

Click here for Al Pastor Sauce Recipe!

Al Pastor Smoked Chicken Wings

Take smoked wings and al pastor them! Pineapple, spices, piloncillo and achiote… substitutions and hacks to make a delicious snack or side dish!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 3 hrs

Total Time 3 hrs 10 mins

Course Main Course, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine American, Mexican, Tex-Mex

Servings 12 wings

Calories 120 kcal

Equipment

• Smoker

Ingredients

  

• 1 lb chicken wings bone on, skin on
• ½ cup al pastor sauce

Instructions

 

• The night prior, in a bowl, container or ziploc bag, combine Al Pastor Sauce and chicken wings. Allow minimum 2 hours to soak/marinade.
• Preheat smoker (or oven) to 250°F.
• Cook in your favorite smoker for 2.5-3 hours, depending on size of wings.
• Remove when internal temperature of chicken reaches 165°F.
• For added deliciousness and crispier chicken skin, increase heat for final half hour of the smoke to 275°F (or up to 300 if smoker allows)

Notes

Same process for other wings, just change up the flavours! 

 

 

Keyword al pastor ribs, Al Pastor Smoked Chicken Wings, al pastor wings, cajun chicken, cajun chicken quarters, cajun smoked chicken quarters, chicken smoked, Chicken wing flavors, chicken wings, smoked chicken wings

RUBS AND SMOKES

What’s in a Rubs: How important is the rub? Salt is the only non-optional component. Salt will bring some of the liquid forward from the meat, so don’t skimp on the salt!

Make up your own rub: Rub whatever you want! Add, substitute or subtract any ingredients you may also like to add. The above rub is a very basic rub and can easily be modified to whatever you have in the pantry! Salt is the only true must-have/non-optional component in the rub. 

The second stage, the baking, can be done in either in the smoker or in the oven, but since the smoker is already preheated and on, I prefer smoker. Leave cooking in wrap for 2 hours.In a multi-rack smoker, the heaviest smoke will collect in the top racks, while the lower racks are closer to the element are will be marginally hotter. Since we want the most smoke in the first phase, place closest to top shelf as possible.

TRY THESE OTHER UNIQUE BBQ FEAST IDEAS!

• Maple Soy Smoked Ribs
• Smoked Gochujang Ribs
• Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread Muffins
• Spicy Kimchi Coleslaw
• Sriracha Green bean sweet onion salad
• Watermelon salad

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

I will say that these Smoked Al Pastor Chicken Wings worked out great and as much as I absolutely love southern smoked food, I’m from Canada and need more tricks! Any family secrets? Any stories?

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Thanks for stopping in!

Enjoy food; enjoy life. – HCF