How long to cook chicken wings in a smoker

In this recipe, we are talking about smoked chicken wings and while these are very similar to hot wings, these are not the traditional chicken wings that are fried then coated in wing sauce.

Instead these are seasoned with my original rub , smoked with cherry wood and then brushed with my delicious barbecue sauce  about 30 minutes before they are finished.

I dare say you have NEVER eaten anything that tasted this good right out of the smoker!

Helpful Information

  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
  • Smoker Temp: 275°F
  • Meat Finish Temp: 180°F
  • Recommended Wood: Cherry

What You’ll Need

  • 5-10 lbs of chicken wings (I recommend doing plenty)
  • Large foil pan (very helpful)
  • Large ziploc (2 or 2.5 gallon works great)
  • Heavy duty foil
  • Jeff’s original rub
  • Jeff’s barbecue sauce
  • Oil, Olive, Vegetable, Canola, etc.

Prepare the chicken wings for smoking

This part is extremely easy.. the first step is to put all of the wings as they are into a large ziploc bag.

How long to cook chicken wings in a smoker

Pour about 1/2 cup of oil over the wings and then roll them around inside the bag to coat.

How long to cook chicken wings in a smoker

Pour 1/4 cup of my original rub per 3 lbs of chicken wings down into the bag. Zip it up then roll and shake the bag to coat the chicken with the rub.

How long to cook chicken wings in a smoker

Once the chicken is coated with rub, pour them out into a foil pan for easy access.

These already smell so good!

How long to cook chicken wings in a smoker

Smoke Time

It does not matter what type of smoker you are using. You can use ANY smoker or grill and get amazing results.

If you are able to maintain close to the recommended temperature and you have a thermometer so you can make sure they are done properly, then it will work.

Lately I’ve been using the Camp Chef Woodwind for a lot of my cooking and having a blast doing it. Read more about this awesome smoker that uses REAL wood to cook and smoke the food to perfection.

Regardless of what smoker you use:

  • Maintain 250-275°F (a little higher temperature ensures more crispy skin)
  • Cook for about 1.5 hours or until the meat reaches 175-180°F
  • Apply smoke for at least 1 hour. I used cherry wood on these but any good smoking wood will work well.

Once your smoker is maintaining about 250-275°F with 275°F being ideal in my opinion,

Lay the chicken wings onto the grate of your smoker trying to keep a little space between them to allow the smoke to circulate over, under and around each piece.

How long to cook chicken wings in a smoker

About 30 minutes from the time when the chicken is expected to be finished, you will want to brush some of my extra delicious barbecue sauce onto the wings.

For this purpose, I wanted the sauce to be a little thinner than usual so I mixed in some Lemon-lime soda to help thin it down. If you purchase the bottled barbecue sauce, you will probably not need to thin it out as it is already a little thinner than what you make at home using my recipes.

Note: you can use almost anything from water to coffee to pop and even cider or apple juice to thin down my barbecue sauce. Sometimes you just want it to flow a little more.

I just happened to have some SunDrop and that’s what I used. The lemon-lime flavor won’t hurt anything;-)

Just 2-3 tablespoons of liquid is all it takes in a cup of my barbecue sauce. Use more or less depending on how thin you want it to be.

How long to cook chicken wings in a smoker

Use a ThermoPop, Thermapen or other thermometer to make sure that the correct finished temperature is achieved in the chicken. You are looking for 175-180°F.

A great tool for checking the temperature on these is the Thermapen ONE which reads in 1 second or less! That’s screaming fast folks! This is the ONLY 1 second thermometer in the world and I’m proud to own one.. you can too by clicking HERE.

When the smoked chicken wings are done, get them out quickly and place them into a foil pan or other serving platter or bowl.

This one was begging to be eaten!

How long to cook chicken wings in a smoker

Into the foil pan and into the house for serving to the hungry family and friends.

How long to cook chicken wings in a smoker

My oldest daughter said they were the best wings she’s ever had. Why is this significant? She’s very picky about her wings!

Try these and I know you’ll love them. I do recommend that you do these exacly as I’ve instructed the first time.

Enjoy!!

Notes:

The most popular email question that I receive is how to get chicken skin crispy and this includes whole chicken, pieces and even wings.

There are several methods you can use to help crisp up the skin a little bit

  • Flash fry the wings (after smoking) in oil that is very hot (400+ degrees)
  • Place them on a very hot grill for a few minutes after they are done smoking
  • Place them in a 350-375 degree oven for a few minutes after they’re done smoking
Print

Smoked Chicken Wings

How long to cook chicken wings in a smoker

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

4.8 from 13 reviews

These smoked chicken wings are cooked in the smoker with cherry wood and if you've never had wings made in a smoker, then you are in for a real treat.

  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
  • Category: Appetizer, Entree
  • Cuisine: American, Barbecue

Ingredients

Copy to clipboardCopy to clipboard

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

  • 510 lbs Chicken wings
  • 1/2 cup Oil ((Canola, EV Olive, or Vegetable))
  • 1/4 cup Jeff's original rub
  • 1 cup Jeff's barbecue sauce

Instructions

  1. Remove wings from package and place in large ziploc
  2. Pour oil onto wings and roll to coat
  3. Spoon rub over chicken in bag
  4. Roll and toss to coat well
  5. Dump wings into large foil pan
  6. Prepare smoker for cooking at 250-275°F
  7. Place wings on smoker grate with space between them
  8. Smoke for about 1.5 hours
  9. About 30 minutes before finished, brush with sauce
  10. The wings are done when they reach 175-180°F

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo and tag us — we can’t wait to see what you’ve made!

How long to cook chicken wings in a smoker

Order Jeff’s Rubs and Barbecue Sauce TODAY!

✅ My rubs and sauce will be the best thing you’ve ever tasted and it’s a great way to support what we do!

Shop Now

Note: You can also order the formulas for my rubs and sauce and make these yourself at home. Grab those HERE and download immediately.

How long does it take to smoke chicken wings at 225?

How Long Does it Take to Smoke Chicken Wings? If you smoke wings at 225 degrees, it will take about one hour to reach 165 °F, the safe internal temperature for wings.

How long does it take to smoke chicken wings?

Place wings in your smoker. Cook until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 165°F, about 1 hour and 30 minutes.

How long do wings take to smoke at 250?

It takes approximately 2 hours to smoke chicken wings at 250 degrees F. It's always best to use a thermometer to check the internal temperature of your chicken to make sure it's done.

How long does it take for chicken wings to smoke 300 degrees?

Smoke the chicken for approximately 2-3 hours at 300 degrees, checking every hour, until the chicken reaches 165 degrees when tested with a meat thermometer. Using tongs, remove the chicken wings from the smoker.