Whiskey-Glazed Camp Wings
Wings smoked over wood chips on the grill, finished in a brown sugar and whiskey glaze.
- calories
- 540
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 60
- protein
- 34 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 40 min
- cook
- 30 min
- total time
- 70 min
- water
- 2000 ml cold
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Grill grate
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Chicken wing sections | 2 lb | brine at home, carry cold |
|---|---|---|
| Salt | 3 tbsp | for the brine |
| Sugar | 3 tbsp | for the brine |
| Cold water | 2 quarts | brine only, poured off before packing |
| Cornstarch | 2 tbsp | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | for the coating |
| Canola oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Butter | 1 tbsp | |
| Garlic | 1 clove, minced | or 1/2 tsp granulated |
| Light brown sugar | 1/2 cup | |
| Water | 2 tbsp | |
| Whiskey | 1 tbsp | |
| Ground ginger | 1/4 tsp | |
| Tabasco | 1 tsp | optional, more if you want heat |
| Salt | 1/4 tsp | for the glaze |
| Hardwood chips | 2 cups |
Method
- At home: stir 3 tbsp salt and 3 tbsp sugar into 2 quarts of cold water, add the wings, and hold 30 minutes in the fridge. Drain, pat dry, and pack the wings on ice.
- In camp, toss the dry wings with the cornstarch, 1/2 tsp salt, and the oil until every piece is coated.
- Put the wood chips in a covered smoker skillet or a foil packet with a few holes punched in the top. Set it directly over the coals or burner and wait for steady smoke.
- Lay the wings on the grate over medium-high heat, away from the hottest spot. Cook about 30 minutes, turning every 8 to 10 minutes, until the skin is tight and the meat pulls off the bone.
- While they cook, melt the butter in a small pan and cook the garlic under a minute. Add the brown sugar, water, whiskey, ginger, tabasco, and salt. Simmer and stir until it coats a spoon.
- Toss the wings in the glaze off the heat and eat them right away.
This is car-camping food, not pack food. The wings need a cooler and the glaze needs a second pan, so it earns its place only where weight does not matter. What travels well is the prep: brining, drying, and dredging all happen at home, which means camp is thirty minutes of turning wings and five minutes of stirring sugar.
The cornstarch is the part people skip and regret. It pulls surface moisture and crisps the skin over a grate that never gets as hot or as even as an oven. The glaze goes on at the end for the same reason — brown sugar over live coals burns long before the meat is done.
Packing
Brine and dry the wings at home so camp is just cook and glaze. Wings go in a zip bag flat in the cooler, cornstarch and salt premixed in a small bag, and the glaze ingredients in one jar with the whiskey measured in already.
Variations
- Skip the smoker skillet and cook them straight over a wood fire; you get the smoke for free.
- No whiskey: a splash of apple cider and a pinch more ginger gets close.
- Double the tabasco and cut the brown sugar to 1/3 cup for a hotter, thinner glaze.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/smoked-whiskey-wings