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November 14, 2025

Orange-Wood Smoked Chicken Wings

Tag: Smoker Tag: Easy Tag: Saucy
Prep
15m
Cook
2h
Total
2h10m
Hero image for Orange-Wood Smoked Chicken Wings

If you love wings and barbecue, these orange-wood smoked wings sit right in the overlap: deeply seasoned, kissed with light citrusy smoke, and finished so the skin actually eats crisp instead of rubbery. The base recipe is built for a pellet or traditional smoker, but the phases keep it approachable even if you’re still learning your pit.

From there, you get to pick your finale. Go tacky-sauced, fully saucy and bubbling, or stay dry-rubbed and salty—the cook steps are tuned so any of those finishes land with good texture and a clean, smoky bite.

From prep to plate

Season the wings

Mise en place (Ingredients)

  • 20 chicken wings
  • Olive oil
  • Lawry's seasoning salt
  • Fresh cracked pepper
  • Your favorite barbecue rub

Steps

  1. Dry Ingredients Mixed

    In a small bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly.

  2. Wings Rinsed and Ready

    If desired, rinse your chicken wings. Place them into a medium bowl for hand-mixing.

  3. Wings Oiled

    Coat thoroughly with the Olive Oil.

  4. Wings Seasoned and Chilling

    Use 2/3 of the dry ingredients to mix and coat the Chicken. Move the chicken to the refrigerator.

Smoke and finish

Mise en place (Ingredients)

  • A good quality smoker wood or pellets (I really like orange wood chunks for chicken wings)
  • Your favorite sauce (optional)

Steps

  1. Smoker Preheated

    Start the smoker at 180F or the lowest temperature available above that with the good quality smoker wood or pellets.

  2. Wings Seasoned for Smoking

    When the smoker is ready, dust the chicken wings with an appropriate amount of the remaining dry seasoning.

  3. Wings Loaded in Smoker

    Place the wings into the smoker, away from direct heat, with ample spacing to accommodate air/smoke flow around them.

  4. Wings Rotated and Dry

    Rotate them at 45 minutes, then every 15 minutes until the outside is dry, no longer wet/tacky.

  5. Wings Cooked and Resting

    Once the chicken has reached a safe temperature (165F), remove them to a sheet tray.

    Get 'em ready for prime-time!

    High-heat smoker

    Turn the smoker to the highest heat settings (at least 500F). Put the chicken wings back in for up to 10 minutes on each side to dry the outside of the wing.

    Oven Broiler

    Turn on the broiler in the oven. Broil for 3-5 minutes on each side.

  6. Wings Finished Your Way

    Pull the sheet tray out to dress and finish them:

    Finish them your way

    Tacky sauce finish

    Pull them out, brush with sauce on all sides, then return them for nearly the same amount of time on each side until the desired stickiness is achieved.

    Saucy and bubbling

    Make sure the outside is crispy, then drench/coat in sauce and heat the wings just until the sauce starts bubbling on top.

    Dry-rub finale

    Skip the sauce, but sprinkle with the finest salt you can find immediately after pulling from the heat.