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my wings are burning!

post #1 of 14
7/28/09 at 7:00am
Thread Starter 
hi everyone. i'm trying to perfect my bbq wings but i have one problem, they keep burning on the grill! i marinade the wings in a homemade bbq sauce (ketchup, apple cider vindegar, brown suger, honey mustard, etc.) for two hours and then grill them for about 10-12 minutes per side at 350 direct heat with the lid closed. they turn out perfect expect they usually get burned! i'm assuming it's because of the bbq sauce that they are marinaded in. i'm wondering if i grill them with indirect heat if that would work better? would it make a difference in the cooking time if i grill with indirect heat? would i have to cook them longer? thanks for any help you can offer.

thanks,
liver
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post #2 of 14
7/28/09 at 7:10am
Tomato and sugar are both easy to burn on the grill. If you want to glaze them with the sauce, do so in the last few minutes of cooking and do it at a lower heat. Barbecue sauces are usually used in this glazing manner as a finishing sauce because they are so easy to burn.

You can do indirect cooking. It does take longer but sugar and tomato can and will still burn if the temps are high enough or cooked long enough. Again, it's probably best to use such a sauce as a finishing sauce where it's cooked only briefly to set up as a glaze on the wings.

For grilling you'd probably have better success with a no oil, sugar or tomato marinade. Then season it with a dry rub and let those seasonings sink in a while. Again, keep the sugar out or to a minimum in the rub. Then grill as normal and in the last part of cooking apply the barbecue sauce and set it up at a lower temperature.
more than taste fine
me eat it all the time
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post #3 of 14
7/28/09 at 7:39am
If your sauce is thinner you might have good luck also. You might try marking them on the grill and finishing them in the oven with the sauce. Good luck.
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post #4 of 14
7/28/09 at 9:04am
Ketchup, brown sugar, honey all are sugars, Sugars eventually burn quicker at any high heat be it direct or indirect. Cook at much lower heat constantly turning and moving.:chef:
CHEFED
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post #5 of 14
7/28/09 at 9:20am
Sugar, Sugar, Sugar......Burns, Burns, Burns...........I dry rubs the wing and put on the cool side of the grill ( The half that the burner isn't on) Close the lid and they will heat and crisp. When thye are about 75% done dip into you wing sauce and put on the hot side turning and basting as needed.......................You should have some nice dark browning because of the sugars and tomotoes in you sauce,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Bill
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post #6 of 14
8/2/09 at 4:18pm
I cook my wings a little differently than most. I dry rub then smoke them for 1 1/2 hours at 225. If no smoker oven for same time and temp. Then I grill them over medium fire until crispy and shake in warm sauce
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post #7 of 14
8/2/09 at 5:06pm
I wouldn't sauce them before cooking, for reasons already given. Sugar caremalizes rather quickly on a grill.

Either take Phil's advice, and only glaze the wings for the final minutes of cooking (similar to how we do ribs, in fact), or just grill them until cooked and then coat them with the sauce.

I usually fry wings rather than grilling them, but that's how I do it and it works out fine.
They have taken the oath of the brother in blood, in leavened bread and salt. Rudyard Kipling
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post #8 of 14
8/3/09 at 1:45pm
marinate in soy sauce and garlic and cook till almost done...THEN Add the sweet stuff.

I use a combo of ketchup, veg oil, lime juice and rind, dark brown sugar and linghams sweet chilli sauce. Turn up the heat a bit to finish off

BTW I hate having to segment chicken wings when they're raw. So i leave it till they're half cooked, just before i add the rest of the ingredients and use chicken scissors to do the job. Using tongs to hold them while i snip. Much nicer job
"If we're not supposed to eat animals, why are they made of meat?" Jo Brand
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post #9 of 14
8/4/09 at 1:41am
You can do indirect cooking. It does take longer but sugar and tomato can and will still burn if the temps are high enough or cooked long enough. Again, it's probably best to use such a sauce as a finishing sauce where it's cooked only briefly to set up as a glaze on the wings.

For grilling you'd probably have better success with a no oil, sugar or tomato marinade. Then season it with a dry rub and let those seasonings sink in a while. Again, keep the sugar out or to a minimum in the rub. Then grill as normal and in the last part of cooking apply the barbecue sauce and set it up at a lower temperature.
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post #10 of 14
8/28/09 at 1:54pm
These are some wings I did last year. Its a spin on one of Alton Brown's wing techniques. On one of his episodes he steamed the wings first, then baked in the oven at 400 degrees, 20 minutes per side.

I steamed them then seasoned. Indirect heat over charcoal and cherry wood for roughly the same amount of time. I made the sauce with butter, garlic, salt, pepper & hot sauce mixed together after the cook.







Like most everyone has said already, sugar burns. I have glazed ribs right before they came off of the grill with the bbq sauce thinned out with honey and vinegar and it turned out great.

So if you're planning on saucing them on the grill I would definitely cook them with indirect heat and sauce at the end. Or you could just heat the sauce up on the stove and sauce after you grill/ smoke the wings.
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post #11 of 14
8/28/09 at 4:48pm
I think everyone pretty much summed it up.. I marinate mine (if I am going to bbq them and not do them buffalo style) in a wine based marinade then bbq them over medium coals until they;re done and at the very end before I take them off the bbq I quickly brush both sides with some sort of sauce. I let it heat for a few seconds per side and then presto.. wings are ready and looking good!
OK ... where am I going?.. and WHY am I in this handbasket??
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post #12 of 14
8/29/09 at 6:35am
you could try making your sauce thiner and lightly poach the wing in it so that when you slap em on the bbq you only need to heat them and get some nice colour going. and also if the wings are cooked in the sauce youll get a lot more flavor in there too
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post #13 of 14
8/29/09 at 6:40am
Make not everyone that most of the wings that come frozen and commercially made are steamed first like brown does it then finished. Brands like Tyson, Brakebush, Perdue that are all precoated and seasoned are all precooked.
CHEFED
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post #14 of 14
9/2/09 at 11:37am
I prefer to do my wings on the grill, less fat that way. Start the grill on a lower heat with gas or with the wings on the indirect side with charcoal. Cook the fat out of the skin to so it will become crispy when the heat is turned to high or the wings put over the coals. About 10-12 min each side over low heat and 3-4 each side over the high heat. I like to toss with Frank's Red Hot for a Buffalo style wing.
LL
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