The Gas Grill Review and Gas Grill Rating Guide - Helping you choose the Best Gas Grill

Spicy Fruit Grilled Wings

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I got to make spicy fruit grilled wings for a labor day picnic last year and they were such a hit that I figured I would write an entire article on them.

I've always loved wings, but usually we're talking about fried chicken with some kind of sauce slathered on top. I thought I loved them. But, at the tail end of my life in Ohio, there was a new bar/restaurant called Cowboys that actually had smoked Chipotle wings. Unlike the on-demand fryer, smoking takes a bit longer, so I can image that it's more of a challenge.

Anyway, it was at that point that I realized that wings didn't have to be fried. In fact, the way I do them now is my absolute favorite! I don't even bother ordering wings when I'm out anymore because they are such a disappointment. If you like a spicy sweetness (not too sweet) with a smoky edge, you're going to love this recipe.

Here's What You'll Need

Whole Chicken Wings
A Charcoal Grill (if you want to the smoky edge)
Preserves (your favorite flavor)
Spices

The reason I say whole chicken wings is because it's so much easier to find meaty wings that way. If you go for the pieces, especially the frozen ones, you never know what you're getting. It takes extra time. Just deal with it!

I know, this is the Gas Grill Review, but I expanded the scope awhile back to include charcoal grills after rediscovering them a few years ago. This isn't a quick and convenient recipe since you have to do some prep. So, take a little extra time and use a more traditional cooking method. You won't regret with this recipe. Trust me!

The original recipe I found for this used apricot preserves and I use them regularly. In fact, there is an apricot / peach blend I find and it's pretty good too. The other flavor I've used a few times is raspberry preserves. Just as tasty. In fact, you don't really taste the fruit flavor, it just mellows out the heat :)

Ingredients

1 dozen whole wings - separate them yourself!
1 cup of preserves (pick your favorite fruit flavor)
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons dijon (I use spicy brown) mustard
2 tablespoons kosher salt
4 teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or more if you really like heat)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Preparation

Well, the first thing you need to do is cut the chicken up.

By using the whole chicken wings, you get both parts, not just pseudo drumsticks or pseudo wings.

Once you've handled that nifty little chore, you need to mix your marinade. When I did this particular batch, I made some apricot peach and some raspberry just to see what the difference was side by side.

Preserves

I took all of the ingredients and threw them into the blender this time. In the past, I've simply hand stirred it, but it remains pretty chunky that way. I opted to smooth it out this time. Difference? Not that I could taste.

It may look odd, but man does this smell good. I don't know the word to describe it. You really have to make this stuff some time. Anyway, once you've got it blended it's time to apply the marinade. I use 1 gallon freezer bags and fill it about 2/3rds with wings, and pour the appropriate amount of marinade in.

The longer you marinate these, the better. I prepared this batch the afternoon before I planned to cook them. So, they got about 24 in the refrigerator. I've done it in as few as 4 hours. Still pretty darn good either way.

Heat the Grill Up!

Get that grill going. My Bubba Keg Grill (now the Big Steel Keg Grill) is excellent because it has very good temperature control. So, I get it going to about 350 degrees. Once that's done, I get the wings out and dump them into a container that's easier to carrier to the grill than a limp plastic bag. I used a roasting pan that was handy.

Here you go, raspberry on the left, apricot peach on the right. Pretty easy to tell by the color, isn't it? OK, so here's the deal. I set my Bubba Keg up to cook indirectly using a platesetter. That makes it more like an oven than a grill which is what we want.

If you're using a another type of charcoal grill, or a gas grill, you'll want to use burners on one side, or charcoal on one side, and put the wings on the other side. This will help prevent them from getting burned. I'm sure you've all cooked indirectly on your grill before so I won't belabor the point. Just do it that way or you will regret it :)

As you can see, my spicy fruit grilled wings are ready to go, and I've set up the second grate on my grill to accommodate the large volume I'm cooking. As you can see below, I've nearly loaded this thing up completely. I can hardly wait until they're done.

See that below? That's what I'm going to have and you won't if you use a gas grill on this recipe. That smoke is coming from pure lump charcoal and there is no charcoal fluid or anything being used. I never use that stuff. The taste you get from this is amazing. I wish my Dad had known how to cook with charcoal because I wasted decades with charcoal briquette and lighter fluid nightmares.

In the Bubba Keg, I don't cook these any longer than 30 minutes at 350. The thing is so efficient that I don't need to. You may, so you'll just have to test. Same rules to cooking chicken apply here as anywhere else. So, do you wanna see what spicy fruit grilled wings look like right before I feast on them? OK....here you go.