I had a old friend I hardly ever see drop by for a visit and decided it was the proper occasion to do my first cook on the new Aristocrat. The cooking grate had some food residue and a little rust in the centre but the outside 6 inches or so still possessed the factory oil coating. The charcoal grate was heavily rusted so this was cleaned with heavy duty steel wool. The owner told me his Dad had cooked with it 3 or 4 times and I believe it. So this cooker had seen burgers and steaks...never real bbq...till now:
I got about 7 pounds of wings and brined them in a molasses/vinegar blend spiked with some 604 rub for about 3 hours then removed them to grated baking sheets and dusted them on both sides with some more rub and a little chili powder. I had a second red to do the overflow of wings. I used a combo of pecan and oak on the wings:
Having all the extra gill space, the feel of that leviathan lid and knowing part of the history of this grill made this a special cook. I cooked them offset for about 45 minutes then cycled them over and around the coal bed to finish them off:
We had a nice sit down dinner with salad, garlic bread, Old Bay/chili powder spiked biscuits and and assortment of sauces for the wings. I let folks add what they want. These wings had a nice smokey flavor that blended well with the seasoning with a great colour from the molasses brine.My buddy tried some sauce but decided these babies tasted best plain. It was high compliment that he had four helpings of wings and was the last one eating:
I have decided to call this cooker Ophelia:
Topic: First Smoke On A Big Red Thumbscrew - Wings (Read 2185 times)