How To Grill Wings With Charcoal

This foolproof method for grilling wings with charcoal will give you crispy delicious grilled chicken wings every time.

These 2 ingredient chicken wings are made with fresh, never frozen wings, salt, and pepper; simple, easy, but full of incredible flavor every time.

Looking for more charcoal recipes? Consider trying Salt & Pepper Wings, Rotisserie Prime Rib, Grilling steaks with Charcoal

Charcoal Grilled Chicken Wings

This might come as a surprise, but I'm a bit of a chicken wing snob. This recipe is the best recipe for perfectly grilled charcoal chicken wings every time.

With 3 simple ingredients and a few minutes of prep, following this grilling method will give you the juiciest and most tender crispy chicken wings.

So keep on reading; below you will find everything you need to know!

Charcoal Grilled Chicken Wing Ingredients

Meat: To make charcoal-grilled chicken wings, you are going to need 2 lbs of whole chicken wings

Seasoning: 1 tbsp Baking Powder and 3 tbsp of BBQ Dry Rub, or whatever your favorite dry rub seasoning is!

For Cooking: Cooking spray

How to Grill Chicken Wings with Charcoal

Heat Grill. Set up the grill for dual zone cooking with all of your coals off to one side for a direct heat some and an indirect heat zone. Aim for a target grill temperature of 375 to 400 degrees F.

Prep Wings. Prepare the wings by removing them from the packaging and patting them dry with a paper towel. place the wings in a large bowl and season with baking powder and your favorite dry rub or seasoning of choice. Return to the fridge for 20 minutes while the grill is heating up.

Grill the Wings. Once the grill has reached grilling temp place the whole wings on the grill in the indirect cooking zone. Be sure not to overcrowd the wings leaving an inch of space in between the wings. Cook for 30 minutes then spray with cooking oil and flip the wings over.

Continue Cooking. Cook the wings for another 30 minutes then spray again with cooking oil. Continue cooking until you reach an internal temperature of 190-200 degrees F. for fall of the bone tender wings.

Crisp the Wings and Sauce. Right before the wings are done cooking you can place the wings over the direct (hot side) of the grill for 30-60 seconds for extra crispy slightly charred wings. At this point, you may sauce the wings if you like just before serving.

Serve. When ready, serve hot and enjoy!

Grilling Wings using the Dual Zone Cooking Method

When cooking skin-on chicken it's important to avoid flare-ups caused by fat dripping onto the flames. This will give the chicken a bitter flavor and burn the skin if not moved immediately.

To avoid this we will push all of the coals to one side of the grill to create two cooking zones. One for indirect cooking and one for direct cooking.

You can purchase charcoal baskets or separators to keep the charcoal from spilling over.

Lump Charcoal vs Charcoal Briquettes

When deciding what type of charcoal to choose there are some things to consider. First of all, avoid using charcoal briquettes that contain lighter fluid that may transfer flavor to your wings.

Personally, I always cook with hardwood lump charcoal. I feel like it burns slightly hotter and more evenly. Hardwood also burns cleaner and has a better flavor.

Internal temperature of Grilled Chicken Wings

Though chicken is safe to eat at 165 degrees F. I find that cooking the chicken wings to an internal temperature of 190-200 degrees F. yields a crispier, tender wing that comes clean off the bone.

The difference is quite noticeable and I promise its worth the extra few minutes on the grill.

Types of Seasoning for Grilled Chicken Wings

When it comes to seasoning, you can use any seasoning or variety of seasoning you like! You can go with anything; a classic bbq dry rub or other seasoning blends like old bay, lemon pepper, or cajun seasoning!

Looking to keep it simple? You can stick with a simple with salt and pepper or even Italian seasoning and grated parmesan.

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