Spent corn cobs produce a subtle, sweet-flavoured smoke that’s ideal for barbecuing just about any meat, and without the need for any special equipment or even wood chips. Chicken wings are a great starting point for hot smoking, because they cook quickly and have a lot of surface area to take on that smoky flavour. You’ll need a barbecue with a lid and a bag of lumpwood charcoal.
Corn cob-smoked pickle brine chicken wings
As a predominantly seasonal cook, I’m as excited about corn season as I am about asparagus in spring, so at this time of year I like to fill my weekly shopping basket with cobs to cook in all manner of ways.
Even spent cobs can be put to good use: dried corn cobs can be used for fuel, for instance, and also work well instead of wood chips as a means for smoking food. Soak the dried cobs in water for a few hours first, or just use fresh cobs after cutting off the kernels. When I made today’s chicken wings, I used the fresh kernels to make a Southern American-style fried corn by gently frying them in lots of butter for about 15 minutes, until cooked through, then seasoned them generously.
Brining chicken salts all meat evenly throughout the flesh, and pickle brine is particularly good for this, because it lends its piquant, complex flavour to the meat. Pickle brine is an ingredient in its own right, and well worth keeping for another use once the jar is otherwise empty, not just for brining meat but for salad dressings, too.
To make these, you will need a barbecue with a lid (or a baking tray that’s large enough to cover most of the barbecue) and a bag of lumpwood charcoal.
Serves 4 as a main course
12 chicken wings
1 jar pickle juice
Sea salt and black pepper
2 tsp baking powder (optional)
4 corn cobs
Put the wings in a container, pour over the pickle brine, seal and refrigerate for at least two hours and up to three days (if the wings aren’t completely submerged in the brine, turn them occasionally).
Lift out the chicken, pat it dry and season evenly with sea salt, black pepper and baking powder, if using.
Cut the kernels off each corn cob in strips, then freeze the kernels for another day or cook them and serve alongside the wings.
Light a large-ish mound of lumpwood charcoal in your barbecue, then, once the coals have stopped flaming and have started to turn white, move them to one side of the barbecue, so making a space to cook the wings over an indirect heat.
Lay the empty corn cobs directly on top of the hot coals, pop on the grill rack and arrange the chicken wings near but not over the hot coals. Cover the barbecue,to trap the smoke, then leave the wings to cook slowly for about 30 minutes, turning and rearranging the wings once halfway through, so they cook evenly. Avoid checking on them too frequently, to maintain both the heat and the smoke.
To finish the wings, spread out the coals, drop the rack to its lowest setting, and carry on cooking the chicken until the chicken skin is crisp. Serve hot.
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