Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Hog's Ass Wings & Posting Frequency

The holiday season has been a little crazy and sometimes I need to cook something easy and reliable.  For me one of those "old faithfuls" is wings on the grill.


Sure, I have posted lots of great recipes for wings.  But if I'm in a hurry, I'll just grab a commercial rub and make a basic wing sauce (1:1 butter/Franks hot sauce w/ splash of worcestershire sauce). 
For flavor on this particular day I used a cajun rub, Hog's Ass Garlic Habanero Sauce, and Char-Broil Whiskey Barrel Chips.




I used my normal 30-20-10 method which is setting up the Big Green Egg for indirect heat (plate setter legs down) at 375f.  Season the wings, cook for 30 minutes, flip.  Cook 20 minutes more, then toss in sauce.   Cook 10 more minutes, done.  


Of course, you have to serve them with the obligatory celery sticks and ranch or blue cheese dressing, that's Federal law.  


I like habanero sauces generally but when I was making the wing sauce, I cut back on the Hog's Ass because of the heat level I was getting.  That means I also cut back on the flavor it would deliver and that came through in the final product. 

Don't get me wrong, the wings were good.   They had a subtle smoke on the front end and a nice sting of heat on the back end.  But it was unbalanced because there wasn't enough taste to transition between the two.  So my wings weren't as great as usual.   I like the Hogs Ass as a hot sauce, it just doesn't work FOR ME in a wing sauce because I'm too much of a wimp to take the heat to get enough of the flavor.  If you like a more intense heat, this would be for you. 

Posting Frequency - Bad news/Good news
Bad News - My posting frequency has dropped to about once a week and will stay there for the next 2 months.

Good News - It is because I signed a publishing contract with Ulysses Press last month to write a book about kamado grilling.   While it is exciting, it is a hectic, chaotic schedule with tight deadlines.  I'll tell you more about the book when the time comes.     (Thanks to Meathead of AmazingRibs.com for recommending me for the job!)