Ingredients
- 10 chicken drumsticks
- 1/3 cup hot sauce (Franks or some other brand)
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
Directions
- Mix hot sauce with the garlic powder and salt or use a chicken rub recipe
- In a bowl, pour the mixture over the chicken drumsticks and toss until evenly coated. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for one hour.
- Fire up the smoker using wood of choice (I use apple usually). Get the temperature to 250F.
- Place chicken drumsticks on a rack and place in the smoker. Smoke for about 2 1/2 hours. Smoke until the internal temperature of the chicken is 180F.
- If desired, sear on a gas grill at high heat to crisp the skin.
Notes
For wood, the nice thing about chicken is that almost any wood works to provide a nice flavored chicken. Hickory, oak, maple and pecan all are excellent choices of wood, but my favorite wood for chicken are the fruit woods. Apple, cherry and peach are all excellent for smoking chicken and give the meat an awesome sweet smoky taste.
I smoke the drumsticks for a good 2 1/2 hours. Chicken is fully cooked at 165F, but I find that drumsticks need to be cooked to a higher temperature. Usually, I smoke them until they reach at least 180F.
While the chicken drumsticks are delicious with a perfectly smoky flavor and tender and juicy meat, the one downside of smoking chicken is that the skin does not really crisp up. This is due to the fact that the lower temperature of the smoker does not allow the skin to be crispy.
If you do really want the skin to be crispy, you can finish the chicken drumsticks on the grill. Heat the grill to high and then throw on the drumsticks. Watch them closely, and after a couple minutes turn them to crisp the other side.