In the Bradley forum, there's been a small discussion that might be of
general interest to this newsgroup. It centered around the soft skin of
wings that have only been smoked "low and slow," compared to being
grilled. There were comments about using maximum airflow to aid in
drying the outside of the wings, but also some discussion about other
ways to handle it. IMHO, drying the wings to get the skin harder is
counterproductive to moist meat inside the skin.

In my own case, the wings I recently did were very satisfactory to me.
I first marinated them under vacuum in apple juice, garlic and salt,
then smoked them with apple wood in the Bradley "low and slow." The
moisture literally dripped from them, but the skin had the look and feel
of baked or steamed chicken, rather than the crispy skin most of us
prefer.

In my own case, I then finished the wings off on the IR cooker I built.
The result of the combination of marinating, smoking and then grilling
was the best wings I've produced. The meat was soft, and sweet juice
would literally drip out when you'd bite into the wings, However, the
skin was nicely charred/crisped up, giving them a great texture and was
not rubbery at all.

This morning, for breakfast, I had some of the leftover wings, straight
from the Bradley smoker. I microwaved them to get them warm, then gave
them 45 SECONDS on the IR grill before digging in. The leftovers were
virtually identical to the initial product a couple days back, very
crisp on the outside and dripping with juice inside.

To be honest, I also keep an LP torch out in the drawer of my main grill
and use it frequently. Actually, I use it less frequently than before I
built the IR grill, but still use it a lot. For instance, when grilling
skewered shrimp or scallops, I cook them under moderate heat on the
grill, then flame the outside with the torch before taking them off.
The torch gives the corners and little pieces a blackened, charred, look
and flavor without any drying of the meat itself. It looks great and
adds tremendously to the flavor. I've also used the same torch on the
fat on the outside of steaks and chops with great success.

So often, some of us fall into a groove where we only consider one way
of cooking at a time. I sure as heck do. However, by combining
different techniques and equipment, you can frequently get the best of
several different worlds.
--
---Nonnymus---
In the periodic table, as in politics,
the unstable elements tend to hang out on
the far left, with some to the right as well.