Chef Tom's Honey Habanero Hot Wings will treat your taste buds to an explosion of sweet, spicy, and saucy flavor - freshly fired in the Yoder Smoker Wood Fired Oven.
WHAT YOU'LL LOVE
- A cornstarch-and-rub coating does double duty. Shaking the wings in Plowboys Jerk Seasoning mixed with cornstarch seasons them and sets up a crisp, dry-fried texture at the same time, without needing a separate breading step.
- The pan gets preheated before the wings ever touch it. Letting the cast iron sit inside the Wood Fired Oven for 5–10 minutes first means the wings hit a hot surface immediately, which is what gets that bottom crisp instead of steaming.
- The sauce cooks separately, then gets tossed in at the end. Melting the honey, hot sauce, butter, garlic, and ginger together on the stovetop and letting it cool keeps it from breaking or scorching, so it clings to the wings as a glossy coating instead of separating.
- Wings go well past the safe minimum on purpose. Pulling them once they surpass 175°F internal isn't just about food safety — it's what renders out extra fat for crispier skin than stopping at the bare minimum would give you.
Honey Habanero Hot Wings
Tom Jackson
Rated 3.7 stars by 6 users
Category
Appetizer
Cuisine
American
Servings
10
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
15 minutes
Calories
591
Tantalize your taste buds with Chef Tom's delicious Honey Habanero Hot Wings! Freshly fired in the Yoder Smoker Wood Fired Oven, they offer the perfect balance of sweet, spicy, and saucy flavors. Get ready for a flavor explosion!
Ingredients
-
5 lb chicken wings, flats and drums separated
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1/3 cup Plowboys BBQ The Jerk Seasoning
-
1/3 cup cornstarch
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Cornhusker Kitchen Spray Duck Fat
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1/2 cup Heat Maverick’s Where Did the Mango Hot Sauce
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1/2 cup Reida Farm Wildflower Honey
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1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
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4 tsp garlic, grated on microplane
-
2 tsp ginger, grated on microplane
For the Honey Mango Sauce
Directions
Preheat your Yoder smokers YS640s Pellet Grill to 450ºF with the Yoder Smokers Wood Fired Oven installed.
Combine sauce ingredients in a Lodge 8” Steel Skillet. Place on top of the Wood Fired Oven to cook for a few minutes. Remove and cool.
Combine Plowboys BBQ The Jerk Seasoning and cornstarch in a marinade shaker and shake vigorously to mix. Season the wings with the mixture on both sides. Spray with duck fat.
Preheat a Lodge 10.5” x 15.5” Cast Iron Bakeware pan inside the Wood Fired Oven for 5-10 minutes.
Add just enough OIL? To the cast iron pan to coat the bottom. Place the wings on the pan. When the wings are crisped on bottom, flip then continue cooking until the internal temperature in the deepest part of the wings surpasses 175ºF. Remove from the grill.
Combine the wings and sauce in a large mixing bowl. Toss to coat.
Recipe Note
Recipe FAQ
Why coat the wings in cornstarch along with the rub?
Cornstarch draws out surface moisture and helps create a drier, crispier exterior once the wings hit the hot cast iron, working alongside the seasoning instead of just sitting on top of it.
Why preheat the cast iron pan before adding the wings?
Starting with a hot pan means the wings begin crisping on contact rather than slowly coming up to temperature, which is what gives the bottoms a solid crust before you flip them.
Why make the sauce separately and let it cool before tossing?
Cooking the honey, hot sauce, butter, garlic, and ginger together first lets the flavors meld without the sugar scorching. Cooling it slightly before tossing keeps it glossy and clinging to the wings instead of thinning out and running off.
What internal temperature should the wings reach?
This recipe correctly targets above 175°F internal, well past USDA's 165°F minimum for poultry — that extra margin also helps render more fat out of the skin for a crispier finish.
Is this recipe actually spicy from habanero peppers?
Not as written — despite the name, the sauce here is built from a mango-based hot sauce with no habanero pepper or habanero-labeled ingredient in the list. If you want actual habanero heat, you'd need to add fresh or dried habanero to the sauce yourself.
How indoor-friendly is this recipe?
4 out of 5 — a screaming-hot oven and a cast iron pan or sheet tray will get you most of the way there; the wood-fired oven mainly adds a bit of extra char and smoke you'd be missing indoors.
Recipe Highlights
Cornstarch in the dry rub: Mixing cornstarch into the seasoning before it goes on the wings is what creates a drier surface that crisps rather than steams once it hits the hot pan.
Preheating the cast iron separately: Giving the pan 5–10 minutes inside the Wood Fired Oven before adding wings means they start crisping immediately instead of gradually as the pan heats up underneath them.
Cooking the sauce independently: Melting the sauce ingredients together on their own heat source, rather than pouring them raw over hot wings, lets the flavors combine evenly without scorching the honey.
Pushing past the minimum safe temperature: Targeting above 175°F rather than stopping right at 165°F renders extra fat out of the skin, which is part of what gives fried-style wings their crispness.
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Nutrition
Nutrition
- Nutrition Serving Size
- 10
- per serving
- Calories
- 591
- Fat
- 26 grams
- Cholesterol
- 227 milligrams
- Sodium
- 227 milligrams
- Carbs
- 19 grams
- Protein
- 65 grams
