Grilled Dry Rub Chicken Wings with C-Dub's Test Wing Sample

Tonight I fired up the PK Portable Kitchen outdoor cooker or grill and made dry rub wings with C-Dub's Hot Wings test sample. I'm friends with C-Dub on Facebook, and he was asking for folks to test out his new hot wing rub. I think most of the testers who posted up were general consumers. I'm a consumer too, but I write on barbecue and grilling and have this barbecue blog and Yes You Can Grill web site. That didn't rule me out which I think is a good thing. I'm a tough critic, so when folks let me check them out, they get what I really think as do my readers.

Dry Versus Web Rub Wings

I should probably first explain the dry versus the wet barbecue or Buffalo swings. That could be a little confusing.

If I'm doing wet Buffalo Wings, then I fry the wings and use butter in the frying pan with barbecue sauce to sauce the wings. These are wet and drippy and really yummy barbecue wings. Our wet hot wings here really are hard to beat.

On the grill, you are going to have a mess if you try to do wet barbecue wings, so you want a dry rub on grilled wings, unless you are using a cast iron skillet or perhaps a griddle with sides and just put those on top of the grill, and it's hard to get a temperature high enough to do the wings.

How to Make Dry Rub Buffalo Wings on the Grill

There are many ways to do chicken wings on the barbecue grill. I could talk about that forever, but I'll just go with the basic version.

I put my chicken wings (sans the tips which I cut off) in a bowl with buttermilk with C-Dub's Wing Rub sprinkled in. This is a very Southern techique (the milk thing) and adds moisture and makes the meat real moist and tender.

Afer a couple of hours in the milk marinade, I drained the chicken wings and then rubbed them with olive oil (vegetable oil is fine too) and then sprinkled on C-Dub's wing rub.

Grilling Chicken Wings


The Kingsford charcoals were going good in my PK grill. The heat retention is excellent in the PK. I had the coals offset meaning that I had hot coals on one end but none on the other in case the grilling got really hot which can happen with charcoal.

I put the chicken wings to grill close to the hot charcoal but not right over the flames. This is indirect or offset grilling. I let them smoke along for 25 minutes or so.

Then, I put the grilled chicken wings over the hot coals as you see in the top photo to crisp them up and to finish them off. That's really the trick with bone in chicken. You need to grill the chicken lower and then hit them with heat. This is easier to do with gas which is adjustable rather than charcoal where the longer you grill, the better and hotter the coals seem to get.

I do not Photoshop my grillig pictures, so you do get a real feel for what your food will look like. You see darker spots where the wings had more rub but not as much color where the rub was skimpier.

Right before I served the grilled chicken wings, I put them right over the charcoals to crisp them up and add color and flavor. That's where you see them in my photo.

What Did We Think of These Dry Rub Grilled Chicken Wings?


The grilled chicken wings turned out perfect in terms of the amount of time grilled. They were moist and tender. We could pull them apart or use a fork, and the meat was was really nice. The milk marinade and offset on the charcoal made a difference.

As far as the new chicken wing grill rub, it's not on the market yet. C-Dub's is just testing. I respect a company for doing that. You never know until you ask.

We found the rub to be really HOT. It was so hot that I could not really taste the chicken or the smoke. I had to get an ice cube and suck on it, since my tongue and lips were on fire. On the plus side, I am dealing with a sinus infection that has lasted several weeks. The hot dry rub by C-Dub's did help on that, since my nose and eyes were running after eating our grilled chicken.

I do love hot foods, so this one is pretty hot. Same with the boys' Dad. He goes for heat but found the wings tonight to be too much. My son who is a mild kind of guy when it comes to spicy foods just said, "A whole thing of celery and half a bottle of Ranch dressing for three wings. That is kind of a record I think. I hope I'm near a bathroom tomorrow."

Portable Kitchen Cooker (PK Grill) - Cast Aluminum Can't Be Beat

I am enjoying the heck out of my Portable Kitchen Outdoor Cooker AKA PK Grill. I grew up on a PK (which still works great after all these years), but I could not find one when I first went looking for grills. The reason I couldn't find a PK was because the company closed up, but another avid griller got in touch and worked out a deal for his family to revive the classic grills that work great and last virtually forever.

What makes the PKs different is that they are made of cast aluminum. That is kind of like cast iron but not so heavy and also cast aluminum does not rust. But, the long life and heat conduction are there. So, it is a brick house of a grill and much more versatile than most on the market.



Although the Portable Kitchen is called portable, it is sure not a tailgater size. It is full sized, but the body comes out of the frame. So, we do take it on the road with an SUV or truck. Since the frame does not fold or collapse down, it would difficult to transport this one with a car. But, if you have a really big car, the cart might fit in the trunk or back seat.



The PK is great for traditional grilled foods. The heat conduction is fabulous, so you can get those grill marks from a high sear temperature if that is what you are looking for. Many charcoal grills do not do that. This one does, since the heavy duty grates get nice and hot.



We grill steak, burgers, chicken, and brats on the PK.



And, we also use the Portable Kitchen as a smoker. Yes. It does work great for that. You just offset the coals (put them on one end) and then use the vents to lock in a temperature. The PK holds the heat and does a super job smoking.

The last smoke we did with the PK was MOINKs. Those are meatballs wrapped in bacon. They are smoked slow for around an hour and a half and taste like heaven. They are now one of my boys' very favorite grilled foods.

Barbecue Cook Out After Thanksgiving - Nice Change of Pace

Thanksgiving leftovers are terrific, but we were ready for a change of pace. So, we packed up the Portable Kitchen grill and headed out to the Bull Hole River Park in Cooleemee, NC for a "day after" cook out.

With the temperatures in the lower 50s, it was a good day to get outside and burn off some holiday calories. Plus, I love to grill, so it was an easy meal after turkey day which is pretty labor intensive as everyone knows.

The PK grill is cast aluminum, so it holds the heat and smoke as you can see in the photo. Actually, the PK doubles as a great smoker. It really cranks the smoke like here when I lifted the lid to check the food.


The Bull Hole is a beautiful spot for a cook out. It's on the Yadkin River with lots of trees and trails. Our new relatives (Mom got married this year) really enjoyed the scenery and the chance to get out in the fresh air after a couple of days in the house.


My sister brought some kind of game where you toss these balls on a string at stands with different levels. It's a bit like horseshoes or cornhole but with string balls. It worked out great for the adults and kids (with the kids standing closer to even things out). I need to check and find out the name of the game. It works out well for a cook out.


With a lot of burgers and hot dogs to grill and with it cold outside, I offset the coals. In other words, the coals are just on one end of the PK grill.

This grilling offset gave me space to barbecue grill but the cooler end of the grill to keep the food warm and for those who like cheese to add a slice and have it actually melt. Yes. We are spoiled (-:

Also note that I take a thick frying pan with a lid to help in keeping the food hot as it comes off the grill.

With the offset grilling and a skillet to hold the heat, I go slightly under the doneness on the meat as it continues to cook a bit more on the cooler end of the grill and in the holding skillet.


I grilled the burgers up first, since they take longer. Then, I put them on the cooler side of the grill and grilled up the hot dogs which don't take much time at all.

That hot end of the grill also worked out well for family members who like hot dogs grilled crisp. Most of the kids like the hot dogs lightly grilled, but some of the adults like hot dogs pretty well charred. No problem. With the offset on the barbecue coals, I could grill to order with very little effort.


Mom said "Yahoo!" for an easy meal out of the kitchen and some space to move around and burn off some energy. Anyone with kids in the family will relate. Gotta love those little ones, but they sure have energy to spare. So, a cook out was just the ticket after a traditional holiday dinner the day before.

Grilled Dinner on the Portable Kitchen Grill - PK Barbecue Grill is a Top Rated Charcoal Grill

I've written about my Dad's great old grill and how it's still going strong years later. I really don't know when he got it or where. We just grew up with the PK cast aluminum grill, so I'd say it must be 35 to 40 years old.

I didn't think they "made them like they used to," and they didn't. Portable Kitchen was off the market for a long time. Then, Paul and Sarah James got tired of the poor quality grills and shopped yard sales and found an old PK grill.

The James family decided that there were people out there who did want to invest in quality instead of buying a new grill every year, so they talked to Meigs family and worked it out to put the PK grill back on the market.

My new Portable Kitchen grill above is the Sportsman model. My Dad's PK is called Executive and is a little bigger with the hinges on the back rather than the side. Otherwise the grills are alike other than the old one has mellowed to a dark gray and black with loads of use over the years.

Cast aluminum means that the grills are made in one big piece. When new and out of the stand, they look kind of like huge tin foiled wrapped baked potatoes.

While most grills are made of thin grade metal, the PKs are thick and heavy. Like cast iron, they retain the heat. But, they don't rust like cast iron. Yippee! That's a huge problem with most grills, and even my Dad's ancient PK grill shows no signs of rust.

With the heat retention and with wider grates, you can sear nicely on the PK grills and can also close the lid and adjust the dampers to smoke meats. Portable Kitchen grills really crank once they get going, so below you will see how I offset for dinner last night.

Offsetting the coals means just burning on one side. That gives me room to sear the steaks but a cooler area to finish them off and also to work on the side dishes.

This is the same set up you'd use to smoke meats on the Portable Kitchen grill, but you'd close the lid and have the vents closed most of the way.



Our dinner last night included rib eye steaks, grilled corn on the cob, and grilled hash browns and also Texas Toast which we put on right at the end, since it doesn't take much time at all to heat bread on a grill.



The hash browned potatoes went on early to get started, but we do start out with tin foil on top. They are basically steamed on the grill. The boys love them, so we do those pretty often.



We then put the marinated steak on the hot side of the grill to sear and had the grilled corn on the cob on the cooler end of the grill. Those were rotated once the steaks were seared on the outside and then finished off to medium.

It's hard to beat a PK. Portable Kitchen is one of the best charcoal grills on the market. I'm glad they brought it back.

Grilled Hamburgers and Boneless Chicken Breasts in the Rain

Grilling out Hamburgers and Boneless Chicken Breasts and Tenders in the Rain

My students had been asking, all semester, about when I was going to grill out for them. I think they were joking, but my small New Media class was the right size for a nice May cook out. I thought, "Yep. Let's do it."


Had to Keep Everything Covered with it Raining

Initially I was going with hand patted hamburgers and hot dogs, but one student asked about bringing some chicken. I told her that I'd just change the menu. Grilled boneless chicken breasts or tenders are easy.

The chicken was even more popular than the hamburgers with this crowd. I think I will have to give the credit on that to the sauce, Firefighters Barbecue Sauce. That was a real hit. It's tangy and works great on chicken or anything else that you might barbecue.

I did the burgers on the Portable Kitchen PK charcoal cooker and the chicken on the City Grill. With two meats going at once and chicken more delicate, I wanted better heat control, so gas made sense for the chicken. The charcoal added flavor to the beef. It adds flavor to chicken as well, but the trade off on convenience was a good idea especially since it rained while I was grilling.



Might Not Be Obvious - But It's Pouring the Rain on Me and the Grill

The Portable Kitchen Grill is cast aluminum, so it has excellent heat retention. That's good, because we had a gully washer right as the hamburgers started to sizzle.

Rain drops the temperature and can also dampen the coals. By keeping the lid closed a good portion of the time, I was able to complete the grilling. A few burgers were undercooked, but the students just let me know, and we put those back on the grill for a couple of minutes.

A good grill chef will roll with the punches and also make sure guests know that it's fine to speak up. If you have kids, you probably know this (-: Adults are more likely to keep quiet. But, an interactive griller can get everyone involved and comfortable.


My Girls - I Don't Have Any of My Own so Enjoy Some Girl Giggles at Gatherings

All the students offered to help, and I took them up on it. There's a lot to carry and do at a cook out. Extra hands make a world of difference. I've never understood the "keep out of my kitchen" or "stay out of the grill area" mentality. I love the company and also fewer trips back and forth to the truck or kitchen.


Let's Get This Fudge Under the Little Shelter, So It Does Not Get Wet

For dessert, I made homemade peanut butter fudge. That may seem a strange choice, since fudge is more often a holiday treat. My peanut butter fudge recipe is so quick (5 minutes on top of the stove), so when I need a splurge type dessert, that's what I make. It also ends up being the recipe I'm asked for most often.

Cooking on the Old Family Cast Aluminum Grill

Dad's Old Charcoal Grill Brings Back Fond Memories

Mom wanted to grill out some steaks last weekend. I don't guess the grill had been fired up at her house in over two years. My Dad died in a wreck on I77 two summers ago, and he was the grill king. I'm not sure how far that grill goes back, but I think it must be 30 to 40 years old. Mom said he got a gas grill at some point (must have been when I was in college or something) but that he went right back to his old charcoal grill.

I can honestly say they don't make them this way any more (or I didn't think so until I did some research). There are some box style grills on the market, but this is an old and heavy grill. I worked in sheet metal during high school and college and cook in cast iron, and I was a little confused about this one. After checking around I found out that it's a cast aluminum grill for Portable Kitchen (PK Grills).

Typically I cook on a kettle shaped steel grill. I like the heat regulation on the kettle shape. With the box shape, the key is to stack the charcoal more to one side - leaving a cooler area as needed. There's some regulation with vents, but the meat is simply closer to the coals in a box shape grill. I use coals across about 2/3 or the grill with 1/3 open to rest items if the grill gets really hot or if I have flares.

Heat conduction on this grill is fabulous. Once the grill heats up, it's hot. Really hot. This means that cool spots are still cooking but just at a little slower pace. I told my Mom that the grill was really heated up and that she could cook up supper too. I was really joking, but she did. She got out some hamburger meat and grilled some burgers to eat during the week. This was a couple of hours after I'd been cooking on the grill. That gives you some idea about the cast iron and how it will absorb the heat and hold it. Not so great for tailgating. Nice at home and especially if you're grilling for a lot of people over a long period of time.

If you ever come across an old cast iron grill in a yard sale or at Good Will, it's a good investment. Dad's old grill still works great, and I'm sure it will last for many more years - maybe forever. One hinge on the lid is broken. I have to watch the lid and genrally use outdoor cooking gloves to be on the safe side. This grill is out now again by Portable Kitchen, so you can just get a new one and have a grill that will last and last.

It was kind of strange cooking on the grill that I learned to cook on when I was a kid and also to be cooking in place of my father. Mom never learned to grill. She covered the inside foods. Dad (or one of us kids) did the grilling. It's hard to be two places at once. I juggle that as a single mom so often do my sides outside too. It was nice to concentrate on the meat and walk in to the table and side dishes ready.

Thumbs up meal. Good memories - past and present.