Purchase 2-1/2 to 5 pounds of chicken wings. Cut off the wing tips and discard. Cut the wing into first and second sections at the joint. Rinse and pat dry with paper towels.

You may find "party wings" in the frozen food section at the supermarket. These are already separated into first and second sections, then salted and individually quick frozen. Up to 12% by weight may be water and salt, so fresh wings are the better value.

If using frozen party wings, defrost then rinse and pat dry with paper towels. Since these wings are already salted, reduce the amount of salt in the rub or eliminate it altogether, otherwise the finished product may be too salty.

This picture shows 2-1/2 pounds of wings.

Lightly sprinkle the wings on both sides with your favorite store-bought or homemade rub. I used a store-bought rub on these wings. If you want to make your own, the following recipe would be a good place to start. It's from the famous barbecue book Smoke & Spice.

Arrange the wings on the cooking grate so they are close together but not touching each other. Keep the wings a couple of inches inside the edge of the grate to avoid burning, as shown in Picture 1.

Let the wings sit at room temperature as you fire-up your Weber Bullet.

Use 1 fist-sized chunk of cherry smoke wood. Apple, oak, or another mild fruit wood can be used if cherry is not available. You don't need any more wood than this. Remember, wings don't have much meat on the bone, so don't overpower them with lots of smoke.

There is no need to soak the wood or remove the bark before use.

I used 1 chunk of cherry as shown in this picture.

Fire-up the cooker using the Minion Method. Fill the charcoal chamber 1/2 full with unlit Kingsford charcoal briquettes, then place 20-40 lit coals on top of the unlit ones.

Put the water pan in the cooker and fill it with cold tap water to help with temperature control.

Assemble the WSM and put the chicken wings into the cooker. About 2-1/2 pounds of wings will fit on each cooking grate.

Set the 3 bottom vents to 100% open. Open the top vent fully and leave it that way throughout the entire cook.

When the cooker reaches about 225°F, set the 3 bottom vents to 25% open so the cooker settles in at 225-250°F measured at the lid. Adjust the 3 bottom vents as necessary to maintain this temperature range throughout the cooking session.

Cook the wings for about 2 hours from the time they first go into the cooker.

There should be no need to add water to the pan during the cooking session. The wings do not need to be turned or basted, either.

Here's how the cooker temperatures and vent settings went during my cook:

Note that the vent percentages represent the way I set the vents at the time indicated.

The picture above shows how the wings look after 2 hours in the WSM.

Buffalo wings are traditionally deep-fried. If you have a fryer, use it to crisp the chicken wings before saucing.

Heat 1 gallon of vegetable oil to 350°F. Fry the wings for 1 minute. Fry in small batches, about 9-10 wings at a time. Transfer the wings to a paper towel to drain.

Picture 3 shows the wings after frying. The wings are now crispy, smoky, and spicy all at the same time.

As an alternative to deep frying, you can crisp the wings directly over the hot coals before saucing them.

• Remove the lid and set it aside.
• Carefully lift the middle cooking section off the charcoal bowl and set it aside.
• Place the cooking grate directly over the hot coals.
• Grill the wings for just a few minutes on each side. Don't take your eyes off the cooker! Watch carefully and remove when you have crisp wings.

The last step is to coat the chicken in buffalo wing sauce. There are arguments about whether butter or margarine is "authentic". You can use which ever one you like or have on-hand in the refrigerator.

If using those pre-salted, frozen "party wings" mentioned earlier, use unsalted butter in the sauce to avoid overly salty wings.

Heat the pepper sauce and butter on the stove top or in the microwave, stirring until the butter is melted and well incorporated into the pepper sauce.

Place the wings in a large mixing bowl, pour some of the sauce over the wings, and toss. Add more sauce, if needed, until coated to your liking.

Serve with the traditional accompaniments of celery sticks, carrot sticks, and blue cheese dressing.