Buffalo Wings

[UptownKevin]

Crystal Sauce is great for wings--I prefer it to Franks--and it's hard to find here in the US lately--I guess because it's all being sent to Japan!!!

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Crystal hot sauce is made by Baumer Foods in New Orleans, which flooded during the storm. Not sure if they've built a new plant yet, but they since outsourced all of the bottling operations so they could get their product back on the shelves. When I moved here to Tampa after the storm, I only had one big bottle left and couldn't get it for months. Now I always keep an extra bottle, just in case....

-Kevin

p.s. I also like Crystal in my wing sauce.

[jsmeeker]

Normally, I am very traditional when it comes to Buffalo Wings. I have to have the traditional style sauce described here by many people (including me). Frank's, butter, etc. etc. But what I want to do now is riff slightly on that. No, I don't want honey mustard or garlic or terryaki or anything like that. I want to stick to chile (pepper) based sauce. I want to make a chipotle based sauce.

If I have a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, what do I need to do to transform this into a sauce for wings?

[thayes1c]

I went to make wings the other day and was out of the bottled sauce so I improvised. Sriracha, rice vinegar and a little sesame oil made for some damn fine Water Buffalo wings.

How does anybody else do the wings? Do you just buy them whole? I usually save the wings from five or six cut up chickens in the freezer. When I have enough, I fry them up for an elegant dinner for two.

[Joisey]

I grew up in Central NY and have eaten more than my share of wings. I really didn't start cooking them until I worked part time for the guy who pretty much brought them to the South Jersey area (Hector Smith at Charlies, then DiOrios in Somers Point, NJ). His recipe for hot sauce was about 75% Franks, 20% cooking oil and 5% Worcestshire sauce. He used oil because we used to make the stuff by the case and butter solidifies as it cools. I didn't like using it, but the other flavors were spot on. To me, wing sauce without butter is like vinaigrette without oil..not right. You need the balance. One other tip I would give is to find a kosher chicken processing plant and see if you can get your wings there. They are usually much meatier. I also agree that ranch dressing is a complete abomination, but pay attention to your blue cheese recipe too, if you're making it homemade. Nothing worse than weak BC.

[OliverB]

hmmm, that makes me hungry! But the poster that adds a tsp of Dave's Insanity Sauce - insane! I have a bottle of that liquid lava in the fridge for several years now I think. I bought it since I was a segment on TV where they make it, wearing full haz mat rubber suits and masks! I tried one single drop once I got it home and my mouth was still on fire an hour later. I started laughing hysterically the moment it touched my tongue, wondering if I'd wiped out my mind! That stuff is insanely hot, edging on the completely useless novelty IMO. Which is why I still have it.

Who ever makes Franks now also sells a ready made wing sauce. I have not tried it nor read the label, I doubt they can use butter, probably oil?

Don't even know where I can get good wings here locally, but now I want some!

[TongoRad]

Normally, I am very traditional when it comes to Buffalo Wings. I have to have the traditional style sauce described here by many people (including me). Frank's, butter, etc. etc. But what I want to do now is riff slightly on that. No, I don't want honey mustard or garlic or terryaki or anything like that. I want to stick to chile (pepper) based sauce. I want to make a chipotle based sauce.

If I have a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, what do I need to do to transform this into a sauce for wings?

If you haven't done this yet here's what I'd do- puree the heck out of the chipotles, adobo and all, then strain the puree. Mix that with some Italian salad dressing (one of my buddies' secret wing ingredients, we call it the 'Troy variant' named after where he went to college) to make a chipotle based 'hot sauce' and then proceed with your normal recipe from there. I don't think you have to do much more than that.

[Paul Kierstead]

I got my recipe from America' Test Kitchen.

I am really fond of that recipe as well, and have made it many many times. It is really excellent, IMO. Just out of the fryer, the wings are so crisp and lovely it is almost a shame to sauce them, but the sauce is very good, so I always give in

Last night I grilled some wings; brined and sprinkled bit of Pepper & Cheyenne. Over charcoal, 2 level fire, they picked up a lovely smoky flavour as well. Served with three dipping sauces: 2 locally made hot sauces (one kind of citrusy flavored, one with some cumin and more southwestern I expect) and some franks.

[jmolinari]

Has anyone tried Alton Browns buffalo wings? He steams them first, and then bakes, and claims they stay super crisp even after saucing.

I made them once, but i don't think i steamed long enough to defat the skin.

[Shamanjoe]

I've been wanting to try AB's wing recipe, but it always seemed too time-intensive for me. If you do try it again, let us know how it turns out.

[jmolinari]

I got some wing flats, and will be making these tomorrow. Steaming today, then dry in the fridge overnight. I'll try to remember to post a report.

Edited November 14, 2009 by jmolinari (log)

[prasantrin]

Regarding Alton Brown's method, since you have to refrigerate the wings for an hour after steaming, would it be possible to hold them even longer before baking? I'm thinking overnight, maybe 24 hours? (If I cook them all at once, I'll eat them all at once. I'm trying to avoid that.)

[jmolinari]

I hope so. I'm doing overnight, thinking they'll be real dry. Kind of like hte zuni cafe' roast chicken.

[jmolinari]

I made the wings today. They were very good. There was no smoke from the oven as promised. I probably would have cooked them a little hotter, to get some darker coloring. They stayed pretty much golden. Sure enough, they stayed crisp even after a good 15 minutes in sauce...which was very nice.

Will make again, as it beats frying.

[HawkeyeFoodie]

Regarding Alton Brown's method, since you have to refrigerate the wings for an hour after steaming, would it be possible to hold them even longer before baking? I'm thinking overnight, maybe 24 hours? (If I cook them all at once, I'll eat them all at once. I'm trying to avoid that.)

I've done the AB wings before. I steamed them the night before and then baked them the next day. They were pretty good. I make a TON of wings during football season. Well...being large men and only having access to a grill we usually use chicken legs and put wing sauce on them. Here's a list of the crowd favorites...

#1. Sirracha and Butter - simple, but a crowd pleaser

#2. Hot Mustard - I found this in a my fiance's rachel ray mag...was the big hit this year.

http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipes/rachael-ray-magazine-recipe-index/appetizer-starter-recipes/Hot-Mustard-Wings

#3. I made a knock off of BW3's spicy garlic and that was really good. It's a little more labor intensive to make, but it's worth it. Just do a google search for BW3 spicy garlic recipe. It involves making an emulsion and cooking the sauce.

#4. Honey Jalapeño sauce...I'll post the recipe if anyone wants it, but it's pretty long and involved boiling jalapenos and blending them with honey and other ingredients.

#5. Terriaki from a bottle...this is easy, but good. I'll take one bottle and marinate them and then take another bottle and mix it with butter and use that to baste the wings as they cook.

Another thing I do which might be overkill, but I brine the legs for a few hours before I cook them. It makes them extra juicy.

Scott

[Paul Kierstead]

I tried the AB method of cooking this week (though not his sauce). I followed the recipe pretty doggedly. I'll give you that the crunch remains some time after saucing; impressive on that score. Also, clean-up wasn't horrid. However, they were somewhat dry and flavour was more neutral then one might wish. I also rarely have space in my fridge for a tray of wings (though did this time). I'd say if I wasn't feeling like deepfrying, and I was out of charcoal or it was below -10 C, then I might be doing the AB method. If someone has had juicier results, I might try it again more quickly; it is possible that mine were simply overcooked.

[BooBear]

Why do my buffalo wings not taste like Buffalo Wild Wings' wings? I mix franks hot sauce with melted butter and my wings do not come close to BWW. Aware me, please.

[Duvel]

My suggestion is to start with a few simple questions: Why do you think they use only these two ingredients ? In which percentage ? Which butter ? Is the sauce coating the wings processed (cooked/homogenized/ …) ? How is the wing itself pretreated/marinated/cooked/seasoned before being drenched in the sauce ? Serving temperature ? Source of chicken ? …

 

There are so many variables. You might start by analyzing what flavor component you are missing* and tweaking your wings bit by bit** …

 

Or have a look at our recent Wings Cook-Off and get inspired 🤗
 

 

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* my personal guess is always MSG …
** of course this means cooking wings again and again (cf. the cupcake conundrum)

Edited March 25, 2022 by Duvel (log)

[BooBear]

The wings are just fried (no flour). & I toss them in the hot sauce butter mixture. Many of the recipes online say to use only butter and hot sauce. I've tried adding garlic powder and honey to the sauce (the wings have more of a depth of flavor with these additions). Even with those additions, I still feel like I'm missing something.

[KennethT]

I think I've only had BWW once (in an airport), but I would also ask how you know they use Frank's Red Hot?  I know it's traditional, but they could be using a different hot sauce (which uses different vinegar) which could change the flavor completely.  They could also do a number of things like adding powdered vinegar to the mix (to enhance the vinegary-ness without adding extra liquid).  Like @Duvel I'm a huge believer in MSG as well... a little bit makes a big difference.  Since BWW is such a big chain, I'd be surprised if they were using a branded hot sauce and not making their own.  If that's the case, there's a huge number of variables involved.

[Duvel]

5 minutes ago, BooBear said:

The wings are just fried (no flour). & I toss them in the hot sauce butter mixture. Many of the recipes online say to use only butter and hot sauce. I've tried adding garlic powder and honey to the sauce (the wings have more of a depth of flavor with these additions). Even with those additions, I still feel like I'm missing something.

Sorry, but these questions were not directed towards your wings, but the ones you are comparing them to …

 

And FWIW, you can always google the „copycat“ recipes (e.g. this one for example) and see according to the feedback how close the individual recipe gets to the real deal. Still need to follow the recipe and cook the wings, though …

 

 

Edited March 25, 2022 by Duvel (log)

[gfweb]

for what its worth

https://www.mashed.com/188574/the-best-buffalo-wild-wings-copycat-recipe/

[Duvel]

1 minute ago, gfweb said:

for what its worth

https://www.mashed.com/188574/the-best-buffalo-wild-wings-copycat-recipe/

Great minds think alike (including the phrasing 😝) …

[BooBear]

Does heating the hot sauce help the flavor? I just melt the butter in the microwave to mix into the hot sauce.

[Duvel]

It will change the flavor. It will evaporate part of the vinegar, it will mellow the spiciness and eventually concentrate flavours and increase the viscosity. Whether you like those effects depends on your preferences …

[BooBear]

1 minute ago, Duvel said:

It will change the flavor. It will evaporate part of the vinegar, it will mellow the spiciness and eventually concentrate flavours and increase the viscosity. Whether you like those effects depends on your preferences …

That's probably why my wings seem too vinegar-ry. I will do that next time I make wings. Thanks.