Chicken Wings (Buffalo)

For me there’s only one right way to serve chicken wings, cripsy. This can be accomplished in an oven without burning or over-cooking them if you steam them first.  The first step of steaming them renders out fat that would otherwise have a tendency to burn or smoke when heated at high oven temps.

These wings are actually very easy to make, and you can use any sauce you like for the finishing step. I include a simple buffalo sauce recipe (butter+frank’s), but my absolute favorite wing sauce is BW3’s Spicy Garlic.

INGREDIENTS

For the Wings

  • 12 or more (or less) Whole Chicken Wings (fresh is best)
  • Salt
  • Pepper

For the Sauce

  • 1/2 cup Butter softened or melted or somewhere in between
  • 3/4 cup Frank’s Red Hot Sauce -OR- 1/4 cup of sauce that’s spicier

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Remove wingtips. Cut/Separate remaining wing into wingette and drumette.
  2. Steam wings in steam pot or stock pot with steam basket for 10 minutes.
  3. Remove wings from steamer and place on drying rack and/or paper towels. Let cool for 1 hour in fridge or at least allow to thoroughly dry. Pat wings dry with paper towel.
  4. Line baking pan with foil and spray with non-stick coating or use half-sheet pan with cooling rack, which can also be greased to prevent sticking. Bake wings at 425 F for 20 minutes, flip, and bake for another 20 minutes.
  5. While wings bake, prepare sauce by combining franks and butter.
  6. When wings are done, remove from oven, and while still hot add to bowl containing sauce and toss.

References:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Buffalo-Wings-Recipe/?ALLSTEPS

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/alton-browns-buffalo-wings-recipe.html