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Extra Crispy Buffalo Wings

Prep Time4 hrs
Cook Time30 mins
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

For the Brine

  • 1 gallon of water
  • ½ cup kosher salt
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup soy sauce

For the Wings

  • +/- 2 quarts of oil for frying
  • 36-40 Chicken Wing pieces
  • 2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 2 tsp black pepper
  • 2 tsp salt
  • ¼ c + 3 Tbsp Corn Starch

For the Buffalo Sauce

  • 8 Tbsp salted butter
  • 1 cup Frank’s Louisiana Hot Sauce
  • ¼ cup Tabasco
  • 2 Tbsp Dark Brown Sugar
  • 4 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Instructions

Prepping the Wings

  • Make brine by running a few cups of hot tap water into a large bowl. Add the salt and sugar to the hot water and stir until dissolved. Add the soy sauce and then some ice to cool the mixture down. Fill the container with water until you’ve reached about one gallon.
  • If you purchased whole chicken wings, remove wing tips and separate the flat from the drumette at the joint with kitchen shears or a sharp knife. Add them to the brine and refrigerate for 2 hours.
  • Once the wings are done brining rinse under cold water. Pat them dry with paper towels and place them on a wire rack over a sheet pan and refrigerate for 2 more hours. This will allow the skin to dry out helping to achieve extra crispiness.

Cooking the Wings

  • Start by adding 1 to 2 quarts of oil to a large Dutch oven, preferably cast iron as it will help maintain temperature. You fill your pan 2 ½ to 3 inches deep with oil. Heat over medium high heat until the oil reaches 375°. Also, preheat your oven to 200°.
  • Meanwhile, prepare the coating for the wings. In a small bowl add the cayenne pepper, black pepper, salt and corn starch and whisk to combine. Transfer to a gallon sized zip top bag.
  • Add half of the wings to the zip top bag and shake to coat wings. Remove wings from bag, tapping them to remove any excess coating. Return to sheet pan topped with wire rack. Repeat with the other half of the wings. Allow wings to rest until oil reaches 375°.
  • When the oil comes to temp add half of the wings and try to maintain a temperature near 360° while cooking, adjusting heat as necessary. Depending on this size of your wings this should take 10 to 12 minutes. Once cooked, use a spider or large slotted spoon to transfer to another sheet pan topped with a wire rack and put in the oven to keep warm while the next batch of wings cooks. Allow oil to return to 375° before adding the rest of the wings and once again, maintain a cooking temp near 360° while cooking.

Buffalo Sauce

  • While the wings are cooking prepare the sauce. Add the butter, Frank’s Louisiana Hot Sauce, Tabasco, Brown Sugar, and apple cider vinegar to a small saucepan. When butter melts whisk all ingredients together and turn heat to lowest setting to keep warm. This will make more sauce than you’ll need for this many wings, but it’s great to combine with barbeque sauce to make more sauce choices. I like to serve 3 sauces, Buffalo, BBQ, and Hot BBQ (a combination of the 2).

Serving

  • For wet/coated wings, add the wings to a large bowl and pour over half of the buffalo sauce and toss to coat.
  • For dry wings, serve the sauce on the side for dipping, along with some blue cheese or ranch dressing and some carrot and celery sticks, if desired.