Making Buffalo Wings

Does anyone know where I can find fresh wings? Most places carry frozen wings. Anyone heard of "Grade A Grinders" wings?

Where have you looked? Pretty much every market that sells poulty that I've been to sells packages of chicken wings, unfrozen. I can't speak for the big chains (I haven't looked through their meat sections in quite a while), but most smaller, ethnic markets carry chicken wings.

Best,
Michael

Tony's Finer Foods usually has huge bags of fresh chicken wings on offer at ridiculously low prices (and smaller packages at a higher unit rate). Of course, we have no guarantee where they get these wings; maybe from 4-winged Chernobyl chickens. But damn, they're CHEAP!

Does anyone know where I can find fresh wings?

Since the title of the thread is "Making Buffalo Wings" are you asking for fresh plain wings, or non-frozen Buffalo-style wings? I rarely see frozen wings in any meat section, but I wonder if you're referring to the boxes of TGIFriday's or Hoooooters buffalo wings in the freezer case.

In any event, you're better off simply getting the fresh wings yourself, frying or baking them and then mixing up some melted butter and Louisiana hot sauce to cover. No breading!

Maybe a trip to House of Wing is in order...

whiskeybent wrote:

Does anyone know where I can find fresh wings?

Since the title of the thread is "Making Buffalo Wings" are you asking for fresh plain wings, or non-frozen Buffalo-style wings? I rarely see frozen wings in any meat section, but I wonder if you're referring to the boxes of TGIFriday's or Hoooooters buffalo wings in the freezer case.

In any event, you're better off simply getting the fresh wings yourself, frying or baking them and then mixing up some melted butter and Louisiana hot sauce to cover. No breading!

Or margarine & Frank's. But ditto on the no breading.

Uncle Dougie's makes the superior chicken wing sauce. Wings are baked not fried. Spicy and vinegery.

I'm going to Costco tonight, because I think they may have non frozen wings there.

I am using the following recipe I found on the internet:


The key to good Buffalo Wings is how you prepare them as well as the ingredients and the handling of the wings. The most successful wings served in Buffalo are what they call "Grade A Grinders." Fresh wings that are very large and meaty.Usually, you cannot get them in a frozen package, but can get them from a poultry dealer. Once you find them make sure they are absolutely fresh.
Wash them in cold water, split them at the joint and remove the tips. Place them on a rack on a pan and refrigerate overnight to let the blood and water drain out of the wings.
THIS IS A REAL KEY.
Drying the wings under refrigeration will help to make them a much crispier product, once deep fried. Next, use a deep fryer or a very heavy deep pot with a thermometer and add the oil. Peanut oil is very good, or a commercial product such as can be found at a restaurant cash and carry called Mel Fry. Heat the oil up SLOWLY, to 365F, and depending on the size of the fryer, deep fry the dry wings 6-8 minutes in small batches, until thoroughly done and golden brown. Hold the cooked wings in a warm oven if necessary. A combination of melted margarine and hot sauce in the ratio of 1 part margarine to 3 parts hot sauce will add the right zing.
The key here is to add just enough sauce to coat the wings - the more sauce you add, the hotter they will be. For the very brave, 1 part margarine to 3 parts hot sauce and 1 part Tabasco is referred to as "Suicidal Wings" by the late and dear Don Bellissimo, who owned the Anchor Bar. Working quickly, place the deep fried wings in a large bowl and add the sauce mixture, shaking to coat them. There are many good hot sauces to use; the one they use is either Durkee Franks Red Hot Sauce or Wingers Original, again found in a restaurant cash and carry.
Celery sticks and chunky blue cheese dressing (Ken's Buffalo Style Blue Cheese is a popular one) and plenty of napkins to finish the prep work. Beverage selection is another important consideration. Here are some things to think about. Milk will stop the sting, but will not mix well with the grease and sauce. Soda makes the bite of the hot sauce more intense and causes it to linger. Water offers little relief from the heat. Lemonade is a GREAT beverage for wings. The sugar counteracts the sting. Good eating!

Wings are baked not fried.

Really? I bake my wings because I don't want to deal with the frying mess afterwards, but in almost all restaurants they toss your wings into the fryer, and when they come out get tossed in a bowl with the hotsauce-margarine/butter mix.

I still haven't decided what the bleu-cheese dressing is. Bleu cheese crumbles mixed with ranch, or just standard bleu cheese salad dressing?

whiskeybent wrote:

Wings are baked not fried.

Really? I bake my wings because I don't want to deal with the frying mess afterwards, but in almost all restaurants they toss your wings into the fryer, and when they come out get tossed in a bowl with the hotsauce-margarine/butter mix.

I still haven't decided what the bleu-cheese dressing is. Bleu cheese crumbles mixed with ranch, or just standard bleu cheese salad dressing?

baseline blue cheese dip for my buffalo chicken tenders:

Maytag or Wisconsin buttermilk blue crumbled, sour cream, mayo, splash red wine vinegar, salt, ppr

I don't get the whole Ranch bit, but to each his own

fyi: commercial blue cheese salad dressing is way, way, way too repulsively sweet from corn syrup

whiskeybent wrote:

Wings are baked not fried.

Really? I bake my wings because I don't want to deal with the frying mess afterwards, but in almost all restaurants they toss your wings into the fryer, and when they come out get tossed in a bowl with the hotsauce-margarine/butter mix.

I think she meant that the wings at Uncle Dougie's are baked, not fried, not as a general statement of fact. Because, yes, true Buffalo wings are, of course, deep-fried.

Misunderstandification has been noted and understood.

Myself, I don't mind the baking process. Saves a calorie or three and I can kick up my sauce as much as I want. A second question: For spicier buffalo sauce than just your standard louisiana/Franks, what do you use? I've been using powdered cayenne, but it takes away from that nice vinegary tang.

whiskeybent wrote:Misunderstandification has been noted and understood.

Myself, I don't mind the baking process. Saves a calorie or three and I can kick up my sauce as much as I want. A second question: For spicier buffalo sauce than just your standard louisiana/Franks, what do you use? I've been using powdered cayenne, but it takes away from that nice vinegary tang.

I personally don't like baked wings but--and this was a bit of surprise to me--grilled wings are great.

To make them spicier, I just have Tabasco at the table. While I tend to eat things at the upper end of spicy, I think wings taste best at medium hot, with Tabasco sauce added to each individual wing to kick the fire up. Then again, Tabasco isn't that hot. If you really want to mess with the heat without altering too much flavor, there's always a few drops of Dave's Insanity, Wanza's Wicked Temptation, or etc...

Some place in Buffalo, like the Anchor Bar, make their suicide wings by pretty much caking it in black pepper. It's not a terrible approach, but I don't like the peppery flavor. Others, like Buffalo Joe's in Evanston, add slices of pickled jalapeno--an approach I don't like.

My basic recipe is simply margarine, Frank's (or Texas Pete's if you can find it), a dollop of yellow mustard, and Tabasco. Occassionally I will sneak fresh garlic and/or honey in there. (Honey actually does a fine job on cutting some of the vinegary acidity, which, for me, can sometimes be overbearing.)

Here's a link to a great grilled wing recipe that I have been using for 15 years. I first saw it in one of those Williams Sonoma Cookbooks back in the early 90s. It's a huge hit for football watching parties.

http://www.napoleongrills.com/Webshare/ ... recipe.htm

I am having 8 people over, how many pounds of wings do I need to give each person about 5 wings?

chief wrote:I am having 8 people over, how many pounds of wings do I need to give each person about 5 wings?

Are you speaking of whole wings or pieces?

I've noticed that when I purchase wings at the local market they are generally packed in quantities of 18 whole wings per package, which yeilds 36 pieces.

Flip