OT - Chicken Wings

[cdexchange]

For some reason this light turkey sandwich I'm eating right now just isn't satisfying me...:cry:

[MattPie]

And the blue cheese has to be quality stuff. Bad BC ruins good wings, IMO.

 

Fixed that for you. Most of the places here in SE PA aren't too bad if you ask for extra crispy. Otherwise they're mush.

[Derrico]

God bless Buffalo for threads like this!! Being a Canuck I thought I made decent wings but could never figure out what I was missing, it's the butter. I make wings at home and add hot suace and a honey garlic sauce as it makes them sweet and spicy but the butter idea is great. Thanks Taro for the instructions, I think the wife and I are having wings tomorrow night!

[Bmwolf21]

We love Clev, were sorry to have to move. Gator Country is indeed Gainesville, DW and I are now part of the UF family (As an OSU fan, I feel so dirty :lol: ).

 

 

Heading back to B-Lo in August, first thing we're hitting up is 50 hot wings from Sals in Depew. Followed shortly thereafter by a super mighty and a beef on weck by Charlie.

Oh, UF...I don't know how much more we can chat. As a Seminole just talking to Gators makes me feel dirty.

 

Fixed that for you. Most of the places here in SE PA aren't too bad if you ask for extra crispy. Otherwise they're mush.

Disagree completely. Good blue cheese is essential to good wings.

[Braedon]

Oh, UF...I don't know how much more we can chat. As a Seminole just talking to Gators makes me feel dirty.

 

 

 

Jimbo and Will share a beach house, why can't we? Gonna be a great year for the Noles, I don't anticipate the Gators being top dog in FL again for at least a year or two.

[Bmwolf21]

Jimbo and Will share a beach house, why can't we? Gonna be a great year for the Noles, I don't anticipate the Gators being top dog in FL again for at least a year or two.

Good point. I'll bring the wings.

 

And I don't see UF being top dog in FL for longer than that. ;)

[shrader]

God bless Buffalo for threads like this!! Being a Canuck I thought I made decent wings but could never figure out what I was missing, it's the butter. I make wings at home and add hot suace and a honey garlic sauce as it makes them sweet and spicy but the butter idea is great. Thanks Taro for the instructions, I think the wife and I are having wings tomorrow night!

 

It sounds to me like you've got 2 problems there.

[Hockey R&D nerd]

Get as big a deep fryer as you can find/reasonably afford. Don't mess around w/ a Fry Baby, you'll get 6 wings per batch tops.

 

Use a good deep frying oil (the one I use is peanut oil based). (Oh, if only you could still get lard / deep fat, that made them the absolute best.) The ideal cooking temperature is 375F, but because I usually use frozen wings and I have a large crock pot sized fryer, I heat my fryer to 400F to start (the frozen wings cool the oil a bit).

 

You don't have to thaw the wings, but make certain you get excess ice off them. (If necessary, I usually just rinse them w/ water to melt any ice chunks off.) There will be grease splatter when the wings hit the oil, the more water / ice on them, the worse it will be. I typically add 2 wings to the basket at a time, and then raise / lower the basket to keep the oil from bubbling over the fryer. (Don't be shocked when you forget to add a couple at a time and drop the whole basket in and you end up w/ oil EVERYWHERE, you really do want to add the wings slowly to the oil.)

 

You can find 4-5 lb bags of precut wings at Sam's or BJ's. When I was living in the south, I couldn't find them in 'regular' grocery stores. If you can't find the bags, remember to cut the wings you get in the supermarket at the knuckles (slice through the cartiledge) and for the love of all that's good and holy, throw out the tips and DO NOT bread them before frying them.

 

Remember to shake the basket frequently when you are starting a batch to keep them from sticking together and occassionally after they're going.

 

After you have a full basket (my fryer will hold ~14-18 jumbo wings and ~2 dozen large wings) fry them for ~14-20 minutes (if you have a larger fryer and are running fewer wings, it will be towards 14 minutes; because my fryer is 'stuffed' it takes me a little longer to get them done). The wings will start floating when they are getting close to ready. They will need to fry for a few more minutes after they're floating. When you remove the basket from the oil to drain the oil from the wings, you can shake the basket to remove more oil from the wings. When you get proficient, you will be able to tell from the sound made as the wings shake whether they are done.

 

For the sauce, as DeLuca mentioned - butter and Franks is the base (and not in that order). Franks Extra Red Hot is a good way to get started at making them a little hotter. You can add other peppers, sauces, etc to this base to make them hotter, but remember that Franks and butter are key. I've also seen people have good results w/ a mix of 50% butter / 50% margarine instead of straight butter, but don't go w/ pure margarine.

 

Also, you will be told by some to add vinegar. Vinegar is the 1st ingredient in Franks, so it is redundant.

 

If you start the sauce early and keep it on moderate heat as the wings are frying, you will condense the sauce and it will stick to the wings better. I just dump the batch of wings into the sauce pan, cover, and shake; but some prefer to pour the sauce into a mixing bowl and stir the sauce onto the wings. Some will tell you to bake the wings on low heat after adding the sauce to them; if you've properly condensed the sauce this step will be unnecessary. (The only reason I can think of to put the wings in the oven is so you can have several batches ready to serve at once.)

 

Don't forget that real Buffalonians serve celery AND carrots w/ the bleucheese. I usually go w/ Marie's chunky blue cheese dressing. It's easy and good.

 

And lastly, enjoy.

 

Taro T, this is the greatest write up I've ever seen in the net, in books, or everywhere about making Authentic Wings, there's obviously a great deal of experience and loving food in getting to know your stuff as you do. I'll try your recipe and the best way to show my appreciation for this will be than whenever my family and friends taste the wings I make, I'll give you all the credit, by saying: "it is the Taro T way of doing Buffalo Wings". Sincerely, Manuel

[Chief Enabler]

I made a lot of wings when I was going through college and before finding "real" (non-restaurant) work.

 

Just a few additional tips beyond what the folks above have said. If you're getting Marie's Bleu Cheese, make sure it's the "Premium Super Blue Cheese". The other stuff is NOT the same type of bleu cheese dressing. Do not cheap out on the bleu cheese dressing as it will make or break the feast. It needs to be thick, creamy, and have a hearty, unsweetened flavor.

 

I would avoid margarine for the sauce. Use unsalted butter. And, generally, although the warning about using too much Frank's is well advised, you WILL use a lot of butter and Franks making enough sauce for a 20 wing plate. You want to melt the butter like you're preparing a roux, gradually take up the heat to melt it down, then add the Franks (as others have mentioned). Don't be afraid to taste the sauce as you're making it - you'll know the flavor you're after and you'll have a good idea what to add (more butter, more Franks) until you get the base sauce made. Generally you should go for a medium heat sauce, and then cut with butter to make it mild, add Franks to make it hot. Suicidal becomes a whole new ball-game.

 

Lard is definitely still available. Butcher shops should have some, or at least have a whole bunch of fat you can use to render your own. My wife will render down a year's worth or so at a time and freeze it. There is nothing like cooking with lard and it's not nearly as bad for you as the dorks-with-a-fax-machine would make you think it is. Defintely no worse than any other frying oil (all things being equal). You'll love the pie crusts you get with real lard, too. MMmmm-mmm.

2 points for using roux, you know some stuff!

 

Wife rendering lard? Really?

[Chief Enabler]

Taro T, this is the greatest write up I've ever seen in the net, in books, or everywhere about making Authentic Wings, there's obviously a great deal of experience and loving food in getting to know your stuff as you do. I'll try your recipe and the best way to show my appreciation for this will be than whenever my family and friends taste the wings I make, I'll give you all the credit, by saying: "it is the Taro T way of doing Buffalo Wings". Sincerely, Manuel

Taro, throwing away the tips? With this much culinary experience, use for quick stock, extract that, waste nothing. only comment to expand on is to add a touch of sugar to the franks/butter combo to bump that sweet sour accent, dissolve the sugar though in the process.

 

Bottom line, fry wings long time, toss and serve immedietely! if you have never been to Buff, chances are you won't know the difference, hence the conversations.

[beerme1]

The only places I found in Florida (Orlando and points north) that consistently had good wings and sauce were Miller's Ale House. Just make sure you order them "naked" (unbreaded). Otherwise they are good size, usually pretty crispy, and sauce is good.

 

There is an Ale House in Boca. Great place to get wings AND watch a Bills game! So to the O.P. there you go.

[beerme1]

Why this hasn't been done yet ( as a Buffalo food brand ) is beyond me , considering the amount of transplants in Florida.

 

Think of all the great Buffalo food a restaurateur could offer - Wings , Hot dogs , beef on weck , polish/italian sausage etc... :D

 

 

There is a place in Sarasota that does Sahlens and beef on weck. There are a couple of BLO pizza places down there also. Casa and Just Pizza.

There is a place in Cape Coral that is a Buffalo themed place as the family is from here. But outside of visiting family, there is NO reason to be in Cape Coral. Ever. And not sure it's worth being there to visit family either lol.

 

My wife has a cousin that tried to make a go of a Buffalo food themed restaurant in Tampa and it didn't work out. Too bad.

[Weldon Jackson]

Just drive 8 hours up to Atlanta and go to J.R. Crickets. The guy's from Kemore and has been in the same spot on Spring ST for 29 years.

[Taro T]

Taro T, this is the greatest write up I've ever seen in the net, in books, or everywhere about making Authentic Wings, there's obviously a great deal of experience and loving food in getting to know your stuff as you do. I'll try your recipe and the best way to show my appreciation for this will be than whenever my family and friends taste the wings I make, I'll give you all the credit, by saying: "it is the Taro T way of doing Buffalo Wings". Sincerely, Manuel

Thanks for the kind words. I'd take Sizzlemeister's excellent suggestion and use unsalted butter. (Anyone that renders their own lard is hardcore. :worthy: ) If there's a football season, I'll be trying that one myself. (The butter one, not the lard, though I'll probably have to try that one eventually. Don't make wings often enough to justify having the unsalted butter around outside of football season.)

 

Have fun w/ it. As long as you use Franks & butter and let them go a few extra minutes in the oil when they start floating you'll be fine. Once you get that down, experiment around. Finding YOUR particular sauce is the fun part. That and convincing people that haven't had wings on a regular basis that they NEED a deepfryer. (I'm up to sending disciples off to at least 6 different states and possibly 2 foreign countries. :thumbsup: )

 

Taro, throwing away the tips? With this much culinary experience, use for quick stock, extract that, waste nothing. only comment to expand on is to add a touch of sugar to the franks/butter combo to bump that sweet sour accent, dissolve the sugar though in the process.

 

Bottom line, fry wings long time, toss and serve immedietely! if you have never been to Buff, chances are you won't know the difference, hence the conversations.

Nowadays about the only cooking I do is wings, grilling, sandwiches, and heating pre-prepped stuff when the wife is coming home late from work. (I used to make some reasonable cajun dishes, but haven't done that in forever.) The wife is a very good cook, so I defer to her on all the rest.

 

Your suggestion about saving the tips for a stock is a good one. But I'm the only one in the house that would eat soup, so I probably won't be heeding the good advice.

[Chief Enabler]

Thanks for the kind words. I'd take Sizzlemeister's excellent suggestion and use unsalted butter. (Anyone that renders their own lard is hardcore. :worthy: ) If there's a football season, I'll be trying that one myself. (The butter one, not the lard, though I'll probably have to try that one eventually. Don't make wings often enough to justify having the unsalted butter around outside of football season.)

 

Have fun w/ it. As long as you use Franks & butter and let them go a few extra minutes in the oil when they start floating you'll be fine. Once you get that down, experiment around. Finding YOUR particular sauce is the fun part. That and convincing people that haven't had wings on a regular basis that they NEED a deepfryer. (I'm up to sending disciples off to at least 6 different states and possibly 2 foreign countries. :thumbsup: )

 

 

Nowadays about the only cooking I do is wings, grilling, sandwiches, and heating pre-prepped stuff when the wife is coming home late from work. (I used to make some reasonable cajun dishes, but haven't done that in forever.) The wife is a very good cook, so I defer to her on all the rest.

 

Your suggestion about saving the tips for a stock is a good one. But I'm the only one in the house that would eat soup, so I probably won't be heeding the good advice.

While everyone has their deep fryer going, if anyone peels potatoes anymore, remember to fry the potato peelings for a homemade potato skin chip for ghetto fries.

[LGR4GM]

Had Gabriel's Gate wings today and they were awesome... just wanted to share.

[X. Benedict]

Had Gabriel's Gate wings today and they were awesome... just wanted to share.

 

yum. my first choice.

[stevecana]

I FINALLY found great wings in Florida. The place is called Wings n' Things. I drove by the place by accident and decided to go back yesterday and try them out. Very impressive. Best wings in South Florida by far (that I've tried). I ordered them crispy and wet. Delicious.

 

 

Map to Wings n' Things

[JJFIVEOH]

I FINALLY found great wings in Florida. The place is called Wings n' Things. I drove by the place by accident and decided to go back yesterday and try them out. Very impressive. Best wings in South Florida by far (that I've tried). I ordered them crispy and wet. Delicious.

 

 

Map to Wings n' Things

 

Ya know, if I'm not mistaken there used to be a wings place on 441 right on the Palm Beach/Broward county line I think used to be a 'Wings 'n Things'. It was one of the two places I used to go all the time for wings because they were so good. They closed probably 10 years ago. Now that you mention this I'm wondering if they moved or if they had more than one store open at the time. I'm gonna have to check it out. The name sounds really familiar but the location doesn't. Thanks!