Chicken wings are a quintessential snack, especially for tailgating or serving for a party. Whether they are deep-fried, grilled, or baked, they cook up crispy and juicy. Slatter on a spicy sauce and serve with a dip and watch the smiles of your guests as they gobble down these spicy pepper Buffalo wings!
Anatomy of a Chicken Wing
A whole chicken has two wings which are then can be broken down into three parts.
- Drumettes—The portion of the wing that’s attached to the breast of the chicken. There’s one bone in the middle, and cartilage on both ends. The meat is mostly at the top end and is technically dark meat.
- Wingettes—The middle portion of the wing is called wingette, flat (because of the shape), or mid-section. There are two thin bones running down the length of the wingette with a little cartilage holding it together. The meat is centered between and surrounding the bones.
- Tips—The wingtips are almost all skin, bone, and cartilage, with almost no meat. If you buy chicken wings at the store you will not get any chicken tips. But if you cut up your own chicken wings, save the tips to make stock.
When planning to serve chicken wings it is easy to figure that one pound of wings contains between 7 and 12 pieces equally proportioned between drumettes and wingettes.
How Many Spicy Pepper Buffalo Wings Per Person
Plan on 8-10 pieces per person if chicken wings are your main offering. If there are other snacks 4-6 pieces per person will be plenty.
A hallmark of a great wing is crispy skin and juicy meat. To get really crisp skin it needs to be dry. So if you buy frozen wings, give plenty of time for defrosting. Pat the wing completely dry. ( I usually do this twice with paper towels to make sure I have gotten all the nooks where moisture hides.) Then toss the wings in a mixture of salt, pepper, spices, and 1 teaspoon baking powder.
Using Baking Powder to Make Crispy Wings
A little baking powder when mixed with salt and tossed with chicken, sucks the moisture from the chicken skin, drying it out so it becomes extra crispy when roasted.
You won’t taste the baking powder especially if you make sure you use a brand that does not contain “sodium aluminum sulfate” which has a bitter taste that some people can detect.
Cooking Chicken Wings
You can deep fry your chicken wings in at least 2” of oil heated to 350° F for 8-9 minutes.
Or grill them over medium-high heat (make sure not to overcrowd them on the grill) until the internal temperature is 160° F flipping them halfway through. (About 20-30 minutes)
Or smoke them at 225° F until the internal temperature is 160° F (About 70-80 minutes)
Or bake them in a 400° F oven on a raised rack which is placed on a foil-lined baking sheet until the internal temperature os 160° F (About 50 minutes, flipping them over half-way)
After the wings are crispy and fully cooked it is time for the sauce. Several pubs in Buffalo New York claim to have created this spicy hot sauce. I have combined the liquid fire of hot sauce with sharp black pepper and tamed them both with sweet sticky honey. It makes a sauce that can stand on its own as a dipping sauce but is spicy enough to please everyone. Make sure to try the gorgonzola cheese dip that comes together in a flash and is the perfect foil for the heat. Serve with the traditional celery sticks to get even more of both the sauce and the dip.
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Spicy Pepper Buffalo Wings
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
- Category: Appetizer, Snack
- Method: baked, grilled, smoked
- Cuisine: American
Description
Crispy Buffalo wings with a twist on the classic hot wing sauce and a recipe for a simple gorgonzola dip to complete this classic snack.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken wings, (drummettes an wingettes)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Spicy Pepper Wing Sauce
- 1/2 cup hot sauce
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Worchestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Gorgonzola Cheese Dip
- 1/3 cup Gorganzola cheese, crumbled
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 green onion, thinly chopped
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- Black pepper to taste
- 3 stalks celery, cut into thin sticks
Instructions
- Preheat oven, grill or smoker to the appropriate temperature. (For simplicity sake these instructions are for baking in the oven.)
- Arrange a wire rack over a foil-lined baking sheet, set aside.
- Pat the chicken wings dry.
- In a large bowl, combine the baking powder, salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder and mix well. Toss the chicken wings in the dry mixture to coat.
- Arrange the chicken wings on the wire rack making sure the wings are not touching.
- Bake in preheated 400° F oven for 30 minutes.
- Flip each wing over and continue baking for 20-30 minutes more or until the skin is golden and crispy and the internal temperature is 160° F.
- In a small saucepan make the Spicy Pepper Wing Sauce by combining the hot sauce, melted pepper, honey, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and black pepper over medium heat until slightly thickened.
- Remove sauce from heat and let cool.
- In a medium bowl combine Gorgonzola Cheese dip ingredients and stir well to combine. Transfer to serving dish and set aside.
- Remove chicken wings from the wire rack and toss with prepared Spicy Pepper Wing Sauce until well coated.
- Return wings to the wire rack and return pan to the oven for about 5 minutes to allow the sauce to caramelize.
- When done to your liking, transfer wings to a platter and serve with Gorgonzola cheese dip and celery sticks.
Notes
For even crispier skin, toss wings in the dry mixture and arrange on a wire rack. Refrigerate wings uncovered overnight. Then cook as desired.
You can use Crystal hot sauce, Franks hot sauce or Tabasco hot sauce in this recipe.
If deep frying, toss wings with Spicy Pepper Sauce while still warm and serve.
If grilling and smoking wings, toss wings with Spicy Pepper Sauce while hot and serve or return saucey wings to the grill or smoker to carmelize the sauce on the wings.
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