Signpost Recipe: Grilled Buffalo Wings

 

Photo by Alena Shekhovtcova from Pexels 

The traditional way to make Buffalo Wings is to deep fry them. This is the way that my older daughter and I first started making wings years ago. While deep fried foods taste great, making wings this way is messy.

 

Grilling wings, on the other hand, is much faster, easier and you don’t have to brother with all of the grease and the requisite cleanup. What’s more, grilling your Buffalo Wings is healthier for you. While the taste of grilled wings may not be the same as fried wings, I think that the flavor and the texture rivals that of the traditional cooking method.  

 

Secrets for Crispier Wings. One secret to making grilled wings crispy is to cook at a temperature between 400º and 425º F. Another secret is to use corn starch and/or a little baking powder in your seasoning mixture. Corn starch and baking powder also help the chicken wings achieve a pleasing brown color.

 

(NOTE: Do not make the mistake of use baking soda as a substitute for baking powder. They are not the same thing. Your wings will likely have a strange taste.)  

 

Finally, before you coat the wings with the mixture, pat the wings dry with paper towels. As hard as you try to dry the wings, and you should try hard, there still will be some moisture on the wings, which is OK, because it helps the seasoning mixture stick to the chicken.

 

Using a Charcoal Vortex. If you are using a kettle-style grill, you may want to use a Vortex to generate the necessary heat for crispy wings. This charcoal insert (shown below) is positioned in the center of your grill and directs heat upwards. The chicken wings are then arranged on the grill grate around the Vortex for indirect grilling.

 

The intense heat from the burning coals is directed upwards to the dome of the grill, which circulates the heat evenly. Make sure that the bottom vents are opened wide, so you create an updraft through the Vortex, which acts as a chimney. You will need enough charcoal to fill about 2/3 of the charcoal Vortex. 

One of the best ways to start your coals is to use in a charcoal chimney (shown below).  Loosely pack the bottom of the chimney with newspaper. After filling it with coals, light the newspaper from the bottom. Lighting the coals in this manner only takes about 15 to 20 minutes for them to be ready.

After the coals are red hot and have formed white ash on the outside of the briquettes, pour them into the Vortex. Do not pour the coals out of the chimney until the ash forms.

When white or grey ash forms on the outside of the charcoal briquettes, transfer the coals to the charcoal Vortex.

This photo is in the public domain.

NOTE: Do not use lighter fluid to start the fire. Residual fumes can add a chemical taste in your food.

 

As the coals are burning in the charcoal chimney, combine your dry seasoning mixture, which you will use to coat your wings. Below is a listing of the ingredients:

 

Dry Seasoning Mixture

Dredging chicken wings in a dry seasoning mixture of corn starch and spices is not absolutely necessary. You can make great Buffalo wings by just seasoning the drumettes and flats with your favorite BBQ rub and grilling them. In fact, naked wings are probably healthier and less filling. 

Whether you use a dry seasoning mixture or not, it is always a good practice to seasoning the wings with a BBQ rub or simply with salt and pepper.

Below is a recipe for a dry seasoning mixture that I have used several times:

1½ cups corn starch (or you can use a 50:50 combination of corn starch and all-purpose flour. If you want crispier wings, just use corn starch.)

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon chili powder

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

 

There are two ways that you can coat the chicken with the dry seasoning mixture. You can place the wing flats and drumettes directly in the bowl that you used to combine the seasoning mixture, tossing the chicken to evenly coat the parts.

 

What many consider is a better method, is to put the seasoning ingredients in a Ziploc freezer bag and shake it all about. To coat the pieces of chicken, put the flats and drumettes in the bag and gently shake the bag. Both methods are effective. After the wings are coated, place them on a baking rack to dry the coating, while the coals are heating.

 

The easiest way to coat the wings with the dry seasoning mixture is to combine the ingredients in a Ziploc bag and then put the flats and drumettes in the bag and shake it all about. If you want a little more flavor, sprinkle the wings on all sides with your favorite BBQ rub, before coating with the seasoning mixture.

If you do not want a heavy coating of dry seasoning mixture, put the mixture in a strainer and sift  or lightly dust the cornstarch mixture onto the wings.

 

Drumettes or Flats? Chicken wings consist of three parts: the drumettes, the flats and the tips. When you buy wings, they will likely come as the full wing. You will need to cut the wings apart. Butchering is the most difficult task in making wings. You will need  a heavy, sharp knife and kitchen shears.

Many chicken wing aficionados have strong opinions about which part of the chicken is better for Buffalo wings. This topic really is a matter of personal taste. 

Photo by Omar Mahmood from Pexels

The drumette is the meaty part of the wing, that looks like a little chicken leg. It only has a single bone in it. I like this part, because there is more meat on it. On the other hand, what people call the flat is a little wing that is connected to the drumette. The flat, which has two bones, is called a “flat”, because it is the flat part of the wing.

 

Flats don’t have as much meat on the bone as drumettes. Instead, you are getting more skin than meat. Most people prefer the flats, because the skin gets crispier, whether you fry or grill the wings. Because the skin is fattier than the meat, it arguably has more flavor.

Connected to the flat is the tiny piece called the wing tips.. I don't know of anyone who eats them, because tips don't have much meat on them and usually burn on the grill. The best thing that you could do with wing tips is to cut them off at the joint and either toss them in the garbage or freeze them for later use in making chicken stock.

 

Get Cooking. After you clean and oil your grill grate, arrange the wing flats and drumettes around the perimeter of the Vortex heat source. Avoid crowding the pieces of chicken. For even cooking and uniform browning, you do not want the wings and drumettes to touch each other.

  

Turn the wings every 15 minutes until they browned. When you are not turning the wings, keep the lid closed on the grill. This captures the heat, which reduces cooking time. It also contains the smoke inside the grill, which adds to the flavor of the food.  If you need to lower the temperature inside the grill, adjust the vents.

 

The total cook time varies depending on time, temperature and the thickness of the meat. The internal temperature of the chicken should reach a minimum of 165 to 175º F. Start checking the temperature of the meat after 15 minutes. If the internal temperature is a little higher than that, that’s OK too. Cooking until the wings are crispy and brown could take 30 minutes to an hour.

 

Turn the wings every 15 minutes until they are browned and reach an internal temperature of  165 to 175º F. When you are not flipping the wings, keep the lid closed on your grill. Remember that when you are looking, you ain't cooking.

Photo by Askar Abayev from Pexels

While the wings are on the grill, mix the sauce which you will use to coat the grilled chicken pieces after they have rested for five minutes. In a non-reactive saucepan (such as stainless steel, glass or porcelain cookware) combine the following ingredients and simmer for eight minutes, stirring occasionally:

 

Buffalo Wings Sauce

2/3 cup of hot sauce

½ stick of melted butter

¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon light brown sugar

½ teaspoon paprika

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

½ teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon white vinegar

Test how the sauce tastes before using it. If it is not hot enough, you may need to increase the amount of cayenne pepper.  

Toss the grilled Buffalo wings in the sauce to coat them. See the picture below. You can store any unused sauce in your refrigerator for up to a week. Arrange the coated wings on a platter. Serve your wings with blue cheese or ranch salad dressing for dipping as well as with celery sticks.

 

Try these other Signpost Recipes

Easy Turmeric Yellow Rice

The Best Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers

The Best Beef and Cheese Enchiladas

The Best Hot Dog Toppings

Armadillo Eggs

Meatloaf Burgers

Beer Brats

Bon Appetite!

About Jim Hingst: Sign business authority on vehicle wraps, vinyl graphics, screen printing, marketing, sales, gold leaf, woodcarving and painting. 

After fourteen years as Business Development Manager at RTape, Jim Hingst retired. He was involved in many facets of the company’s business, including marketing, sales, product development and technical service.

Hingst began his career 42 years ago in the graphic arts field creating and producing advertising and promotional materials for a large test equipment manufacturer.  Working for offset printers, large format screen printers, vinyl film manufacturers, and application tape companies, his experience included estimating, production planning, purchasing and production art, as well as sales and marketing. In his capacity as a salesman, Hingst was recognized with numerous sales achievement awards.

Drawing on his experience in production and as graphics installation subcontractor, Hingst provided the industry with practical advice, publishing more than 190 articles for  publications, such as  Signs Canada, SignCraft,  Signs of the Times, Screen Printing, Sign and Digital Graphics and  Sign Builder Illustrated. He also posted more than 500 stories on his blog (hingstssignpost.blogspot.com). In 2007 Hingst’s book, Vinyl Sign Techniques, was published.  Vinyl Sign Techniques is available at sign supply distributors and at Amazon. 

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