Last Updated on 2nd February 2023 by
Buffalo chicken wings are one of the most popular appetisers in the country, thanks to their incredible flavour, slightly spicy kick, and juiciness. You can find buffalo wings being served at most football games and any respectable restaurant that serves burgers.
Buffalo wings are a party favourite, and even people who don’t like spicy foods enjoy them because the spiciness is not the main feature. They can be made so many different ways too- barbecued, flaming hot, crispy, or dried.
They are typically baked or fried, but there might be an even better way to make them. What’s that- a way to improve buffalo wings?
Have you ever heard of sous vide? It’s a way to prepare your meat that cook it at allow temperature very slowly. The same idea as slow cooking is used here, and it works really well for buffalo wings. If you make sous vide buffalo wings, you will have juicy, tender, and succulent wings every time.
The slow boiling method uses hot water that cooks the meat thoroughly without drying it out. All the juiciness is still there, and the wings come out plump and hearty. Instead of tough, dry wings like you might get by baking them, you get deliciously tender wings that are just begging to be bitten into.
Sous vide buffalo chicken wings might be my favourite way to make them, but I know this method isn’t for everyone and isn’t right for every time I am making them. Sometimes, you need buffalo wings quickly, and at those times, a slow cooking method will not be possible.
For those other times, however, the souse vide buffalo wings broil method is definitely an option I always consider.
How to Make Buffalo Wings Souse Vide
How to Make Buffalo Wings Souse Vide
Ingredients
- 4 pounds of chicken wings
- 1 cup of hot sauce
- Kosher salt
- 3 quarts of canola oil (or peanut oil)
- 8 tbsp of butter (about one stick)
Instructions
- Prepare the chicken wings by cutting them into flats and drumettes, removing the wing tips. You can discard those tips or save them for stock. (I will show you later on how to make those cuts, if you don’t already know.)
- Now, you need to get your immersion circulator set up. That’s what I use for sous vide recipes, and there are other methods, but using this appliance is the simplest way. The water bath in the circulator should be set to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. This will make your chicken incredibly succulent and tender. For a slightly tougher chicken that is still juicy and tender, you can go with 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Next, season the wings with salt, and then put your wings in a resealable plastic bag. You could also use vacuum sealer bags, if you have those available. Just follow the manufacturer’s instructions for using those. Place the bagged wings into the immersion circulator and cook for 2 hours on 160 degrees Fahrenheit or 1 hour at 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Set up the wire racks into the baking sheets and pull the wings out of the bags. Pat them dry and get rid of the excess juice, and then place the wings onto the racks. They will need to be refrigerated for at least 8 hours, but you can refrigerate them for as long as 2 days, if you like.
- When you want to serve the wings, you will need to prepare them in hot sauce. Just place the chicken into a small saucepan along with butter and the hot sauce. Cook the wings over a medium heat, stirring often and until the butter has melted all the way.
- Use a Dutch oven or wok to heat your oil up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Add your chicken bit by bit into the wok and stir them. Flip them occasionally and keep the heat between 375 and 400 degrees Fahrenheit. It will take about three minutes to cook each batch, and you will know they are done when the chicken starts to turn brown and crispy.
- Once the chicken is cooked, you can take it out of the oil and transfer it to a plate with a paper towel on it to get the oil out. Once the chicken is all done frying, you can toss it with more sauce and serve.
I like to serve my sous vide buffalo turkey wings and buffalo chicken wings with some blue cheese dressing and celery sticks.
The celery adds some colour to the dish and a different texture to play with. The dipping sauce is up to you. Some people prefer ranch sauce or even melted cheese sauce.
Some people are diehard Kenji Lopez-Alt fans and follow him on Serious Eats. If you are looking for Kenji sous vide buffalo wings, he unfortunately didn’t make a recipe for this kind of buffalo wing, but the method I have given you above is the most widely used method for souse vide buffalo wings and similar to what is used that site.
How to Prepare Chicken for Making Chicken Wings
If you have never cut chicken for making buffalo wings, then don’t despair. I’ll show you how to do it and you will see that it isn’t that hard. You can actually save quite a bit of money by purchasing uncut wings and then cutting them yourself.
Once you know how to do this, it is easy to cut them your own and reduce your monthly grocery costs, especially if you are someone who regularly makes buffalo wings.
First you need a flat cutting surface to lay them out on, like a cutting board. Then, just stretch out the chicken wing to its full length. From there, cut the tip off, and then set it aside.
Most buffalo chicken wing recipes do not use the wing tip, so it can be discarded or used as stock. It tends to have little to no meat on it and isn’t very enjoyable to chew though, so it is best left for stock.
You next cut will be between the wing and drumette small chicken leg. You want to separate the two so that you get two chicken wing cuts from each piece of meat. You will get the small drumstick and the wing, and these will be the cuts you will use for the recipe.
How to Make Your Buffalo Chicken Wings Crunchy
If you want an extra crunchy buffalo chicken wing, then you may want to make some slight changes to the recipe. You can bake the chicken after it is done cooking, just baking it for about five minutes on a pan oven that has been preheated to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
You can also try to make sous vide buffalo chicken wings corn starch, and that simply means that you dust the wings slightly with corn starch before you fry them. This makes for a crispy outer coating and gives them a pleasant crunch when you bite into them.
I'm Pauline, a mother of four grown children, my passion for cooking stemmed from the joy i get cooking for my family. I love to try new dishes, especially when dining out but creating and sharing my own recipes is my favourite thing to do!
