Hot Wings
Dozer’s Garage
HOT WINGS RecipeS
Ain’t no thing like a chicken wing.
Servings
8
Ready In:
30 min
Difficulty:
(2) Pretty easy
Good For:
Chicken
Wings 5 Ways
Everyone loves chicken hot wings. Make a batch and watch everyone come running. You don’t even need a sauce if you cook them well but then the sauces make them even better.
So are hot wings the same thing as buffalo wings? Sort of. Buffalo wings are hot wings with a very specific type of sauce. They were first served in Buffalo, New York. But not all hot wings are Buffalo wings.
This is not low and slow cooking. You’ll want to get your bbq (closed) or your oven piping hot – around 450F (~230C) with the lid on. Get your wings on when the fire is hot and just have a look every now and then. When they’re crispy skinned, that’s when the saucing starts. We’ve included several sauce recipes here. Most of the sauce recipes are pretty straightforward and require little more than a blender or a saucepan.
Have a look at the Options & Tweaks section for ideas to make it your own
Get ’em while they’re hot! These actually travel well and aren’t too bad when cold so don’t sauce them all if you have too many. But for safety, throw them out if they’ve been sitting out (between 5C and 60C) for more than 4 hours total.
INGREDIENTS
(WINGS)
- 16 whole chicken wings
- – or 32 chicken ‘wingettes’
- 1 TBSP oil (high smoke point)
- One or more spice rubs. We used: Bulldozer Better Off Red Rub, Bulldozer Bird Brain Rub & Bulldozer SPOG Rub
INGREDIENTS
(AUTHENTIC BUFFALO WING SAUCE)
- 1/2 cup cayenne hot sauce. The original used Franks.
- 60 g melted butter
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
INGREDIENTS
(STICKY ASIAN WING SAUCE)
- 1/4 cup Australian honey
- 1/4 cup plum sauce
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 TBSP rice vinegar
- 1 TBSP Sriracha
- 1 TBSP minced garlic
- 1 TBSP minced ginger
- 1 TBSP sesame oil
- 2 tsp fish sauce
- 1/4 tsp Chinese 5-spice
INGREDIENTS
(HOT or NOT HONEY MUSTARD)
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 4 TBSP Australian honey
- 1 TBSP Dijon mustard
- 1 TBSP American yellow mustard
- 1 or 2 chillis for the hot version, choose chillis that are as hot as you like, from cayenne to reaper
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 tsp Bulldozer Hogfather Rub
- salt and cracked pepper to taste
INGREDIENTS
(GARLIC PARMESAN SAUCE)
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/8 cup chicken stock
- 8 cloves garlic cloves
- 3 TBSP grated parmesan
- 1 TBSP olive oil
- 1 TBSP white vinegar
- 1 TBSP Bulldozer Midnight Rub
- 1/2 TBSP fresh rosemary leaves
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp white sugar
Step 1
Pile your coals in the center of the bbq. Crank your bbq as hot as possible, letting it heat with the lid on. A Kettle Kone or other ‘concentrator’ over the coals will help increase the available temperature. Ideally you’d want about 450F. (230C). Adding a block of fruit wood adds a lot of great barbecue flavour. In a pinch though, your oven will do a good job.
Step 2
Toss your wings with a bit of oil or spray oil on each side. Lay them out on a board or tray and sprinkle each side with the rub(s) of your choice. You’ll find a good rub = a tasty wing before you even bother with sauce.
Step 3
We lay the wings out in a circular pattern on the grill, never directly over the flame, with the meatiest ends towards the coals. It can be easier (and make more room on the grill) to first remove the wingtips and even to separate the two halves into ‘wingettes’ and ‘drumettes’. Makes no difference to the cooking.
Step 4
It’s usually not necessary to turn the wings during the cook. Just take a peek every so often, but remember every time you look, you lose your built-up heat for a bit. When the wings look deeply golden and crispy, they’re done.
Step 5
Buffalo Sauce: Melt the butter in a saucepan large enough to hold all ingredients. Reduce heat as soon as it’s fully melted, then add hot sauce, salt and spice. Whisk until wisps of steam rise, then stop. Toss cooked wings in the sauce and serve.
Step 6
Sticky Asian Sauce: Can be done in a bowl or while warming in a saucepan. Just combine all ingredients and stir thoroughly. Toss cooked wings and serve.
Step 7
Hot or Not Honey Mustard Sauce: Blitz the chilli(s), garlic, mustards, vinegar, rub in a food processor or blender until everything is well chopped. Add in the mayo and honey on low speed. If it’s too thick, thin with a bit of water or chicken stock. Toss cooked wings and serve
Step 8
Garlic Parmesan Sauce: Chop rosemary and garlic finely. Add everything to blender and puree until smooth. If too thick, thin it a little. A little splash of white wine is nice in this. Toss cooked wings and serve
Step 9
Any of these sauces can be thickened with cornstarch if necessary. You want all these sauces to be just thick enough to cling to the wings without feeling more like a dip.
Step 10
Hot wings are often served along side hot chips, tater tots (gems) or with carrot and celery sticks with a blue cheese dressing. (maybe we’ll do a recipe on that dressing one of these days).
Options & Tweaks
- ‘5 ways’ is based on rub only or each of the 4 sauces. There are an infinite number of choices and combinations when you get down to it though.
- We can fit about 16 whole wings on the Weber 57cm kettle with a coal base in the centre. We’ve found devices like the Kettle Kone really do a great job of cranking up the heat. Wings are definitely not a low n’ slow process. The beauty is in that golden crisp skin, which you don’t get at low temps.
- You can do these any time inside as well, just not as smoky.
- More butter = less heat and vice versa.
- The sauces that use mayo are even better with homemade whole egg mayo – and that part is stunningly easy. (Eggs, lemon juice, salt and pepper blended on medium while slowly adding in olive oil until it looks like mayo.)
- Any of these sauces has room for personalization. More this, less that.
