WTF?KG! Buffalo Wings
winging it.
I’ve been on a chicken wing kick lately. My kids love them. My friends request them for parties (even when the ‘party’ has no other food, or beverages, or even guests!)
I first made these wings ‘buffalo style’ for a Super Bowl party I hosted. One of my friends proclaimed them “the best wings in America,” as she fought through another friend who was elbowing her way through the platter.
What is it about these wings? The salt + sugar brine - 100 percent! The wings are packed with flavor before you even add a sauce.
Recently, I was asked to bring them to a birthday party, but my oven has been out of commission for 5 months. I have been sustaining this cook’s life with two hot plates, an air fryer, and a lot of IDGAF. Ever the optimist, I decided these wings might be even better in an air fryer. But because I volunteered these last-minute, there wasn’t enough time to make them before the car picked me up for the party. A friend said, just bring the stuff and make them there. This friend is known in our group as “the finance dept,” not food. As far as I knew, the only thing the party venue had was an oven, no kitchen utensils, bakeware, bowls, or prep of any kind. Think fast! I quickly made the brine (salt + sugar + thyme + lemon + garlic + peppercorns) in a stock pot, let it cool, added the wings to it, and transferred it all to a giant ziplock bag. I threw together the buffalo sauce (melted butter + lemon juice + hot sauce + garlic powder) and poured it into an airtight container. I grabbed a jellyroll pan, a large bowl, some parchment, latex gloves, and a pastry brush, and hurried downstairs to the awaiting Uber. Finance dept greeted me with a frozen margarita, and we made our way uptown, wings in tow!
Once again, the elbowing friend was first to wrap her little fingers around the wings, and this time exclaimed, “WTF? KG!” “Why are these so good?!” And thus a name was born.
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup kosher salt
1 lemon, halved
4 fresh thyme sprigs
1 garlic head, cut crosswise
2 tbsp whole black peppercorns
5 lbs chicken wings, split into drums and flats
Buffalo sauce
2/3 cup (1-1/3 sticks) butter
1/2 cup Frank’s Red Hot
2 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tsp garlic powder
DIRECTIONS
In a large stock pot, combine 1 gallon of water, the sugar, and the salt. Stir and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Turn off the heat and stir in the lemon, thyme, garlic, and peppercorns. Let cool to room temperature. Submerge the wings in the brine, cover them, and put them in the fridge. Let brine for 2-4 hours.
Drain the wings and discard the brine. Pat them completely dry with paper towels.
Place the wings in the basket of a 3.5-quart air fryer so they are not touching. Set the air fryer to 360 degrees. Cook for 12 minutes and then flip the wings with tongs and cook for 12 minutes more. Flip the wings again. Increase the temperature to 390 degrees and cook until the outsides are extra-crispy, about 6-8 minutes more.
Sauce
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in the hot sauce, lemon juice, and garlic powder.
Generously coat the wings in the sauce and return to a 390-degree air fryer for 5 minutes more.
Serve with chunky blue cheese dressing for dipping and devouring.