Brined Buffalo Chicken Wings

Whether it’s been at a restaurant, a bar, or a friend’s house, there’s one constant over the years that connects all of the great fried chicken wings I’ve had: They’ve been brined. Brining chicken is like giving the meat an internal basting, and there’s really no substitute for it. This is ideal for wings, which can dry out rather easily. That feeling of biting into a dry, overcooked, chewy wing is just completely unnecessary. Wings should be crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. That process, friends, starts with a good brine.

This Super Bowl Sunday I implore you to take the time to brine any homemade wings you think about making. This is the key to providing restaurant-quality wings in the comfort of your home. Not only does the brine create some tender, juicy wing meat, but the flavor from the brine is also wonderful. The salt and sugar of the brine penetrates the chicken meat in such a way that it evenly seasons every morsel of the wing itself. The bay leaves, garlic, lemon, and peppercorn might seem like the type of ingredients you’d reserve for a fancy whole roasted chicken, but here the herbs impart a lovely aromatic flavor that ends up being wholly complementary to the classic Frank’s RedHot and butter wing sauce. Aromatics only deepen the flavor of this classic Buffalo wing, and they’ll have your guests trying to guess what that little extra flavor is.

Personally, I much prefer to fry my wings in a Dutch oven full of oil at home. But I acknowledge that deep-frying can be intimidating, so I’ve included steps to bake the wings in the oven instead. It’s very difficult to overcook these wings because the brine makes them incredibly juicy and moist. And, by placing the oven rack on the highest possible level inside the oven, you’ll still get a satisfying crispiness.