Recipe for homemade hot wings
Yes, I’m not exactly known for going after easy solutions when it comes to cooking. And if there’s something easy, it’s definitely buying a bag of frozen hot wings from the supermarket and throwing them in the oven. Easy and quite delicious!
As with so many other things, it simply must be possible to make them EVEN better yourself…
This is therefore my first attempt at homemade hot wings!
BUT… It’s really difficult – REALLY difficult – to find chicken wings that are not already marinated and pre-cooked. So it’s great to have a fantastic relationship with your butcher ?
After a few chats with my local butcher, he managed to get me a whole load. Yes, I said a load, it ended up being 6 x 2 kg! Thanks a lot, I’d say ?
I will try to experiment with a few different kinds of hot wings and HOPEFULLY hit the perfect wings in time. I certainly have a couple or three shots in the barrel, you might say, hehe!
This was my very first attempt at homemade hot wings. I think they turned out a bit pale, and I could have avoided that by letting them simmer longer in the marinade – I know that for next time.
Calculation of brine mixture ratios
Hot wings benefit from being brined before cooking, so you can get plenty of flavor and juiciness into them. When chicken wings are brined, it means adding enough salt so that the meat retains its juices better, but not so much that the chicken tastes too salty!
So it’s about finding the right balance, and here it’s just a matter of trial and error: Trying different approaches until you get it JUST right. Just like all the other steps in the process ?
A mild brine for chicken is a 1% salt/sugar solution, while, for instance, a 1.5% solution is a medium brine – 1.5% is typically used for slightly larger cuts like tenderloin.
In this recipe, I therefore made a 1% solution. For 2 kilos of chicken wings, this means using 4 liters of water, 40 grams of salt, and 16 grams of sugar.
If you want to make a 1% salt/sugar solution, the ratio is calculated as follows:
- Amount of water = Weight of meat x 2
- Amount of salt = (Weight of meat + weight of water) x 10
- Amount of sugar = (Weight of meat + weight of water) x 4
Next time, I will definitely try a 1.5% solution instead, as I think my hot wings could definitely handle more salt. Here, the amount of sugar will remain the same, while the amount of salt will be increased to 60 grams.
Homemade hot wings
Ingredients
Salting/Blasting
- 2 kg Chicken Wings
- 4 l Water
- 40 gram Salt
- 16 gram Sugar
Marinade
- 63 gram Honey
- 108 gram Barbecue marinade for example Sweet Baby Ray's Original
- Salt to taste
- Pepper fresh from the grinder, to taste
- Chili Powder to taste
Instructions
Brining
- Divide all chicken wings at each joint. The small joints at the end should not be used for this recipe, as they will become too dry. I saved them and used them for a good stock instead.
- Mix water, salt, and sugar together in a container of appropriate size that can be sealed.
- Place the wings in the brine.
- Put the lid on the container.
- Refrigerate for 12 hours.
- After 12 hours: Drain the container of liquid and refill it with cold water. We do this to rinse off some of the salt again (this is called desalting).
- Let it sit for an additional 30 minutes.
Boiling
- Fill a pot of appropriate size with lightly salted water.
- Bring the water to a boil. Put the chicken wings in the boiling water and let them cook for 5 minutes.
- Remove the wings from the water and dry them thoroughly with a clean cloth or tea towel.
Marinade
- Put honey and barbecue marinade in a pan.
- Put the pan on the stove and turn on medium heat.
- Let it simmer for 15 minutes.
- Then season with salt, pepper, and chili powder to taste.
- Add the chicken wings.
- Let it simmer for 15 minutes.
- Remove the finished chicken wings from the pan and serve.