Hub made delicious Buffalo Wings in the crockpot this weekend…except the hot sauce scorched the hair in my nose. He used the Frank’s Buffalo Wings Sauce right out of the bottle.
Granted, I’m a wimp when it comes to hot flavors but dayum, this was h-o-t.
Any ideas how to reduce the hotness of the sauce? Using less sauce would still be too much for my delicate tastebuds. I’m looking for something more along the lines of the same flavor but uber mild.
Have you tried Frank’s “Original” style Red Hot sauce? I’ve never tried their Buffalo Wing sauce, so I’m not sure if it’s any different, but Frank’s Red Hot is very mild as hot sauces go. It might be worth a shot.
Aside from that, brickbacon’s suggestion of adding butter certainly couldn’t hurt.
I’ve never seen it before, but how about a poblano and mango wing sauce? Very minimal spice, some sweet to balance.
2 Large fresh poblano peppers, cored, seeded and chopped
1 fresh mango peeled, pitted, chopped
1/2 Sweet Vidalia onion
1 clove of garlic
2 tbls. Veg or Olive Oil
1/2 can of chicken stock to thin
1/4-1/2 cup Budweiser Brand BBQ sauce
Glug a Rum
Lime Juice
Salt and Pepper to taste
Sweat the Onions and Peppers in the oil for about seven minutes, add the mango. Bring up the heat and Sautee for a few minutes, add a bit of stock and the rum and bring the ingredients to the boil. Let simmer until all of the ingredients are entirely soft. Puree the mixture smooth adding the Budweiser BBQ sauce, Lime Juice, salt and pepper to consistency and taste. Toss your wings in it , or use as a baste or marinade to Chicken and Pork.
Anyhow, the heat in Buffalo wing sauce is controlled by the ratio of Franks to margarine or butter. Just so you know, some purists will tell you it’s margarine and not butter, in real wing sauce. I personally use margarine, and this is the only place in my cooking you will ever see margarine used, because I prefer the final texture of the product, but it’s really up to you.
Anyhow, as stated before, start with a 1:1 butter/margarine:Frank’s ratio. If it’s too hot, add more butter or shortening. If it’s too mild, add more Frank’s. Buffalo wing sauce should not be straight Frank’s. However, Buffalo wings should also not be made in the crockpot. In my opinion, the crispy skin is at least half the pleasure of eating wings (I’d say more; soggy wings make me cry). You’d be better off drying the hell out of those wings, sticking them on a rack in a 450 degree oven, and cooking them until brown and crispy. Toss in a mixture of Buffalo sauce and serve. (Ideally, you want to deep fry them, but I make the oven suggestion assuming you want to avoid the mess and smell of deep frying. That said, the oven method is bound to produce a little bit of smoke, so keep the fan on.)
Simple Reduction in heat. Use Louisiana Brand Hot Sauce in lieu of Frank’s Red Hot. It is noticeably milder and paradoxically more complex, IMHO.
You could use an Enchilada Red Sauce in the New Mexico Style, add some vinegar or citrus and some honey or sugar. Toss some wings New Mexico Style, sure there’s room for Hatch Green Chile stylee.
I have to agree with this. We broiled first, then crockpot. The wings, while very well done and moist, were soggy. I think we’ll try the “toss and serve” method the next time.
The problem with the broiler/oven is that wings make a SHIT TON of smoke. Like, more than you think for something so small. Unless you have a really good exhaust fan, you will smoke up the entire house.
The Alton Brown method (which I have not tried, cause I usually endure the smoke or deep fry,) involves steaming them for a few minutes first to render out some of the fat, and then roasting/broiling them. has anyone treid that and can vouch that it reduces the amount of smoke?
I tried Alton’s method for the first time a few weeks ago. No noticeable smoke from the oven. It’s a little time consuming - I had to steam the wings in relatively small batches, since I don’t have Alton’s nifty multi-tiered steamer basket. So 30 minutes of steaming (10 minutes/batch), followed by an hour back in the fridge, followed by 40 minutes in the oven. They were very good.
In my experience, it hasn’t been that much smoke, but I do have a decent fan and vent. Anyhow, 95% of the time I deep fry them in a pot of oil. Nothing beats deep fried wings. I can never get the oven ones crispy enough for my liking, and even the deep fried ones I pat down, dry in the fridge, and fry in 375 degree oil in small batches (to ensure I don’t drop the oil temp too far) to get the crispiness I so desire.
I use Frank’s Buffalo Wing sauce on my chicken wraps, but first I dilute/make it thicker (more spread-like) by mixing it with mayo. I’m not sure that this would work in a regular wing context, but it works great for what I use it for.
Buffalo born and bred here… what else would you use??? Buffalo wing sauce is 1/3 cup butter to 1/2 cup Frank’s! That’s how Anchor Bar does it, that’s how I do it, that’s how it’s done. End of indignant rant, sorry.