# Buffalo wings. I make them wrong. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 25, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-wings-i-make-them-wrong/515087 "2009-10-25T20:30:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-wings-i-make-them-wrong/515087/1 "2009-10-25T20:30:09Z")
And I like them that way. No butter, no deep-frying. I just bake the wings with salt and pepper, then coat them very liberally with Frank’s Red Hot sauce , toss, and eat. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-wings-i-make-them-wrong/515087/2 "2009-10-25T21:56:07Z")
It’s people like you what cause unrest. ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-wings-i-make-them-wrong/515087/3 "2009-10-25T22:05:29Z")
No, you just don’t make Buffalo wings. You eat wings with hot sauce. Folks in the south (particularily black folks) have been eating chicken with hot sauce for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-wings-i-make-them-wrong/515087/4 "2009-10-25T22:16:49Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > It’s people like you what cause unrest. It’s a hobby. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-wings-i-make-them-wrong/515087/5 "2009-10-25T22:27:33Z")
> [@whole\_bean](#): > > No, you just don’t make Buffalo wings. You eat wings with hot sauce. Folks in the south (particularily black folks) have been eating chicken with hot sauce for a long time. I second this. You aren’t making them “wrong,” you just aren’t making them at all. You’re making baked chicken and putting hot sauce on it. Buffalo sauce is hot sauce combined with margerine. The frying is not an essential part of what makes Buffalo wings, but the sauce is. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-wings-i-make-them-wrong/515087/6 "2009-10-25T22:35:41Z")
Margarine and hot sauce is still hot sauce. Why dilute it? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-wings-i-make-them-wrong/515087/7 "2009-10-25T22:46:34Z")
It’s not water, it’s fat. It doesn’t dilute either the flavor or the heat of the hot sauce. It _enhances_ the flavor of both the chicken and the sauce. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-wings-i-make-them-wrong/515087/8 "2009-10-26T00:50:48Z")
Provides for a richer mouthfeel, too. ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-wings-i-make-them-wrong/515087/9 "2009-10-26T01:24:23Z")
I always make my hot wings with butter instead of margarine. Are they really better with margarine? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-wings-i-make-them-wrong/515087/10 "2009-10-26T02:17:11Z")
Margerine just blends a little better with the sauce and doesn’t separate as easily (and is the ingredient in the original Anchor Bar sauce). I think the taste is about the same. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-wings-i-make-them-wrong/515087/11 "2009-10-26T12:28:20Z")
> [@](#): > > Buffalo wings. I make them wrong. Good for you, the _right_ way sucks. Frank’s is crappy one-dimensional hot peppers in cheap white vinegar, with Margarine which isn’t really food. It amazes me when people fixate on something someone threw together for some drunk idiots in 5 minutes as though it was a divine revelation, inviolably perfect in it’s original form. See also nachos and cheesesteak. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-wings-i-make-them-wrong/515087/12 "2009-10-26T14:30:05Z")
Frank’s also makes Buffalo sauce, which is their hot sauce pre-mixed with margarine. You could use that instead and it would be fairly authentic. I usually bake instead of fry mine, too because you can do a lot more at the same time and if you bake them on a rack a lot of the fat drains out. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-wings-i-make-them-wrong/515087/13 "2009-10-26T14:45:03Z")
I make them that way, too, but with different sauce. I’ve never managed to get them so crispy and evenly done with anything beyond salt and pepper (all on a raised rack). ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-wings-i-make-them-wrong/515087/14 "2009-10-26T14:52:12Z")
“Wings”, people. It’s just “wings.” Unless your at Appleby’s or TGI-Friday’s something, then, fine, they can be “Buffalo Wings” or _- yeesh -_ “Hot Wings.” And you gotta have the butter in there … so I’m told, apart from enhancing the flavor, it helps the sauce to stick better. Who knows? Deep frying is also key. Alas, I don’t have a deep fryer, but my dad has perfect a pretty decent grill-then-sauce technique which suffices, since a take out order from western NY would take about a week to get here. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-wings-i-make-them-wrong/515087/15 "2009-10-26T14:54:46Z")
I do it “wrong”, but they come out great. Wrong #1. I fry them in about an inch of oil in a big ass stockpot to keep the oil from splattering me and the stove so much. (I don’t have a deep fryer). I toss them in Wrongs #2-4, in a not so wrong fashion, from what I gather. I mix it to a sort of scarlet color, because I like them hot and I don’t like to overwhelm the crispiness with a bunch of pale orange gloop. Wrong #2. I use butter, barely melted so’s not to break it. I know margarine provides some advantage, but taste isn’t one of them. Wrong #3. I use garlic powder and salt instead of garlic salt, for the same reason. Wrong #4. I use Texas Pete hot sauce, 'cause I like it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-wings-i-make-them-wrong/515087/16 "2009-10-26T16:49:16Z")
> [@An\_Arky](#): > > I do it “wrong”, but they come out great. > > Wrong #1. I fry them in about an inch of oil in a big ass stockpot to keep the oil from splattering me and the stove so much. (I don’t have a deep fryer). > > I toss them in Wrongs #2-4, in a not so wrong fashion, from what I gather. I mix it to a sort of scarlet color, because I like them hot and I don’t like to overwhelm the crispiness with a bunch of pale orange gloop. > > Wrong #2. I use butter, barely melted so’s not to break it. I know margarine provides some advantage, but taste isn’t one of them. > > Wrong #3. I use garlic powder and salt instead of garlic salt, for the same reason. > > Wrong #4. I use Texas Pete hot sauce, 'cause I like it. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with your recipe and I wouldn’t have any problem with you calling your wings “Buffalo” wings. The only thing that may be considered off-base is using Texas Pete instead of Frank’s, but they’re both the same type of hot sauce. You’ve got fried wings in a cayenne pepper-butter/margarine sauce. That’s a pretty damned accurate Buffalo-style wing, as opposed to some of the heresies in this thread. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-wings-i-make-them-wrong/515087/17 "2009-10-26T19:48:05Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > It’s people like you what cause unrest. That’s a dog license with “dog” crossed out and “Buffalo Wings” written in in crayon. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-wings-i-make-them-wrong/515087/18 "2009-10-26T20:33:21Z")
> [@](#): > > It amazes me when people fixate on something someone threw together for some drunk idiots in 5 minutes as though it was a divine revelation, inviolably perfect in it’s original form. See also nachos and cheesesteak. I’ve had some inauthentic cheesesteaks, and authentic cheesesteaks that weren’t like the original, that were still pretty darned good. I’ve also had many more inauthentic cheesesteaks that were terrible. It’s not the inauthenticity that bothers me; it’s the fact that they’re bad. And it’s made all the worse by the fact that authentic cheesesteaks are really, really easy, so there’s no excuse for screwing it up. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-wings-i-make-them-wrong/515087/19 "2009-10-26T20:55:27Z")
I have no problem with the baking. I do just that myself… but no butter (my preference) or margarine mixed into the hot sauce is an abomination. I use my home-made hot sauce, rather than a store bought version, because mine tastes better. More atomic than Franks or Texas Pete’s sauce, but lots more flavor. ---
**Author:** ![deedeeknowit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@deedeeknowit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deedeeknowit)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-wings-i-make-them-wrong/515087/20 "2009-10-26T21:12:06Z")
Please listen. The best flavor is through the frying. Then we’ve got the Franks hot sauce and butter (tossed). So good because of the crispiness involved. Please reconsider. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-wings-i-make-them-wrong/515087.md?page=2)