will this be turned to a certified Rouxbe recipe soon? i would love to see a video for this. A very unusual way prepare wings. what does steaming the wings do for the dish?

I do not think this will become a Rouxbe Video as it is a fairly straightforward recipe. We are however working on some steaming lessons that may shed some light on the subject of steaming for you. In this case the wings are steamed rather than deep-fried as steaming helps to maintain the moisture within the chicken. It also just happens to be healthier than deep-frying. Hope this helps!

When making these wings, I was absent minded and added the sauce after steaming and cooling them. There was nothing to do but bake them and I have to say they tasted very good. They got browner than the ones in the picture and they cooked faster but I wouldn't hesitate to do it this way again:)

Good to know Liz. I do like wings where the sauce is more baked on so I think I will try this the next time I make wings. Cheers!

I always bake my wings. It's easier and healthier than deep frying for sure.

And I coat the wings with the sauce before baking. Very yummy when baked at 425 for about 25 minutes or so.

Why is it necessary to steam first and not baked straight?

As Dawn mentions above, steaming helps to maintain the moisture in the wings. Steaming is a suitable method for wings as it helps to break down the collagen and fat in the wings which makes them nice and succulent before they are browned in the oven. Straight baking can potentially dry the wings out. Cheers!

Are you talking ounces in weight or volume?

With butter it does not really matter if you measure by weight or volume. 3 ounces of butter is equal to 6 tablespoons or approx. 90 grams. Cheers!

Well just loved how the chicken wings crisped up using this method to cook. But the sauce was very frustrating. I thought I'd add the cornstarch but the sauce split. Figuring I'd done something wrong, I tried again - used room temp water with the cornstarch then added to the hot sauce, then on the heat. Almost right away, the sauce split again into curd like lumps. So thought I'd cook it a bit and maybe it would come together again and no, it didn't. Tried a third time using clarified butter to see if that made a difference. Nope - same result. So gave up on the cornstarch and just made the sauce without it. It was not bad but we wondered about the butter and whether it was necessary or whether that much of it was necessary. It seemed to give the sauce an overly oily look and feel. Anyway, would love to know what is going on that the sauce splits into curd like balls or lumps and how to correct it. Thanks!

I haven't tried these yet, but certainly plan to. Do you think Sriracha would be a suitable hot sauce?

Terry, I just left the test kitchen. I wanted to test this out for myself to see what might be the problem. Unfortunately, I am still not sure as what happened to you did not happen to me. The sauce did not split or turn in curd-like lumps. A few things that it could have been - the heat was too high? I used very low heat. Perhaps you used too much cornstarch, but that would generally just make it too thick.

With all of that said, I tried the recipe again without the cornstarch and I also reduced the butter to 2 oz and it seemed thick enough for me like this. The butter is not only added for extra richness and flavor but it also makes the wings just a bit more "finger-liking" worthy, which is what some folks love about wings. You could either reduce the amount or leave it out all together and just use straight hot sauce, if you like. I will admit that I mild addiction to Frank's Hot Sauce.

When it comes to wings and how people like them, I have to say that most people can, and are, very picky. I know I am. I like them quite crispy and not at all fatty. I used to work in a pub years ago and we had "Wings Wednesdays"...let me just say that I have heard it all :-)

Hope this helps Terry. Cheers!

Essentially, you can use whichever sauce you like on wings to make up your own flavors. Of course they will likely no long be called "Buffalo Hot Wings" but that's okay.

You could certainly give the sriracha sauce a try. Just keep in mind that most sriracha sauces are very spic,y so you might want to start out with less and work your way up from there. Cheers!

Thanks for all your comments Dawn. I think the heat level I used was medium? I will try again on low heat and see what happens. And will reduce the butter to 2 oz. as well. I totally appreciate your efforts to help out with my question!

No worries Terry. And just for the record, I generally do not add the cornstarch to the sauce. I just melt the butter, add the sauce and pour it over the wings. And because I like my wings on the crispier side I also like what Liz did. Pour the sauce on just after the wings get steamed and then bake the wings with the sauce on them. Cheers!

Funny that I should just come across this recipe for sriracha wings. It was actually in one of my many "must-make-one-day" folders. Cheers!

Most people seem to have great success with this recipe. I am not sure what I did wrong.

I cut each wing into 2 segments and removed the tips. I then steamed the wings in single layer batches for 10 min. each and let them rest for over an hour. I cooked them for 20 min. per side in the oven. The exterior was beautiful -- golden brown and crispy. The interior, however, was over-dry.

I am not convinced that the steaming really helped to prevent dryness. The skin -- though very beautiful in appearance -- seemed stringy and tough. The interior had a texture closer to overdone breast meat, instead of softer/fattier dark meat. One of my favorite wing recipes is a breaded, oven baked (with no steam) cooking process. The breading gives the crispness and the interior remains very moist.

Any ideas as to where I went wrong?

Perhaps the wings were just overcooked, or perhaps the wings themselves where just not the same as other batches you have purchased? It's hard to say exactly what may have gone wrong.

I will say that steaming generally does not dry things out (unless they are really overcooked), as steaming is a moist-heat cooking method. Whereas roasting is a dry-heat cooking method and therefore it can potentially dry things out.

The only way to really tell if it's just the cooking method that you do not like, is to test a batch of wings. Cook half a batch using the steaming/roasting method and the other half using the straight roasting method. Hope this helps. Cheers!

Hello there.

I made this recipe last night and the final result was amazing.
Because in Romania we don't have Frank's hot sauce I used a normal hot chilli sauce from Heinz and there was this quite strange (acrid) vinegar like smell after coating the wings.

Everybody complained about the smell however everybody loved the taste and wanted some more.

I followed the recipe entirely, except the hot sauce.
Is this smell normal when using hot sauces? Or?

Yes, often vinegar, especially when heated will give off a very strong acidic smell. Another example, is when you reduce balsamic. You never want to put your face too close to the pot ,as the smell is far too strong, and not to mention that it will feel like it is burning out your sinuses (I know this because this is a joke that senior cooks like to play on junior cooks when they come into a new kitchen. The ask them to get really close and smell how delicious the balsamic smells - mean I know. I never did it).

I am happy that everyone really liked the wings in the end. Cheers!

It was a first time for me so I was not sure.
Thanks a lot, the wings were truly delicious.
All the best

What is the difference between using parchment paper and foil paper in this recipe?

Parchment paper creates a non-stick surface while aluminum foil does not. With that said you can use aluminum foil, you will just need to spray it with a non-stick spray first to prevent the wings from sticking. Cheers!