The trick to perfect oven-roasted buffalo wings is to steam them first to render out a lot of the fat. Then you cool them to tighten the skin, then you roast them in the oven. Yes, there’s a bit of labor involved, and yes … it’s worth it.
12 whole chicken wings
85g unsalted butter
1/4 cup hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1. Load a large saucepan with a steamer basket and 1 inch of water in the bottom, over high heat, cover and bring to a boil.
2. Remove the tips of the wings and discard or save for making stock. Using kitchen shears, or a knife, separate the wings at the joint. Place the wings into the steamer basket, cover, reduce the heat to medium and steam for 10 minutes. Remove the wings from the basket and carefully pat dry. Lay the wings out on a cooling rack set in a half sheet pan lined with paper towels and refrigerate for one hour.
3. Heat the oven to 425F/220C.
4. Replace the paper towels (under the cooling rack) with parchment paper. Roast on the middle rack of the oven for 20 minutes. Turn the wings over and cook another 20 minutes or until meat is cooked through and the skin is golden brown.
5. While the chicken is roasting, melt the butter in a small bowl. Pour this along with hot sauce and salt into a bowl large enough to hold all of the chicken and stir to combine.
6. Remove the wings from the oven and transfer to the bowl and toss with the sauce. Serve warm.
