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I am a big fan of Buffalo Joe's suicide hot wings. But with the recent price hikes (small as they may be), I've begun to consider making wings of my own. Having only had fried chicken in the kitchen once before, however, I probably need all the help I can get. Anyone had any success in replicating the BJ's magic? And would anyone be willing to share a recipe based on that? Thanks for any help you can give.

The Snob

So far, I haven't found any way of replicating restaurant wings.
We've even bought Anchor Bar's sauce -- doesn't do it. My son is a conni... snob about these things, and hasn't been able to make a match.

I don't know about Buffalo Joe's, but the typical recipe is supposed to be unbreaded wings deep fried, then tossed with a mixture of one part hot sauce of your choice, one part margarine.

Perhaps my problem is that there's NEVER margarine in the house, and butter just doesn't work here.

I've never had Buffalo Joes wings. But, I've been told my own are pretty good. For me, the key is to pan fry the wings with some flour on them so that the crusty coating will hold the sauce on the wings.

I generally buy drummettes only (my preference) and have these a couple of times a week.

In an airtight container mix 1/2 cu flour, salt, pepper and dried garlic powder. Place the wings in the container, cover it and shake them to coat. Tap each of the wings on the container to remove excess flour before dropping them in hot peanut oil. Turn the wings 2-3 times during cooking until they are golden brown.

While the wings cook, throw out the excess flour in your airtight container, rinse it out and dry it. Then, add 1/2 cup good hot sauce (I like Franks), 1 tbsp butter, three dashes of worchestershire, and another dash of garlic powder. Microwave for one minute, whisk ingredients together.

When wings are cooked, drain them on paper towels and add all of the wings at one time to your airtight container. Shake it until all the wings are coated. I serve them in an oversized soup bowl with a small custard cup of Maries Super Chunk Blue Cheese Dressing in the middle.

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If you like your wings grilled, this is an awesome marinade and recipe that first appeared in one of Williams Sonoma's "Grilling" Book about ten years ago. People absolutely love these.


For the Marinade:
1 cup (8fl oz/250 ml) cider vinegar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon Tabasco (hot red pepper)
sauce
4 lb chicken wings (about 24)

For the Blue Cheese sauce:
2/3 cup (5fl oz/160 ml) sour cream
1/2 cup (4fl oz/124 ml) mayonnaise
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 cup (4fl oz/125 g) crumbled blue cheese
salt
freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons, more or less, milk
celery sticks

To make the marinade, in a small bowl stir together the vinegar, oil, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper and Tabasco sauce. Place the chicken wings in a large plastic food storage bag and pour in the marinade. Press out the air and seal the bag tightly. Massage the bag gently, to distribute the marinade. Set in a large bowl and refrigerate for 24 hours, turning and massaging the bag occasionally.

To make the blue cheese sauce, in a small bowl whisk together the sour cream, mayonnaise, garlic, Worcestershire sauce and blue cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add enough milk to make a sauce with the consistency of pancake batter. Cover and refrigerate.

Prepare a fire in the grill. Remove the wings from the marinade and pat them dry with absorbent paper towels; reserve the marinade. Arrange the wings on the grid. Grill, turning frequently and brushing with the reserved marinade, until cooked through, 25-30 minutes. Serve with the dipping sauce and celery sticks.

Serves 4 as a main course, 6-8 as an appetizer.

by the way, franks also makes a very good bottled wing sauce -- but it's basically just a milder version of the hot sauce.

it works, though.

-ed

The price hike was badenough, but the last time I went there they actually said they had to charge me for the ranch dressing after I had bought two double orders! I wasn't asking for a pint, just a little cup. This was in addition to the dressing they said they had to charge me for to go with the cheddar chips.

I've been eating there since 1985-6 but they are dead to me now. Their wings have steadily decreased in size and quality over the years and nostalgia was really the only thing keeping me there. Well, boys and girls, nostalgia aint cutting it anymore!

I may still go to the Howard St. location but I think I need to find a new wing place.

Even though your recipes don't really pertain to BJ's wings, I did have a newbie question to ask you. Assuming you meant 1/2 cup total of flour, salt, pepper, and dried garlic powder, how much of each did you mean? I know that people tend to add these things "to taste," but I usually need very specific proportions to try something for the first time. Sorry for the trouble.

Yeah, I always found not getting celery sticks or ranch dressing with the party pans kind of annoying. (Sold separately!) Well, all that charging for "extras" does make their habit of not honoring my extra-sauce requests make sense. I guess I just gotta buy a pint more sauce for my single order take-out next time. Any replacements for BJ's in mind?

I just noticed something on Buffalo Joe's menu. The restaurants apparently also sell pints of ranch dressing and "JOE'S Wing Sauce" (unless those items are outdated, too). Does anyone know whether a pint of sauce is enough to flavor a dozen or two wings with, or whether this sauce can even be used that way? This might possibly be the lazy (and more expensive) way to get the sauce ready. Any ideas are appreciated.

The Snob

Forgive my ignorance, but where is Buffalo Joe's?

FFS, it should read 1/2 cup of flour with the spices added to taste. Honestly, i don't measure them. Maybe a tsp of salt, a tsp of pepper, and a couple of pinches of garlic.

The two locations are at 812 Clark Street in Evanston and 1841 Howard Street in Chicago. Their phone numbers are (847) 328-5525 and (773) 764-7300, respectively. One is in downtown Evanston (not too far from the Century Theatres), and the other is right on the Chicago-Evanston border near Clark/Chicago Avenue.

Ah, that's why it wasn't familiar to me.

i'll chime in with my own experience:

it's very possible to make restaurant-quality wings at home, it's just not often worth the hassle.

i've had great success roasting and deep-frying wings and then tossing them in any one of a number of store bought sauces. i coat them in seasoned flour (salt/pepper) before cooking. the deep fried wings were far closer to the real thing, as you might imagine, but the roasted wings were very good as well, with nice crisp skin.

but, frankly, they weren't worth the cost and hassle. Even on sale, the wings are about 10 cents each or more. add in the cost of half an hour or 45 minutes of my time spent dredging the wings, heating the oil, cooking the fries, making the sauce, draining the wings, and tossing them in the sauce, and i'll take restaurant-prepared wings any time.

so yes, it's possible, but I'd say if you have a wing craving, don't bother. I'll pay $5 to get 8 big wings, garlic bread, fries, and slaw at kings and queens in berwyn, or $8 to get a dozen large or three dozen small wings, celery/carrot, and bleu cheese from avenue ale house in oak park rather than take the time to make my own.

but I'm also lazy

-ed

The key to good Buffalo Wings is how you prepare them as well as the ingredients and the handling of the wings. The most successful wings served up here in Buffalo are what they call "Grade A Grinders." Fresh wings that are very large and meaty. Usually, you cannot get them in a frozen package, but can get them from a poultry dealer. Once you find them make sure they are absolutely fresh.

Wash them in cold water, split them at the joint and remove the tips. Place them on a rack on a pan and refrigerate overnight to let the blood and water drain out of the wings.

THIS IS A REAL KEY. Drying the wings under refrigeration will help to make them a much crispier product, once deep fried.

Next, use a deep fryer or a very heavy deep pot with a thermometer and add the oil. Peanut oil is very good, or a commercial product such as can be found at a restaurant cash and carry called Mel Fry. Heat the oil up SLOWLY, to 365F, and depending on the size of the fryer, deep fry the dry wings 6-8 minutes in small batches, until thoroughly done and golden brown.

Hold the cooked wings in a warm oven if necessary. A combination of melted margarine and hot sauce in the ratio of 1 part margarine to 3 parts hot sauce will add the right zing. The key here is to add just enough sauce to coat the wings - the more sauce you add, the hotter they will be. For the very brave, 1 part margarine to 3 parts hot sauce and 1 part Tabasco is referred to as "Suicidal Wings" by the late and dear Don Bellissimo, who owned the Anchor Bar.

Working quickly, place the deep fried wings in a large bowl and add the sauce mixture, shaking to coat them. There are many good hot sauces to use; the one they use is either Durkee Franks Red Hot Sauce or Wingers Original, again found in a restaurant cash and carry. Celery sticks and chunky blue cheese dressing (Ken's Buffalo Style Blue Cheese is a popular one) and plenty of napkins.

Finally gave the wings a good fry today. Used a big bag of frozen chicken deep-fried in a good-sized (but somewhat shallow) pan on the stove top. The recipe on the back of a 12-oz. bottle of Frank's original red hot sauce was good enough for me, and the resulting butter and Frank's mixture provided a surprisingly BJ's-like coating. Some sliced jalapenos may add the right amount of kick next time. Thanks for all the suggestions. Butter and sauce did the trick.

--The Snob

If it is still open there was a third Buffalo Joe's,the seafood location on Greenbay in Evanston.

I've been to the other two, but I've never been to the "third." Does the Seafood Joe's also serve their famous wings (preferably with suicide sauce)?

--The Snob

Has anyone been to the Wing Stop...around 6000 N. Clark? Just noticed this place the other day as I was driving.

Funny, I think I may have answered the same question over on Roadfood or eGullet's forums. (You were the one asking, right?) Basically, Wing Stop is a slightly better version of Buffalo Wild Wings, but does not deserve to be grouped together with the likes of Buffalo Joe's. Seriously. They do have a few different flavors worth trying, however.

--The Snob

thanks for the reply! And yes it was me asking over there too.

Hi. No disrespect intended but when you start talking about flour and garlic salt, you've stopped talking about buffalo wings.

I agree with the poster who spoke of drying the wings out in the fridge - this is exactally the way it was done in a bar I worked in where the wings were very popular.

They used Franks hot sauce and butter (a two to one ratio, respectively) - that was it. Also, they kept the sauce warmed on the stove at all times.

The level of heat depended on how long you left the wings in the sauce. A quick dip was mild. Medium you held for a couple of seconds. Hot you left steeping in the sauce as you finished the fries or something else. Suicide you would shake a little straight hot sauce onto the finished hot wings.

When I make my own now I use the above mix with some good barbeque sauce thrown in. Against the law, yes. Delicious, yes, yes, yes.

This is a response to an old thread - but I felt I needed to say something.

Octarine - I hear you, and I feel your pain. I too began eating Buffalo Joes in 1986 - I went to NU from 86-90. And so Buffalo Joes is burned into my brain as the be-all of wings places - a restaurant that I make the effort to goto whenever I am in Chicago. It is Not the Same as it was - there are a lot more "sandwiches" and potatoes and they have changed some of the pictures in the back, including the Zorro Potato. And the Burger is no longer worth it - it is now Thin, of all things. And it is Obviously un-acceptable to treat a long time patron with the disrespect of asking you to pay for the ranch. I simply want to say that yours may have been an aberration. I've been back 40-50 times in the last five years, and I worked in Evanston Last Summer, so I ate there 4-5 times a week. And I only got asked to pay for ranch or sauce cups once, and another worker on the line secreted one to me. Joe's needs our continued support - it is an institution that is Important to Evanston, to NU, and to me. And so I am hoping that you will give it one more chance. I only write this because, as someone who is a kindred spirit, I know that you Care about Buffalo Joes. And So Do I.

Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2004 6:42 pm Post subject:

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The price hike was badenough, but the last time I went there they actually said they had to charge me for the ranch dressing after I had bought two double orders! I wasn't asking for a pint, just a little cup. This was in addition to the dressing they said they had to charge me for to go with the cheddar chips.

I've been eating there since 1985-6 but they are dead to me now. Their wings have steadily decreased in size and quality over the years and nostalgia was really the only thing keeping me there. Well, boys and girls, nostalgia aint cutting it anymore!

I may still go to the Howard St. location but I think I need to find a new wing place.

Okey dokey. Here's how I do it, and I've been told (and I humbly agree) these are as good as bar wings. Even my Buffalonian friends agreed, so I must be doing something right.

I haven't been able to duplicate Buffalo Joe's sauce though, but I think part of their signature flavor is the addition of yellow mustard. I may be wrong, but I swear they have a bit of a mustardy flavor to them.

First of all, it's very easy to make wings as good as the ones in the bar if you know what you're doing. All good Buffalo Wings start with two ingredients: Frank's Hot Sauce (or possibly Texas Pete's, although I've never used it) and margarine. Yes, margarine, not butter. Now, there is much debate in the wing community over the merits of each. Many purists swear that margarine, in fact, is the original ingredient. Me? I don't really care either way--you can use butter or margarine--but I find the texture of the sauce to be better with margarine. This is the only time in my cooking I use margarine.

Second, bring your wings to room temp, or at least warm them up a bit from the fridge. I dry them off by patting down with a paper towel, but, as has been noted, you can also just let them dry in the fridge. If you use enough oil, you might not even have to bring them up to room temp.

Bring your oil to 375F. Deep fry the wings until they're brown & crispy. (8-10 minutes) Don't crowd the pot with too many wings or you'll drop the oil temp too much and end up with soggy wings. In fact, I suspect the oil I use is hotter than 375, but I don't use a thermometer when deep frying. I also prefer peanut oil.

While you're deep frying, you should have your sauce heating up in a sauce pan. Start at about a 1:1 ratio and keep adding Frank's until you reach a level you like. I enjoy 2 Frank:1 margarine, and add Tabasco to provide some extra heat.

When your wings are done, take 'em out, drain 'em, toss with sauce and immediately serve. Serve them batch by batch. Do not let them sit around or they will get soggy.

So, that's the basics, and will produce absolutely delicious wings, respectable enough to be served at any bar or restaurant. Make sure you use decent, meaty wings, as well. Nothing worse than a scrawny, anemic wing.

Let's move on to advanced class. A couple of weeks ago I made four different wing sauces and held a little taste test at home, and decided my old recipe is still the best.

So, to the above sauce, I add the following (assume about two cups of sauce) Measurements are very approximate. I do this to taste.

1 teaspoon yellow mustard
1-3 teaspoons honey (this is not a bastardization. A Buffalonian actually taught me this)
1 crushed garlic clove (you can debate the authenticity of this, but I swear I taste garlic in the Anchor Bar sauce)
Tabasco to taste (at least 1 Tablespoon)

For me, this produces a fantastic sauce. Sometimes, I will also add some freshly ground black pepper, some cayenne pepper powder, and a dash of Worcestershire. I've even been known to sneak in some Cajun spices for a change of pace. Oh, and some people swear by adding a tablespoon of vinegar to the sauce for a little extra punch. Personally, I think it's plenty vinegary as it is.

Play around with the recipe and have fun. Remember, though, that the Franks and margarine/butter should be the predominant flavors. Let everything else be a graceful accent.

A brother and many of my friends have moved to Evanston since college, and I was lucky they did. Not only did it give me a reason to get to Davis Street Fishmarket more often, but it also included an introduction to Buffalo Joe's. I quickly fell in love...with their Buffalo Chips & Chez Sauce. If you've never had it, I highly recommend! The distinctly cheddar cheese flavor easily outshines any ballpark hot chez sauce typically put on nachos.

After the 2004 football season I found myself on a mission to find their chez sauce recipe. I talked with employees, scanned the counter at checkout, and even dove into the dumpster in hopes of finding the secret. Nothing.

But finally one day my persistance paid off. I randomly asked a new employee and he refered me to the head cook (who just happened to be there). He kindly informed me, with little fanfare, that the sauce was Kakauna or Merks Cheddar Cheese spread with a little heavy whipping cream mixed in. Since then I've been enjoying it anytime I make fries or tater tots at home. YUM!

Don't get me wrong, their wings are a solid effort, but after college years of eating Sully's Wings, I'm a bit partial to their version of wing sauce. While well outside of "Chicagoland" (still not a fan of that term), it's worth a side trip.

Sully's Pub
(309) 342-9325
1075 N Henderson St
Galesburg, IL 61401
OR
Sully's Pub & Cafe
(309) 674-0238
121 SW Adams St
Peoria, IL 61602

Has anyone been to "Wing Street" ?? Its apparently a chain owned by Pizza Hut... I've seen a LOT of new looking "Wing Street" locations that are actually in the same building as Pizza Hut... Has anyone had their wings, and are they any good?

Personally, I think Buffalo Wild Wings are pretty bad (well, based off of the 1 experience we had with them). They were skimpy wings--NOTHING like "true" wings you get in Buffalo (though apparently wings in the midwest never are that close to the real thing...).

BWW suffers from the same thing as most restaurant burgers: The emphasis is placed on the variety and toppings, not on doing one thing really really well. I didn't think they were bad at all, so long as you go on a Tuesday (1/2 price wings) or Wednesday (1/2 price drumsticks) -- otherwise you can drop a bundle. It doesn't match the Anchor Bar in Buffalo by any stretch, but fine for a quick weeknight out with the kids. I actually thought their wings were pretty meaty.

hmm, perhaps the victim of a bad new chef on a bad night... also, forgot to mention.. they have these potato chip things (though they're thicker, so more like fries shaped like chips...).. these sounded good and the waitress raved about them... they came and they were soggy and greasy---obviously not cooked enough... we told the waitress to take them back and have them cook them longer ... they did (even though they had cheese on them and stuff.... i suppose it was too hard to waste 50 cents of potatoes and start fresh).. they came back and were a little better, but still mushy and nothing too exciting... seeing as how these are their "specialty" (or something cliched like that...), I have a feeling it was a bad bad night for them.

i'll have to remember the 1/2 price wing night on tuesdays... do they have that at all locations?

Eh...I wouldn't blame anemic wings on the chef...Even Buffalo Joe's gets an occassional batch that is scrawny. Although I will say that I've been to BWW about five times, and every single time I had sub-par wings. They weren't terribly crispy and tasted like they weren't made to order. This is the BWW in Orland Park, if anyone keeping's score. Perhaps other locations are better, but I've been consistently disappointed with them.

Buffalo Joe's, on the other hand, is sublime 90% of the time. The other 10% is when they get a skinny batch of wings. I haven't found any place in the Chicago area that's as good as BJ's. My only strike against Buffalo Joe's is that they serve their wings with ranch. But I can let it slide, given the general superiority of their product.

Oye! I am keeping score.. The bad wings / service / "chips" I described were also found at the buffalo wild wings in Orland Park... So maybe its that location that is worse than others?

Since "discovering" BWW I now see them all over it seems.. (or perhaps they've grown a lot fairly recently). So maybe we'll give it a shot somewhere else to see if its any better.

We had good service at BWW @Orland Park on our one visit (as good as high school kid at a chain restaurant service can be), but the food wasn't all that special. The variety of wing sauces we tried were mostly too sweet or too gloopy or both. The wings weren't all that crisp and were fairly small.

We don't see any reason to give them another shot, even if the OP location is an aberration. I doubt the sauces are made in each store, and they were pretty mediocre, so why bother?