Seasoning Chicken wings

For deep fried Buffalo wings, seasoning can be summed up in three words:

Just add salt!

Raw chicken wings should be salted before cooking. At the very least, wings should be salted a few minutes before frying, but more time is better. The gold standard is to salt the wings before drying them uncovered in the fridge. This helps remove moisture from the skin for crispier wings while also giving the salt time to penetrate and season the meat.

Adding the Salt

• 1/2 tsp kosher salt per pound of wings
  or
• 1/4 tsp regular table salt per pound

Kosher salt is larger and less dense than table salt so you need more by volume to get the same result.

Add thawed, separated, and drained wings to a large bowl. The wings should not be dripping wet after draining. If necessary, pat them dry with paper towels before seasoning.

Add salt according to the weight of the chicken, then mix well to evenly coat the wings.

When to Salt

• If planning to fry right away, salt after drying the wings. The raw wings will still be moist enough for the salt to stick to the skin.
• If drying wings overnight or longer, salt before they go into the fridge. The wings will still be moist enough for the salt to stick to the skin, and over time the salt will absorb into the skin and meat for more even seasoning.
• Adding salt only after frying mainly increases the saltiness of the Buffalo sauce while leaving the meat inside less seasoned.

Spices

• If adding black pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, or other spices, the time to do it is when you add the salt, but I generally don’t think they are necessary for a few reasons.
  • These spices can come off in the fryer oil, contaminating the oil and shortening its life.
  • Once wings are coated in Buffalo wing sauce and dipped in blue cheese dressing, it becomes difficult to taste those extra spices anyway because many of the same flavors already exist in the sauce and dressing.

Salt is different from the other seasonings mentioned above. Given enough time, salt penetrates into the skin and meat itself. Even when covered in Buffalo sauce and blue cheese dressing, a lack of salt inside the wing will still be noticeable.

The wings are now ready for the drying rack or the fryer.