Vortex Buffalo Wings Take 5

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BandCollector

Master of the Pit
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As many of you know, I have been obsessed with creating the perfect skin crispness on my chicken wings.

With the help of several members, I discovered that the secret is to make sure the wings are DRY before smoking them. Their suggestions provided much better results and convinced me of the importance of drying the wings. (I also tried pc farmer pc farmer technique using olive oil with great results.)

Below is the thread I posted documenting the preparation of wings incorporating what I learned.


However, lately I have been using an oven baking technique from Alton Brown that I found 7 years ago on the Food Network. His recipe always produced crisp wings in the oven, so I thought, why not try it with my vortex. The results were fantastic, so I thought I would share them with you.

Place a 6-quart saucepan with a steamer basket and 1" of water in the bottom, over high heat, cover and bring to a boil. Place the wings in the steamer basket, cover, reduce the heat to medium, and steam for 10 minutes.

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Remove the wings, pat dry, lay the wings out on a cooling rack , and place in the refrigerator for a minimum of 1 hour. I usually cool for 2 hours.


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Prepare the sauce. This one is my favorite!

3 oz unsalted butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup Franks Hot Wing Sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

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Seasoned with Jeff's Rub and waiting for a full chimney of Kingsford Briquettes to get ready!

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Vortex a-bazing with two chunks of cherry!

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Rotated the lid on the Weber every 10 minutes, flipped the wings after 20 minutes, and here are the results after 35 minutes. IT reached 180˚.

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I'm In Heaven! These are fantastic in the oven and even more fantastic with the Vortex!


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The 10 minute steam bath reduced the cooking time, but really contributed greatly to the crispy skin.

Give this technique a try. . . You won't be disappointed!

Kudos to Alton Brown!

Thanks for viewing,

John
 
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Looking good. I’ve noticed with the vortex, atleast for me I haven’t needed to do anything to the wings and skin still comes out crispy. Still think it’s one of the best things I’ve bought
 
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Man those look great! I may have to try and steam sometime. The sauce recipe is almost exactly how I do mine except I add some wochestishire also so I know the sauce you had was good. Nice job!
 
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BandCollector BandCollector , they look great. I keep working on improving my wings to get more chrispy. I appreciate your tips.

I noticed something under your Vortex, what is it?

I saw a couple Vortex style units on Amazon for about half the price. Does anyone have any of them and if so, what are your thoughts? Thanks.
 
BandCollector BandCollector , they look great. I keep working on improving my wings to get more chrispy. I appreciate your tips.

I noticed something under your Vortex, what is it?

When the Vortex is used on a regular basis it could damage the top of the lid due to the extreme heat it gives off. Therefore I placed a small grate on the very bottom of my kettle to lower the height of the Vortex so the heat would not be as intense on my lid. Whether it works or not, time will tell.

John
 
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John those wings look great, A far different method then what I do, but who can argue with the results.

Point for sure
Chris

I saw a couple Vortex style units on Amazon for about half the price. Does anyone have any of them and if so, what are your thoughts? Thanks.

Knock-offs probably work fine, but Owens put a lot of time and effort into designing, marketing and making the Vortex. I firmly believe in supporting the inventor of a product.


Nice job. Will try next time except will have to pass on the PBR. When I was a kid we kept drinking my Dads beer. When he finally changed to PBR we stopped drinking it but he did also!

Blasphemy I say.

Pabst Blue Ribbon is an option. . .Any libation will do!

John

Totally inaccurate, if you read the fine print on the back of the Vortex instructions. It clearly states that PBR must be the libation of choice in order to achieve optimum performance of this product. :emoji_sunglasses:

Chris
 
I'd say you have found the winner winner chicken dinner! Wings look perfect!

Ryan
 
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