Chicken wings are one of our “go-to” meals during football season.
We usually buy the five-pound bags at Sam’s Club, then divide them up into freezable, sealed bags when we get home.
Each bag includes about ten total wings, just enough for both of us – these wings are rather large.
Some stats indicate that Americans will eat over a billion chicken wings for the Superbowl in February.
Why do we like chicken wings so much?
- Easy to hold and require no utensil
- Can be flavored to almost anything to suit a variety of tastes
- Good to serve a crowd or at a sports gathering
- Chicken wings are an American food
The birth of the chicken wing
Supposedly, buffalo chicken wings were first developed in Buffalo, New York.
Served either fried or sauced, a Buffalo establishment called Anchor Bar created the first buffalo wings in 1964.
Teressa’s and Frank Bellissimo would serve chicken wings with her famous hot sauce.
In the 1960s and ’70s, families would cook whole-chicken dinners, but in the ’80s home cooks wanted more convenience.
And then boneless, skinless chicken breast became popular.
The wings of the chicken were a byproduct and resulted in wings being cheap.
The low cost is why the Anchor Bar started selling wings.
Chicken Wing Preference
Baking or grilling wings usually means a rub is applied before or during the cooking process and some sort of sauce is applied after cooking is complete.
Some will even dunk their wings in a sauce, ranch dressing or blue cheese.

The major drawback to these cooking methods is the wing is somewhat bland, except for the rub applied.
Rubs can be harsh and overwhelming.
If I am served grilled or baked wings, I usually end up dipping it in ranch dressing, just to perk it up.
I prefer wings with a crispy crust, much like fried chicken.
However, I HATE deep frying any food – not only for the horrible health issue, but I have a cardinal rule in my kitchen – NO DEEP FRYING INSIDE THE HOUSE!
The lingering odor, after deep frying, is intolerable to me.
Therefore, I have been searching high and low for a way to obtain a crispy, golden crust on my wings, but grill them on the gas grill, outside.
I finally found the perfect recipe.
The key is heat application, timing, and submerging the chicken wings in a brine before grilling.
WANT TO MAKE FRIED CHICKEN WINGS ON THE GRILL?
SUBSCRIBE AND GET THE RECIPE FREE! https://mailchi.mp/fa9fedeafa34/chickenwingrecipe
Tools for this recipe: