How To Make The Ultimate Bar-Style Buffalo Wings

The ultimate Buffalo wing experience is just 3 steps away: Bake 'em, fry 'em, sauce 'em.

This classic triple-threat restaurant trick creates wings with crispy, crunchy skin and the tenderest, most juicy meat. Here's how to make the ultimate restaurant-style Buffalo wings happen in your home kitchen.

Step 1: Wings in the Oven

Arrange your wings in a single layer on a sheet pan, and bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes. Then flip the wings, and bake on the other side for 20 minutes until they're nice and crisp. No soggy wings!

Pro-Tip: You can bake your wings ahead of time, chill them, and then fry-to-order at game time.

Step 2: Wings in the Fryer

Heat the oil to 375 degrees F. Use a candy thermometer to gauge the temperature. Then add the pre-baked wings a few at a time, taking care not to crowd the fryer. You'll want to give them plenty of wiggle room so they don't get oily. Fry until extra crispy -- just 5 minutes!

Step 3: Wings in the Sauce

The classic Buffalo-style wing sauce starts with Frank's Red Hot sauce. To sauce 10 to 12 wings, heat but don't boil 1/2 cup of Frank's with 1/2 stick of butter. Then toss in the wings.

This basic sauce gives you a mild wing. To ratchet up the flames, check out this heat scale graphic, which gives you tips for taking your wings from hot to hotter to basically touching the freaking sun. And if you can't quite abide the oven-to-fryer method, try these top methods: grilling or slow cooking!

5-Star Buffalo Wings Recipes

• Baked Buffalo Wings
• Deep-Fried Buffalo Wings
• Slow Cooker Buffalo Wings
• Grilled Buffalo Wings

Nerd Alert: How to Tame the Flames

A few common foods can chill the hot, hot thrill of chile peppers. The fat content in milk and other dairy foods, combined with a protein called casein, helps neutralize the burn. That's why hot wings pair so perfectly with creamy blue cheese dressing. Beer can offer momentary relief, too. But it's only temporary -- the burn returns, until the next sip can give you another moment's respite. Which may explain why Buffalo wings started in a bar: Hot wings are a great way to sell more beer! One last trick? Eat a slice of bread, which helps sponge up the oily capsaicin, the compound that gives chiles their spicy sting.

There's plenty more to say about chicken wings. Check out our massively inclusive guide to chicken wings. It's truly Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Chicken Wings.

More: Get our entire collection of Buffalo wing recipes.