BBQ Chicken Wings Three Ways

Chicken wings to the power of three. Crispy, juicy and tender. When they’re cooked, coat them in whichever of the three sauces takes your fancy.

Serves 6

Ingredients

24 chicken wings, drums and flats separated

200g plain flour

1 tsp celery salt

1 tsp white pepper

Vegetable oil in a spray bottle

Coating 1: Honey BBQ sauce

400g can chopped tomatoes

8 tbsp cider vinegar

2 tbsp honey

1 tbsp tomato purée

3 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tbsp dark brown sugar

1 tsp hot paprika

Pinch salt

Coating 2: Buffalo sauce

6 tbsp buffalo sauce spice mix (see below)

4 tbsp cola

2 tbsp apple juice

2 tbsp cider vinegar

2 tbsp ketchup

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp chilli powder

100g butter

For the buffalo sauce spice mix

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 heaped tbsp sea salt

1 tbsp black pepper

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp ground coriander

1 tbsp onion granules

1 tbsp garlic granules

½ tsp mustard powder powder

½ tsp chilli powder

½ tsp chilli flakes (crushed chili pepper)

Coating 3: Salt and pepper toss

1 tbsp of cracked black pepper

1 tbsp of sea salt

Method

For the honey BBQ sauce, chuck all the ingredients into a saucepan and slowly simmer until rich and sticky. I like to use a stick blender to whizz up any chunky bits of tomato and garlic to make a smooth sauce, but you can keep it chunky.

For the buffalo sauce, first make the spice mix by combining all the ingredients in a bowl. (Keep what you don’t use in this recipe for any other meat you need to throw on your grill.)

Place all the ingredients for the sauce (minus the butter) in a cast-iron frying pan, stir everything together and set over a medium heat. Let it bubble away until thick and hot, then stir in the butter. For the salt and pepper toss, simply combine the salt and pepper in a bowl.

Now for the wings. Mix the flour, celery salt and white pepper in a large bowl. Chuck 4–5 wings at a time into the bowl and coat. Lay all the coated wings out on a baking tray, then lightly spray them with oil. When the grill is at 200°C (390°F), place the wings around the outer perimeter so they don’t sit over direct heat. Turn occasionally and cook until golden and crispy. When they have an internal temp of 80°C (176°F), they’re done.

To coat your wings, chuck a few spoonfuls of sauce (or a quarter of the salt and pepper mix) into a big bowl. Now chuck in half the wings. Add another dollop of sauce (or a dusting of salt and pepper mix) and use the tsunami technique to toss, so the wings fly in the air and back into the bowl. Repeat with the rest of the wings. Serve. Eat. Party!