The Best Pickle Brined Chicken Wings (3 Easy Steps)
Why You Should Make Pickle Brined Chicken Wings
If you have ever had a famous fast-food chicken sandwich, you already know the secret to their incredibly juicy meat. The secret is pickle juice! Making pickle brined chicken wings at home takes that exact same concept and applies it to the ultimate game-day appetizer.
Instead of tossing out your empty pickle jars, we are going to use that leftover liquid gold. The brine works because of three key food science components:
The Aromatics: The garlic, mustard seeds, and dill already infused in the pickle juice absorb directly into the meat, adding complex layers of flavor you cannot get from a standard dry rub.
The Vinegar: The high acidity in pickle juice breaks down the proteins in the chicken, naturally tenderizing the meat before it ever hits the hot oil.
The Salt: Brining allows the chicken to absorb water and salt, deeply seasoning the wings from the inside out while helping them retain maximum moisture during the frying process.
How to Make the Perfect Buffalo Sauce
These pickle brined chicken wings are fantastic on their own, but they are elevated to the next level when tossed in a classic Buffalo sauce.
The secret to restaurant-quality wing sauce isn’t just dumping hot sauce into a bowl. You have to emulsify it. By simmering Frank’s Red Hot Sauce and slowly whisking in cold, cubed butter, you create a thick, glossy sauce that perfectly coats the crispy exterior of your freshly fried wings.
What Kind of Pickle Juice Works Best?
When making the ultimate pickle brined chicken wings, the type of pickle juice you use is absolutely critical to your success. You always want to stick to dill pickle juice or a classic sour pickle brine. Why? It all comes down to the food science of acidity versus sugar.
Dill pickle brine has a highly acidic vinegar base that perfectly tenderizes the chicken meat while infusing it with sodium. If you use a sweet pickle or bread-and-butter pickle juice, the high sugar content will actually cause your wings to burn and caramelize far too quickly when they hit the hot frying oil. This leaves you with a bitter, burnt crust and undercooked chicken on the inside. Always stick to the savory, salty, garlic-heavy dill brines for the best flavor profile.
How Long Should You Brine Your Wings?
The golden rule for these pickle brined chicken wings is to let them soak in the fridge for at least 4 hours, but absolutely no longer than 24 hours. Food science tells us that if you leave poultry in a highly acidic liquid for too long, the vinegar will start to break down the protein fibers far beyond the point of tenderization. Instead of making the meat juicy, over-brining turns the chicken completely mushy, stringy, and unappetizing. An overnight soak (around 8 to 12 hours) is the ultimate sweet spot. This allows enough time for osmosis to pull the seasoned liquid all the way to the bone, keeping the meat perfectly juicy and firm while it cooks.
The Secret to Extra Crispy Skin
One of the biggest challenges with any wet marinade is achieving crispy skin. Moisture is the ultimate enemy of a crispy fry. But here is where the food science of our pickle brined chicken wings gives you a massive advantage: the vinegar! While many people assume vinegar evaporates faster than water, acetic acid actually evaporates slower.
The real secret is what the acid does to the cellular structure of the poultry. The high acidity of the pickle juice breaks down the tough proteins and collagen in the skin. This breakdown allows the fat underneath to render out much faster when it hits the hot oil, essentially frying the skin in its own natural fats to create a paper-thin, shatteringly crisp crust.
To get the absolute best results, after removing your pickle brined chicken wings from the jar, you must thoroughly pat every single wing completely dry with paper towels. For a true restaurant-quality crunch, leave the dried wings uncovered on a wire rack in your fridge for an hour before cooking. This process, known as desiccation, pulls the remaining surface moisture away, guaranteeing a massive, satisfying crunch when fried!
Check out the perfect Wingstop Ranch Sauce to go with your wings!
Pickle Brined Chicken Wings
Ingredients
Method
- 1. Grab an empty pickle jar with approximately 30 oz of brine in it. This can also be done in another container with my brine when scaling up the recipe.2. Add in your chicken party wings. Do not cram the wings into the jar, they should be loosely floating around. You won't need the full 2 lbs of wings here.3. Cover with the lid and toss in the fridge to marinate overnight, or a minimum of 12 hours.
- 1. Combine all the ingredients for the dredge in a large mixing bowl, and mix to combine.2. Remove the wings from the pickle brine, and toss directly into the dredge. There is no need to pat the wings dry here.3. Coat all the wings in the dredge and leave in the bowl until your oil is heated.
- 1. Heat 1 cup of Franks Red Hot Sauce until it starts to simmer.2. Turn off the heat and gradually whisk in 2-3 tbsp of cubed butter at a time to emulsify it into the sauce. 3. Once emulsified, set it aside and move on to the cook.
- 1. Heat roughly 2 quarts (make sure you use at least a 4qt sauce pot for this step to avoid having the oil pour over the sides) of any neutral oil to 375 F.2. Fry your wings in batches of 4-5 until an internal temperature of 165 is reached. Set aside on a wire rack while the rest of the wings get fried.3. Pour your buffalo sauce all over your wings and toss to combine.4. Serve it up and Enjoy!
