Quality Buffalo Wings

- jim Young 20190614

“My Wife: It’s dinner time. Are you hungry?
Me: What’s being hungry got to do with eating?”

I like chicken wings.

That's not really a revelation to anyone that knows me. Last year when I was in the city for a week-long assignment I ate out every night and ordered chicken wings for dinner each night.

There are so many good places to enjoy your wings in Barrie, but the wings at Tiff’s Bar & Restaurant are - well - they’re legendary. Don’t believe me? You can check it out for yourself right on their menu.

Panzerotto Pizza and Wing Machine at
the Royal Victoria Hospital in Barrie
An unlikely spot if you’re looking for good wings in Barrie is the Royal Victoria Hospital. You won't have to be admitted as a patient, however, you’ll find these wings in the food court at Gino’s Pizza and Wing Machine. At least they were good wings when they were known as the Panzerotto Pizza and Wing Machine.

There are probably 40 or 50 places that you can get your wings in Barrie but living in the small hamlet of Loring in Northern Ontario now, my options are somewhat more limited.

However, there are two places nearby in the little town of Port Loring where I can go to enjoy a pound of wings and a cold beer - Jake's Place Restaurant and Roxie’s Diner.

Either venue is well worth dropping into if your travelling along Hwy 522 through Port Loring.

Which one I go to will depend on the time of day I want my wings. Generally Jake’s Place is open from early morning to mid afternoon with Roxie’s Diner operating from noon or later into the evening. Some days there’s a 3 hour overlap in which I can choose either restaurant for our dining pleasure. I try to avoid going out for a meal during that time, to avoid having to make a difficult decision.

More often than not, however, I have been enjoying my chicken wings right here at home.

My all time favourite prepared frozen chicken wings used to be Pinty’s Buffalo Wings. Pinty’s, however decided to reduce their four skus of various styles of chicken wings to one by packaging plain wings with 4 varieties of sauce included. The consumer could have their choice by simply adding their favourite sauce when preparing their wings. Somehow Pinty’s Buffalo Wings just don’t taste the same as their prepared ones did however so I haven’t purchased them since.

I resorted to buying my chicken wings fresh from Costco and set out to scour the internet and any restaurant that might impart their secret recipe in search of the perfect chicken wing.

After much trial and error, and using a composite of many recipes I finally succeeded in creating the perfect homemade chicken wings.

But they just got better.

Costco wings are very good and reasonably priced but they pale in comparison with the chicken wings I recently purchased at Dual Rill Farms.

Unlike at Costco, you have to split the Dual Rill wings yourself. A sharp knife aimed at the joint however will cut through them like a hot knife through butter.

Don’t discard those tips either. Unlike the tips you get with whole wings at a grocery store, these tips have enough meat to make it worth while preparing the tips along with the wings. Instead of becoming a wasted byproduct the prepared tips can instead be savoured as a delicacy.

Out of one package of wings from Dual Rill Farms I ended up with 4 tips, 4 wingettes and 4 drumettes.

I prepared my wings using the same recipe that I use for Baked Boneless Buffalo Wings(I intend to start purchasing my boneless chicken breasts from Dual Rill Farms next.)

The Dual Rill wings were some of the largest and juiciest chicken wings I have ever experienced.

Typically a pound of wings will get you anywhere between 7 and 12 wings but don’t expect that kind of yield from Dual Rill Chickens.

Two drumettes prepared from
chicken wings purchased
at Dual Rill Farms.
The two drumettes pictured here weighed in at almost ½ pound. I’d be willing to bet dollars to donuts there was more meat on this ½ pound of chicken wings than there is on a typical ½ pound of most restaurant wings.

Bigger and better tasting wings is one thing, but the Scots in me still wanted to know the bottom line. So out came the calculator. I was surprised to discover that the package of wings at Dual Rill Farms would have cost me a mere 60 cents less at Costco prices.

I would have to purchase a truck load of wings to offset the cost of a trip to Sudbury for that kind of savings.

And just look at all I’m getting for an additional 60 cents a package:

  • Bigger and better tasting chicken wings
  • Wings with more meat and less trouble to pick the bones
  • Healthy free range chickens that are not subjected to the inhumane conditions of factory farms
  • Supporting local farmers and commerce

They say if you want to make good wine you must start out with quality water. The same goes for Buffalo Wings. You have to start out with quality chicken wings. Like the ones from Dual Rill Farms.

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Published in the Great North Arrow, April 1, 2023: Vladdy's On First