OK everyone, you can finally breathe a sigh of relief. According to the Department of Agriculture's price index, as reported by NBC News here, the cost of chicken wings is lower than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic began. This is great news for the start of football season, because the Western New York delicacy and the gridiron go hand-in-hand.
How far have they fallen? Per the Department of Agriculture, the average cost of wholesale wings fell to $1.68 a pound in July and is trending even lower for August. Did you spot the catch? Yeah, it’s that word “wholesale” isn’t it? Translated, this means that restaurant and take out prices may not immediately change prices despite their cost savings. Or ever frankly. At the time of writing, my local place is charging me as much as they ever have.
The NBC News article dives into the likely cause for the dramatic price swing, containing a nice breakdown of supply and demand and changing habits throughout the breakdown and adds one more cautionary tale. As football season ramps up, the demand will likely increase, which means—yeah, you guessed it. Prices will follow.
Now for most writers, this is where the story might end. But you’re stuck with the author of Wingin’ It, the only best damn Buffalo Bills recipe series in the blogverse. So don’t fret on the catches, Ol’ Skare has your back.
While restaurants may not be inclined to lower prices, grocery stores have been more responsive to fluctuations in meat prices throughout the pandemic. My grocery store of choice currently has a 4 lb pack of wings for a little under $15 (or $3.49 per pound). That’s roughly four orders of wings at most places for the price of one.
You might need to separate the wings depending on where you buy them and yes you have to cook and toss them yourself, but with a little practice this is a pretty easy affair. Also, homemade sauces can be worlds above even the best restaurants.
Recently, I let a secret out in a comment section, so let’s make it more formal. I’ve done four seasons of Wingin’ It and there’s been an Easter Egg along nearly the entire journey. Whenever possible I’ve made the sauce separate or easily separated from the main food item. Why would I do such a thing? Well, for nearly every recipe that allows you to wing it. Don’t feel like slow cooking ribs for hours and hours? You can just make the sauce and toss your wings in it.
With that in mind, here are a few I highly recommend:
- Jacksonville Jaguars’ tabbouleh inspired sauce. Their city still has no actual signature food, but this sauce came out amazing. Don’t be scared of the mint. Embrace the mint.
- Carolina Ex-Panther sauce. This might be my all-time favorite.
- New England Patriots Concord grape sauce. Much faster than the beans
- General tips. Where it all began...
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