Who’s ready for incredibly Juicy Broiled Buffalo Drumsticks? I know I am!!! Spring and summer is right around the corner which means BBQ’s and cookout’s galore. I can’t wait for summer cookout food!

But who wants to wait through winter to enjoy the tastes of summer? I sure as hell don’t!! If your grill is covered in snow, as long as you have an oven, you can make Juicy Broiled Buffalo Drumsticks right now! I’ve made this recipe 3 ways, grilled, broiled, and baked. Grilled turned out the best, broiled was a close 2nd, and baked was 3rd.

You might wonder why I’m posting the broiled version of this recipe if I love the grilled version so much. Well frankly my apartment porch is so small, it doesn’t fit a grill, and understandably I’m not allowed to grill inside. Our friends had us over at the beginning of the month and allowed us to fire up their charcoal grill so I could prepare these Juicy Buffalo Drumsticks for everyone’s enjoyment. These Broiled Buffalo Drumsticks are so delicious, I’ve made the recipe 3 times this month!

Your oven will do a remarkable job cooking up the Juicy Broiled Buffalo Drumsticks if you’re grill-less like me. Ugh, it sucks not being able to use my grill. I want to buy a house in the near future so I can grill in my own backyard. Kieran and I have been trying to buy a house in Portland, but the market is ridiculously brutal, we’ve already been outbid 7 times. Each time we’re outbid is depressing, but the last time felt like a punch in the gut. We really adored the home, it would have been perfect for us. Sigh…

Our friends, family, and Real Estate Agent keep saying, “You’re only being outbid because you haven’t found YOUR house yet. Your home will pick YOU!” I want to scream, “No, it’s because we’re not wealthy enough to compete with the buyers who are paying in cash, or desperate enough to skip the inspection (true story), ect!” I understand everyone is trying to keep our spirits high but it’s painful to watch house, after adorable house, slip through our fingers. Other people have told us they have been outbid 15 times or more, so sadly, Kieran and I have a long road ahead of us.

But check this out, according to the news, we’re lucky we found an apartment! So many people are flocking to Portland, rent and home prices are sky rocketing! So much in fact, people originally from Portland are being priced out by all the new implants! The apartment we’re at now is livable, but the complex has a dark, dank, 70’s porno vibe to it. I walk around humming, “Bow Chicka Bow Bow” to myself on a regular basis. It comes across as pornish because the apartment exterior color’s are a light, tan (ish) green and oddly you can’t see any apartment windows from the complex’s backside (our apartment has 2 levels yet only 4 small windows, so even mid day we have to turn on lights to see).

BUT, on the flip side, even though we’re not in love with our apartment, the complex has great features. The apartment’s tennis court is a 2 minute walk from our front door (Kieran and I LOVE playing tennis), the gym, pool, and hot tub are a 5 minute walk from our front door, and the complex is located in an amazing neighborhood with our favorite breweries and bars.

Our lease isn’t up until August 2016, so even if we continue to be outbid on houses, we have time to look. Worse case scenario we sign the lease for our apartment another year. During that time we can continue to save money and enjoy our apartment’s amenities. So, yes we’re bummed about being outbid, but it could be worse! We get to live in Portland after all 🙂

So, house or no house, grill or no grill, our oven came to the rescue so we can enjoy mouth watering Juicy Broiled Buffalo Drumsticks!

Even though Kieran and I can not easily grill at the moment, our oven’s broiler did a great job cooking up the Juicy Buffalo Drumsticks (and our apartment’s oven is aged).

EACH time I make this recipe Kieran takes a bite and says, “FUCK. ME! ” Now, if you’ve learned anything about us over the years dropping F bombs, after tasting a recipe, is the highest compliment one can achieve in our household, it’s a term of endearment. I’ll know if a recipe REALLY knocks Kieran’s socks off if he keeps repeating, “God damn woman…. God DAMN.” I think I got 3 “fuck me’s” and 15 “God damn woman’s” so it’s safe to say you’ll love this recipe too!

Since I don’t have a grill, I honestly think the start of the show is liquid smoke. If you’ve never tried using liquid smoke in your marinades, I encourage it because it gives your food a kiss of smokiness, without needing a grill! Note, a little goes a long way, so only use a capful at a time! You can get by without adding it in this recipe, but I encourage you to try it!

Note, cooking times for the drumsticks will differ drastically depending on what cooking method you use. Baked takes the longest, broiled is fairly quick, and grilled is usually fastest. Heat from grills and ovens can vary, so if you suspect your drumsticks are fully cooked but you’re not sure, use a meat thermometer. Awhile back I watched a Gordon Ramsey video on chicken drumsticks and he says they’ll cook MUCH faster if you remove the skin/meat/fat from the bottom. That’s why the bottom of my drumsticks looks so bare in my food photography. I go a step further and remove the layer of skin from the meaty part of the drumstick too, to make the dish a bit healthier. You don’t have to remove the skin or clean off the stuff at the bottom of the drumstick, just note your cooking times will take longer. If you watch the video below, you’ll see how Gordon Ramsey takes off the stuff at the bottom of the drumstick (he goofs and calls them thighs) around the 22 second mark. I do a similar approach but I’m not nearly as fast as him. I run my knife around the bone, close to the knuckle until I cut the meat/skin/muscle tendons all the way through. Then I yank and pull until the bone is almost completely clean.

So yeah, these Juicy Broiled Buffalo Drumsticks are NO joke, they are utterly delicious! Give them a try 🙂

Thanks for stopping by,

Christina

Juicy Broiled Buffalo Drumsticks

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Ingredients

8 chicken drumsticks (optional – remove the skin)

The Marinade/Spice Rub (FOR BEST FLAVOR MARINADE CHICKEN OVER NIGHT):

Splash of grapeseed oil (or you can use olive oil)
Capful of liquid smoke
1½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
½ turmeric (optional if you don't have some, but if you do, use it)
½ teaspoon smoked paprika (you can use regular too)
½ teaspoon granulated garlic
½ teaspoon granulated onion
½ teaspoon ground mustard
Pinch of cayenne pepper (more if you like them hot)
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon dried thyme

The Buffalo Sauce

1 cup Frank's Buffalo Sauce (or your favorite hot/buffalo sauce)
2-3 tablespoons of butter

Instructions

This first step is optional, but I prefer to take the skin off the drumstick. See notes.
The day or night before you're going to cook the recipe: In a big bowl, toss the chicken with all of the Marinade/Spice Rub ingredients until the drumsticks are well and evenly coated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night. You can marinade the drumsticks for 1 hour, but overnight is tastier.
After marination, turn on your broiler to preheat the oven. See notes.
Line a cookie sheet with tin foil. If you have a oven safe rack, place that on top of tin foil, spritz with cooking spray, and line your chicken drumsticks on the rack. If not using a rack, spritz the tin foil directly with cooking spray and line up the chicken on the tin foil. Put the cookie sheet in the oven under the broiler. Cook for 5-7 minutes on one side, flip chicken over and cook for an additional 5-7 minutes, or until the chicken reaches an external temperature of 160. If you've left on the skin, your chicken drumsticks will probably need a longer time to cook!
While the chicken is cooking, add the buffalo wing sauce and butter in a small pot. Heat the mixture over medium heat until the butter completely melts and the two ingredients are combined.
Once the chicken reaches 160, using a pastry brush (or spoon) brush the buffalo sauce onto the top of the chicken. Pop the chicken back into the oven and broil for 3 minutes. Take the chicken back out, flip it, and brush the buffalo sauce onto the other side. Again, pop the chicken back into the oven and cook for an additional 3 minutes. Remove the chicken and brush on any left over sauce. Let rest 5-10 minutes before serving.
Serve drumsticks with your favorite blue cheese/ranch dressing, carrots, celery, corn, mac and cheese, whatever you prefer!
Take a bite and enjoy the Juicy Broiled Buffalo Drumsticks!

Notes

To remove the skin, grab the meaty end of the drumstick. Pull the skin down and off the end. If your grip is slippery, use a paper towel to help pull off the skin. You can skip this step, but removing the skin helps the spice rub penetrate the meat (in my opinion). My drumsticks look bare at the bottom because before everything from the meaty part of the drumstick, down. First I remove the skin on the meaty part by simply pulling it off. Then I carefully run my knife around the bone, close to the knuckle (the bottom) again and again until I cut the meat/skin/muscle tendons all the way through. Then I remove yank and pull until the bone is almost completely clean. According to Gordon Ramsey, this allows the chicken to cook much more quickly.

Before turning on your broiler, open your oven and rearrange the oven racks so the one you’ll place the chicken on, will be on the second rung from the top.

You can grill, broil, or bake the drumsticks. I would set your oven to 425 and cook approx 10 minutes per side. Check the temp with a meat thermometer, once the chicken registers 160, start mopping on the sauce, and cook for an additional 3 minutes per side. If you grill, you’ll probably end up cooking the chicken 5-7 minutes per side before you add the sauce. Just remember, use a meat thermometer if you have any doubt the chicken is cooked through.

The grilled and broiled cooking methods rendered juicy drumsticks, if you bake the chicken in the oven, the meat will be drier, but it’s still delicious!

You can tone down the heat if you’re sensitive to spice. Omit the cayenne pepper and red pepper flakes and sub out the Buffalo Sauce for your favorite, mild hot sauce!

Calorie Breakdow

*8 chicken drumsticks (optional – remove the skin)…. approx 74 (if you remove the skin, 100 with the skin)
Splash of grapeseed oil (or you can use olive oil)….. 120
All the spices…. 0
1 cup Frank’s Buffalo Sauce (or your favorite hot/buffalo sauce)…. 0
3 tablespoons of butter…… 306

Total calories…500
Per drumstick…62.50

*The drumstick’s size may also alter calorie count

*Note, I am not a nutritionist, nor am I pretending to be. I found the calorie counts by reading the nutrition labels on the food I purchased, searching Google, and using my Lose It! app on my phone.using my Lose It! app on my phone.