Station Creation Series | The Ultimate Wing Sauce Station
How To & Culinary
Updated 2021.09.02 (created 2018.02.22)
The football season is almost underway, and chicken wings are part of a profitable present and future. According to Technomic's MenuMonitor, 43% of the Top 500 restaurant chains offer wings. At fast casual restaurants, menu mentions of wings have grown 23% in the past 4 years.1 Boneless wings alone grew 25% across all segments in the past 4 years.2 The continued popularity of versatile, shareable wings is no surprise. They are so beloved that they even have their own national day. And it's never too early to start planning for National chicken Wing Day – mark your celendar for July 29th!
When it comes to wings, it is truly all about the sauce. Perhaps one of the simplest stations to achieve, your wing sauce station holds three of your signature wing sauces plus two dipping sauces. You can view and print our Wing Sauce Station Guide, and we will dive into the specific steps together.
Step 1: Choose the base
SB-4
The first thing you'll need to choose is the base of your station, as it will act as the foundation for your whole station. For a single station to hold five different flavors, the SB-4 base is ideal as this model is insulated to maintain the freshness of your sauces plus has two cooling options; fill with ice or use four ice packs to keep things chilled for up to four hours.
Step 2: Select your jars
(2) standard, shallow jars | (3) slim, deep jars
The SB-4 base allows you to use a combination of slim and standard-size fountain jars while giving you the flexibility to house between four and six jars in a small amount of countertop space. To fit five jars, you'll need two standard fountain jars for dipping sauces like ranch and blue cheese, and three slim fountain jars for wing sauces.
Time-saving tip: Remember that slim deep fountain jars and standard shallow fountain jars both hold 2 quarts. Purchasing additional jars allows you to fill one jar for your station and store the second in the fridge for when traffic peaks and sauces run low.
Step 3: How will you dispense?
(1) CP-200 83300 | (3) CP-F Slim 85340
The next step in building your sauce station is selecting your dispensing mechanism. This depends largely on the texture and viscosity of the sauces you are using, as well as the size of the jar they are in.
- Serving (3) thicker sauces from Sweet BBQ to Mango Habanero from a Slim, deep fountain jar:
- Serving thicker dipping sauces like ranch and Blue Cheese from a Standard, shallow fountain jar:
- Use CP-200 83300
- Blue cheese crumbles often present in the dressing are too big to pass through a pump, so it's best to dish this with a ladle; a 1 oz ladle with 7-inch handle is recommended.
Step 4: Time to accessorize
station with pumps, jars & lid
For ingredients portioned with a ladle, fit your jar with a hinged stainless steel lid and be sure to have ice packs on hand to keep the ingredients cold. The base fits one pack per standard fountain jar - so the SB-4 base holds four. Order two sets so you can refreeze and swap out every four hours.
To build your own Wing Sauce Station, you will need:
(1) 83600 | SB-4 Countertop, Insulated Base
(2) 82558 | White, Shallow Fountain Jars, 2 qt
(3) 83182 | White, Deep Slim Fountain Jars, 2 qt
(1) 83300 | Stainless Steel Condiment Pump for Standard Shallow Jars
(1) 82562 | 1 oz Ladle, 7" handle
(1) 82545 | Stainless Steel Hinged Fountain Jar Lid
(3) 85340 | Stainless Steel Condiment Pump for Slim Deep Jars
(8) 100515 | Universal Ice Packs
Now set some boneless or traditional wings out in a warmer and your station is complete! And don't forget the two most important accessories – cold beer and moist towelettes!
If you liked this Station Creation breakdown, you might like our take on other game-day dishes with our Build your own Brat and Burger Station or How to Build the Best Bloody Mary Bar. Catch the next installment in the Station Creation series by signing up for our blog — ServCast.
1 Datassential SNAP™ 2019
2 Datassential SNAP™ 2019