I usually season my wings with salt, pepper and some other seasonings that I have in the pantry. But, this time I chose to brine them. I think that I used a tad bit too much salt so I am adjusting the salt amount in the recipe. Please feel free to omit the brining solution, but I like brining. I noticed, in order to get the chicken pieces well browned, you must not overcrowd them. The parchment paper helps tremendously...I recommend it! You can turn the chicken pieces quite easily without having the skin stick to the pan. Also, you can use any hot sauce you like. Try changing the flavor by using a honey/bbq flavored sauce....really, you can actually use any sauce/flavors you want. The classic, spicy hot sauce has margarine added to it. I never use margarine...I suppose you can use butter, But, I prefer to limit the calories and skip it all together. Plus, the chicken wings are normally fried and my version are baked.