# How to Bake Crispy Chicken Wings?



## Jsin44 (Jun 12, 2012)

Hello.  I am currently trying to replicate a chicken wing recipe that I tried while on vacation.  The basic goal is to get sauced and baked chicken wings to be crispy.

Here's what I am doing now:

1) toss the wings in a seasoned flour (garlic powder, salt, pepper, cayenne) and let the coating firm up in the refrigerator for an hour.

2) Mix equal parts butter, Louisiana-style hot sauce, and tomato paste and dip the wings in the mixture

3) Place on grilling racks and bake for 30 minutes at 450 C, turning them over after 20 minutes.

I'm pretty happy with the flavour of the wings but the end result is not crispy enough (still a little saucy).  I was thinking about adding some fine bread crumbs to the butter/sauce/paste mixture but I am looking for any suggestions anyone might have.

Thanks.


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## Caslon (Jun 12, 2012)

Just curious, was the chicken you had on vacation also baked?


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## jennyema (Jun 12, 2012)

Chicken wings are generally sauced _after_ they are cooked.

Bake your wings and then toss them in a bowl with the sauce.


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## GLC (Jun 12, 2012)

You can't expect crispy results when liquids are added prior to baking. Yes, crispy chicken under the layer of sauce is a nice effect. Try applying koshering salt rather lavishly and leaving uncovered int he refrigerator all day or all night on paper towels. The surface should come out dry, but this sort of dry brining should keep some moisture inside the pieces so the interior doesn't dry so badly. 

I'd leave out the flour and just brush them lightly with oil and bake them after they come to room temperature. At that point, they should be as crispy as baking can get them. Then, the sauce with enough body to stick can be applied and with the seasonings that used to be with the flour, and they can go back in the oven to bake it on.


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## Aunt Bea (Jun 12, 2012)

jennyema said:


> Chicken wings are generally sauced _after_ they are cooked.
> 
> Bake your wings and then toss them in a bowl with the sauce.




I agree!

We bake em at 425 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour with just a light coating of oil and turn them halfway through baking.  Then we shake them in a tupperware type bowl with a tight fitting lid.  The sauce is just butter, hot sauce and cayenne pepper to taste.


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## Greg Who Cooks (Jun 12, 2012)

jennyema said:


> Chicken wings are generally sauced _after_ they are cooked.
> 
> Bake your wings and then toss them in a bowl with the sauce.


+2

Or as Bea says sauce them at some middle point during the baking. I haven't done this recipe but I would look for signs of crispness already developing before saucing them.


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## pacanis (Jun 12, 2012)

I used to make oven wings all the time for Superbowl parties. And they came out as if they were grilled. After you bake the sauce onto them, stick them under the broiler to caramelize the sauce and crisp up. Watch carefully and flip once. You can toss them in more sauce after you pull them out if you wish.
Actually, for the amount of wings I was making I added one more step, I par-boiled them first. The three B's method: boil, bake and broil. You can turn out a lot of wings this way, but the kitchen sure does get hot. The next day I used the liquid to make chicken soup with.


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## buckytom (Jun 12, 2012)

unless you really like the taste of breaded wings, nix the flour.

lightly dust the wings (if you must) with a dry spice rub, then put in the broiler pan in your oven at the hghest slot position, the closest to the flame or element. let broil for about 5 minutes, flip and rearrange the ones that are browned the least with the ones least cooked. let broil another 5 minutes, and flip and rearrange again. the idea is to have all of the wings roughly evenly browned.
let broil 2 minutes, and flip and rearange again. a final flip for the ones that aren't done through may be necessary.

remove wings and toss in a bowl containing about a cup per 2 dozen wings of a mixture of franks red hot sauce and melted butter. 

more later, sorry, baseball practice calls.


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## Jsin44 (Jun 13, 2012)

Thanks for all the suggestions.  I not sure if the wings I had on vacation were bake for the whole cooking process, but the sauce was definitely cooked into the wings which is what I am looking for.  The end result doesn't have to be super crispy but I want the sauce to be fully cooked in and not messy at all.  Is the flour coating preventing the sauce from fully crisping in to the wings?  I'm only using it to help the sauce stick to the wings throughout the cooking process.

I like the idea of saucing them half way through.  I'm cooking them in a convection oven right now.  Would broiling them in a toaster oven to finish them be better for making them crispy?  Thanks again.


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## BBQ Mikey (Jun 14, 2012)

I make baked wings for my brother who has a hard time with fried foods.

for the ultimate crispy baked wing:

do not flour the wings,

Place them in a deep baking pan as so the grease does not run off. Cook the wings in a coventional oven at 425 for about 50-75 minutes, draining the juices periodically.  That is the key part, if you dont drain the juices the chicken will get rubbery.  I also add a seasoned salt/paprika rub on the wings after they are about half way done.  Continue cooking to desired level of crispness.  Definitely sauce the wings after they are cooked fully.


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## Caslon (Jun 20, 2012)

BBQ Mikey said:


> I make baked wings for my brother who has a hard time with fried foods.
> 
> for the ultimate crispy baked wing:
> 
> ...



I've never tried baking chicken wings.  The grease collected allows the skin to get crispy (?), and drain the excess grease periodically as that will make the skin rubbery?  I've got to try that one of these nights when it's too much bother to deep fry. A simple dry rub is probably a good idea too, and I can always coat them with some sort of Buffalo wing sauce near the end of the cooking. Thanks for those tips (I'll forgo any kind of coating).


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## buckytom (Jun 20, 2012)

yup, the fat that renders (baked or broiled) tends to partially fry the wings. they're nowhere near deep, shallow, or even pan tried, but they do fry a bit; enough to count.

oh yeah, i wanted to mention that you can simply toss your wings in a cooled mix of frank's and butter (and additional ground cayenne, garlic, onion, or whatever) then broil or bake.


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## Caslon (Jun 20, 2012)

buckytom said:


> yup, the fat that renders (baked or broiled) tends to partially fry the wings. they're nowhere near deep, shallow, or even pan tried, but they do fry a bit; enough to count.
> 
> oh yeah, i wanted to mention that you can simply toss your wings in a cooled mix of frank's and butter (and additional ground cayenne, garlic, onion, or whatever) then broil or bake.



I'll line my deep baking pan with non-stick aluminum foil for easy clean up. I'll also flip them around during cooking. I know it probably won't turn out restaurant style chicken wing nirvana, but still...


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## buckytom (Jun 20, 2012)

that definitely helps. i always wrap the foil tray in aluminum foul. come to think of it, most broiler trays are slotted so as to let the fat drip away too quickly. you NEED to line the broiler tray with foil or they won't partially fry, as discussed.


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## Caslon (Jun 20, 2012)

buckytom said:


> that definitely helps. i always wrap the foil tray in aluminum foul. come to think of it, most broiler trays are slotted so as to let the fat drip away too quickly. you NEED to line the broiler tray with foil or they won't partially fry, as discussed.



Right, I see what you're saying.  Some collected fat that is drained periodically  is allowed to crisp up the skin. If you allow too much fat to collect without draining off the excess, the fat grease never reaches true deep fat frying temps, and makes the skin cook up rubbery. Gotcha.


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## Andy M. (Jun 20, 2012)

The slots allow the fat to run off so the broiler won't ignite the fat and cause a fire.


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## Caslon (Jun 20, 2012)

Andy M. said:


> The slots allow the fat to run off so the broiler won't ignite the fat and cause a fire.



Maybe bake in pan as described above, then coat the wings in sauce and broil them the last 10 minutes?

It's getting yummier by the minute.


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## Greg Who Cooks (Jun 20, 2012)

My recommendation is to put the wings on a short wire rack, and set that in an aluminum foil covered pan. The rack keeps the wings out of the grease, and after cooking when the pan has cooled you can just wad up the aluminum, toss it, and put the pan back in the cabinet.


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## Andy M. (Jun 20, 2012)

Greg Who Cooks said:


> My recommendation is to put the wings on a short wire rack, and set that in an aluminum foil covered pan. The rack keeps the wings out of the grease, and after cooking when the pan has cooled you can just wad up the aluminum, toss it, and put the pan back in the cabinet.



While this is the way to go, cleaning the rack is the challenge.


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## letscook (Jun 20, 2012)

I saw on the show the Chew Michael symon baked his wings and then when done, deep fried them only for a couple of min. I tried this and they came out great ! not oily like if you deep fried them from the start. Nice and crispy.


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## Greg Who Cooks (Jun 20, 2012)

Andy M. said:


> While this is the way to go, cleaning the rack is the challenge.


Soak it in soapy water in the sink, or spray with oven cleaner, or one then the other.

Also, if you have a rack you often use for this, does not have to be perfectly clean. The carbonized stuff is in some ways analogous to a seasoned cast iron pan.


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## Andy M. (Jun 20, 2012)

Greg Who Cooks said:


> ...Also, if you have a rack you often use for this, does not have to be perfectly clean. The carbonized stuff is in some ways analogous to a seasoned cast iron pan.



Not sure it that works on a chrome plated wire rack.


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## Greg Who Cooks (Jun 20, 2012)

Depends on your definition of "works" and how critical you are about "clean."

I have commercial racks purchased at a restaurant supply store. They might be stainless steel. After a few dozen uses I clean them with oven cleaner spray.


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## Caslon (Jun 20, 2012)

letscook said:


> I saw on the show the Chew Michael symon baked his wings and then when done, deep fried them only for a couple of min. I tried this and they came out great ! not oily like if you deep fried them from the start. Nice and crispy.



Damnit man...the idea is not to have to get out the deep fat fryer from the cupboard.  Lazy oven baked.


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## letscook (Jun 20, 2012)

I know this - it was an option -


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## BBQ Mikey (Jun 20, 2012)

Caslon said:


> I've never tried baking chicken wings.  The grease collected allows the skin to get crispy (?), and drain the excess grease periodically as that will make the skin rubbery?  I've got to try that one of these nights when it's too much bother to deep fry. A simple dry rub is probably a good idea too, and I can always coat them with some sort of Buffalo wing sauce near the end of the cooking. Thanks for those tips (I'll forgo any kind of coating).




Correct, draining excess grease will keep them from being rubbery, also make sure to prod them to keep from sticking.  It takes a good while for oven baked crispy wings, but it is worth the wait, and making sure they are not cooking in luke warm grease or sauce will assure you they will not get soggy on ya!  Cheers.


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## Caslon (Jun 20, 2012)

75+ minutes...huh? OK i guess.  That long..huh?  I'm game. Reynold's non-stick foil is expensive, I keep a roll on hand.


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## buckytom (Jun 21, 2012)

i'm not sure i'm being clear.

you use the broiler for direct, very hot heat, but you foil the broiler tray so as to collect a little of the rendered fat which causes the side that's 'down" (away from the broiler flames) to fry slightly in the hot fat. flipping the wings allows both sides to experience both dry, direct heat, as well as hot rendered fat frying.

hth.


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## Caslon (Jun 21, 2012)

buckytom said:


> i'm not sure i'm being clear.
> 
> you use the broiler for direct, very hot heat, but you foil the broiler tray so as to collect a little of the rendered fat which causes the side that's 'down" (away from the broiler flames) to fry slightly in the hot fat. flipping the wings allows both sides to experience both dry, direct heat, as well as hot rendered fat frying.
> 
> hth.



You were clear with me the first time, if a deep pan, drain periodically.  I have a small broiler pan tho (see pic).
I get what you mean by retaining some fat to crisp up the chicken. I was thinking of using a deep pan coated with non-stick foil and drain the fat periodically, keep a little behind.


Maybe I'll try cooking the wings on it ( I noted your how to).  My aunt gave us a Norpro as an x-mas gift 25 years ago. I prefer the stainless steel on over the non-stick. I love this broiler pan, btw.


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## Caslon (Jun 21, 2012)

buckytom said:


> i'm not sure i'm being clear.
> 
> you use the broiler for direct, very hot heat, but you foil the broiler tray so as to collect a little of the rendered fat which causes the side that's 'down" (away from the broiler flames) to fry slightly in the hot fat. flipping the wings allows both sides to experience both dry, direct heat, as well as hot rendered fat frying.
> 
> hth.



Sorry, I got confused about broiling and using a broil pan. As a matter of fact...forget it...lol.


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## buckytom (Jun 21, 2012)

lol, it's understandable. you've got crispy wings on your mind.


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