Dear Home Ec 101,
I am having a dinner party and I want to have chicken wings as part of the meal. How long should I bake them for to make them taste perfectly tender?
Signed,
Winging it in Wyndham
Heather says:
Actually I have a couple of answers for you depending on how you picture your chicken wings.
Do you want tender fall off the bone chicken wings, or are you thinking more like the wings you find at restaurants with the slightly crispy outer texture?
For moist, falling apart chicken wings cook them low and slow in the marinade of your choice, you’ll want them swimming in the sauce.
You have two options, you can do the slow-cooker 8 hour option OR in the oven at 375°F for at least an hour (depending on the size of your dish and number of wings). If you time and oven space, you can also cook the wings low and slow 250°F for at least two hours (the wings should be in a single layer and start fairly close to room temperature, do not attempt low and slow wings from frozen and always use a meat thermometer to be sure your chicken has reached a safe temperature.)
For chicken wings that more closely resemble what you’ll find in restaurants, broiling or grilling are your go-tos.
See How to Grill Buffalo Wings for classic grilled buffalo wings or broil your wings for about 25 minutes, brushing and turning often to prevent burning. It’s going to be touchy if your sauce contains a lot of sugar.
Be sure to cook your wings on a broiler pan so the fat can drip away from the wings.
Don’t forget to leave your oven door ajar while broiling.
Good luck!
Want MORE chicken? We’ve got it covered.
Ooooooh thanks for the tip on using the broiler pan. Silly me thought it was ONLY for use while broiling. (don’t laugh too hard, k?)
Well only use it for the broiling method. Some people just use a sheet pan, but then the wings sit in the juice and get a little soggy.
Marinate chicken wings in a bag in a mix of soy sauce, oyster sauce, crushed garlic, a little finely chopped ginger if you like and a desertspoon of Chinese 5 spice powder. It’s difficult to find in the US but well worth it. Line a baking tray with baking paper and cook at 200C for 20 min, turn them over and cook for another 10 to 15 or until browned. Guaranteed to be a regular meal. We serve them with Asian coleslaw or just a roll of paper towel for your fingers. Don’t use any oil in the mix but you can use a mix of any sauces you have in the pantry – hoi sin etc. The 5 spice is the key. (we have found it harder to buy Asian ingredients in the US – we’re Aussies and Australia is very Asian oriented.)
Oh my goodness this sounds delicious! Thank you for sharing. Im actually searching for a chicken wing recipe (going on memory from probably 15 years ago), that i had at a dinner party. From what i can remember they were done in the oven or crock pot. Meat was very tender and they seemed like they had been dredged and shaken in a flour mixture, possibly browned in a pan then transfered to baking dish and baked until very tender. Does anyone have a recipe that may be similar?
I’ve seen Chinese 5 Spice many times in the grocery stores. Also, maybe World Market stores, or Amazon would be good places to try. I live in California, and there are many Asian people here, so perhaps this is more available here than in some other parts of the U.S.
5 spice is definitely a regional thing. At my previous address it would have required a 45 min drive. Here, I can find it at the Asian grocery store. Amazon is a great suggestion. Penzey’s would have it, too but it would’ve significantly more.
Back when Buffalo wings first became popular, I’d make them in the oven. It’s easy, and if you use non-stick foil to line your pans, clean up’s a snap.
I have a question for Heather. I’ve been looking through the cleaning tips, and haven’t found one for helping to clean a baked on stain in the bottom of my oven. Any good suggestions would be much appreciated.
If I do the wings in the slow cooker can I start from frozen or do they need to be thawed first? Randall’s was having a 50% off sale so I bought three packages and immediatly froze them.
It’s a little more trouble, but there’s also the Alton Brown method — he steams the wings to render most of the fat before putting them in the oven to crisp and brown. This reduces the problem of spattering and smoke that you get when you go the whole way in the oven.
Thanks, John. That’s a great tip.