When cooking / frying chicken wings...

[amanda3571]

Canola oil or peanut oil? Does it make a difference?

FWIW, we like our wings crispy.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[swsidejim]

I typically just deep fry my wings in my deep fryer, but this weekend I tried a new recipie. I baked the wings @ 350 for 35 mins in the oven, and then took them out, and crisped up the skins in the deep fryer for a few minute. Decent product, but not as good as spending the whole cooking process in the deep fryer.

[lynnlato]

Next time, try high heat in the oven (like 450). It crisps them up better than most home deep fryers can do. I swear! ;-)

[hannaone]

Make sure the oil is hot before adding chicken.
Whatever oil you use don't over crowd the fryer. This is the most common reason for soggy fried chicken.
Dredging in a mix of flour and cornstarch helps in crisping and does help in retaining sauces.
A double cook method results in crisper chicken.

[notmartha]

I haven't tried it yet, but the wing recipe at Food & Wine by Iron Chef Simon calls for baking, then frying. I am guessing baking cooks the wings some and rendered the fat more, then frying crisp it up. I intend to try that technique out this weekend as well.

Wings, pizza, sweet potatoe fries and beer seems appropriate super bowl food.

[amanda3571]

Thanks nm, I'll have to pull out Food & Wine tonight to check out his recipe. I think he's adorable (in a really goofy way) :)

The recipe I was planning to follow is pretty straight forward - you can see here:
http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/chick...

We were thinking of also doing our own interpretation of muffaletta sandwiches. Plus a couple other finger foods which are TBD.

[lynnlato]

You know, Amanda, you could always bake them at high heat. I know, I know... it's not traditional. But I have to tell ya, at high heat they come out just as crispy as frying. Not mention it's a hell of a lot easier to pull off... particularly when you're hosting a party.

There are two amazing wing recipes on Epicurious that are just phenomenal.

Balsamic Soy Glazed Wings http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/236679

Crispy Red Curry Lime Wings (Food Network, actually
)http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recip...

I've made both several times and they are incredible. My husband loves them too and he is a buffalo wing connoisseur!

[artlee]

Lynn, those sound very good. I think I may try the curry for the big game. Thanks!

[artlee]

Finally tried them. Yummy. The best wings I have made. Thanks again!

[lynnlato]

Wahoo! Glad you enjoyed them. I'm about due to make a batch myself.

[bananna slug]

I have made the Crispy Red Curry Lime Wings several times for friends. They are really good and well received. Nice change from the usual hot wings.

[lynnlato]

Agreed! The balsamic soy glazed ones rock too. I am so pleasantly surprised by the crunch that they get in a high heat oven that I've retired my deep fryer from wing duty.

[notmartha]

He cracks me up - very entertaining.

Anyway, the recipe's online also:

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/sp...

I love sriracha, so I will probably just do the wings plain, and serve the regular buffalo sauce and the sriracha sauce separately (and skip the marinade). Probably substitute the lime with the key limes that I need to get rid of.

1+ hours in the oven seems to be overkill for the wings though. So will probably bake for 20 min and fry for 5 and see if that'll do the trick.

[chef chicklet]

My husband loves extra crunchy wings. I have a recipe for extra crunchy crispy wings, I'll just need to hunt it down if you wish. My husband's favorite snack for games is spicy crungy wings with blue cheese dipping sauce and also celery sticks. I can get it if you want. Its super simple. oops, and I use vegetable oil.

[danhole]

I'd like to see the extra crunchy recipe, Chef. My DH could eat wings every day, but I won't let him. Since I am trying new foods on him, this would be a treat for being nice enough to eat the new stuff. LOL!

[chef chicklet]

Danhole! I apologize! I just saw that you asked for this!
My husband made them for himself on Super Bowl Sunday. Good as ever, we eat them with Crystal Hot Sauce.

Hot Wings Crunchy Style - Plain
1 cup flour
2 T Cornstarch
1 cup cold water
1 T baking powder
1 t sugar
1 T sea salt
2 T cayenne pepper
2 T olive oil
2 well beaten egg whites

Mix all the dry ingredients. Sometimes I'll add herbs or paprika....but this is the base dry ingredient mix.
Pass all the dry ingredients through a sieve
Then mix with the water, eggs and oil
Another thing I do is fry only about 7 wings at a time, so the oil temp doesn't drop too low.
Dip the wings in the batter – Fry in clean oil 350 degrees to a golden brown, then drain on paper and salt immediately.
To prep the wings, I cut the tips off and save for soup) , and then again at the “elbow” well you know!

The batter on these keeps nice and crunchy. After cooking salt the wings, but don’t cover them or they will steam and the batter will soften.

This is a recipe that I am always working on and improving, we love these crunchy wings and these seem to retain a crunch even after they sit out for awhile.
Pretty gooooood.....

[danhole]

Thanks Chef! Looks good to me. One question - do you toss them in the sauce or just have it on the side?

[amanda3571]

I was reading old old posts yesterday and it was split 50/50 on the flour....I would think that might help crisp them up a bit more?

I was planning to do them the traditional way....Frank's red hot, butter, and a little vinegar.

[swsidejim]

I use peanut oil, and fry them in my deep fryer @ 375 for about 10-11 mins.

I also lightly dredge the wings in a mixture of flour, garlic powder, and ground dry chipolte pepper before frying.

[danhole]

Doesn't dredging them in flour help keep the sauce on? I mentioned that in another thread and was shot down by someone saying that was not necessary, but then again we were talking about baking them. But when I did wings, the first time, the sauce didn't "stick" well. So the next time I used flour and it worked much better.

[swsidejim]

I am not sure of the sauce issue you speak of. I just like that added layer of flavoring and heat that that light coat of flour and spices adds.

I typically do not sauce my wings the traditional way(tossing the whole batch with a hot sauce and butter mixture), but have a few bottles of hot sauce close by, and alternate between Texas Petes, Crystal, & Sriacha. Texas Petes is my favorite with wings, but I like variety.

[bnemes3343]

ATK's recipe calls for coating them with a little cornstarch (along with cayenne and salt). I assume this has the same effect as the flour.

[dhedges53]

Exactly, Danhole. Someone in an earlier post said to put the uncovered wings in the fridge for a while. I saw a Food Channel show a couple of years ago, and I learned a trick that I've used with great success. And, I understand that a lot of people would never bread a wing. So, I guess this post isn't for them. I grew up in the south with breaded, fried chicken. I never ate a piece of fried chicken that wasn't breaded. Here's the secret that I learned.

Use flour and some corn starch, seasoned, either in a bag (shake and bake), or however you want to do it. Shake the excess off. Put them on a rack, on top of a baking sheet, and put them uncovered in your fridge for an hour to 90 minutes. Then fry them at 375. The breading does not fall off.

And, for me, I like them in Franks Wing sauce. Or, margarine and Franks hot sauce (or Louisiana hot sauce), and right before serving them, give them a toss in the sauce. If you wait after putting them in the sauce, they lose their crispiness. Then eat and enjoy.

[amanda3571]

Thanks everyone! This will be my first experience doing them for the big game on Sunday :)

[lynnlato]

Yep, peanut oil. And since you like 'em crispy... Put your wings on a platter, uncovered, in the fridge for a few hours. It helps dry the exterior which makes for a crispier skin.

Enjoy!

[lamster]

I make buffalo wings pretty often during football season and peanut oil is best. You get a better crisp with it because of the higher smoking point and its the "cleanest" tasting.

[Toadberry]

I just watched the buffalo wing episode on Good Eats last night. He steamed his wings then - after drying them - oven roasted them.

[danhole]

Peanut Oil is your best bet. America's test kitchen just did a comparison of oils and that is what they thought was the best. The other tasted "fishy" after cooking for awhile.

[bnemes3343]

Was this a recent episode (from this year)? I didn't catch it but would look for a repeat. What were they making? Thanks.

[danhole]

Actually it is from their newsletter that they email me. They were testing it with fried chicken. Here is a link to the blurb about the oils:

http://www.cookscountry.com/tasting.a...