Baked Hot Wings

BUY FRESH CHICKEN ALWAYS STAY CLEAR OF FROZEN DRIED OUT DIRTY BIRDIE.
Did you know red bones indicate the wings have been frozen too long?
When the bones are white….fresh!

Are you ever satisfied with how you craft your baked hot wings?  Mastering the perfect method of different flavors and textures I will always be on the hunt.  The adventure continues and I will keep appending to this post as I go along.

For those who know me this post is long overdue.  If there was hot wing toothpaste I’d buy it…hrmmm I might just take this idea to market!

This is not an easy process.  Yep, you need to put in some effort and make a plan.  But once you get use to the principles and practice it’s not that big of a deal.  The presentational variations are endless.

Rubbery Skin

You’re cooking it too low of temperature.  Do not cook it low and slow. Failure 100%.
The bigger the wing the higher chance it will have a rubbery texture.  There is a fix.
Convection Oven or Air Fryer: 400 approx. 15 min.
Smoker: 400F for 8-10 (Max) min.  Finish in oven or air fryer approx. 10 min at 400F.
Smoker Tip:  Smoke it hot and fast 50%-75% cooked.  Finish in the oven to an internal 165F.
Gotcha:  Your rub could burn on higher temps, adjust heat or time to compensate.

Here’s the deal.  If you have large chicken pieces, it’s going to be full of moisture, water and fat.   The only thing you can do is a hard steam first for 10-15 min including putting them on a wire rack after and put in the fridge for up to 24 hours before continuing.  Combined this will help make the skin crisp.   If you don’t you’ll see what I mean…rubber.

Dusting

Naked wings, did somebody say naked…maybe not so good.  Seriously, lightly dusting your wings make a huge difference.  I did say lightly right?  Here’s the problem if you cake it on.  It’s too much and over powering and will end up having a saw dust texture.

The commercial stuff is loaded with salt and will dry the bejesus out of it.  AND it will be problematic when you smoke and or bake it.  Seasoning will burn depending on what you use.

In this picture I purposely added too much on the bottom left.  This is an example of too much.

Smoking

Smoking is a bonus no doubt about it.  BUT, this can easily be overdone, the taste came become too strong, less is more.  In my experience is get the BBQ or your smoker hot 400F or more and smoking before you put your wings in.  For me my fav is 8 min but I’m happy with no more then 10 min.

However, everybody’s BBQ and smoker are different.  You do not want to fully cook or burn your wings or worse leave them in too long.

Gotcha:  Wings look awesome and well smoked but it’s tougher then leather and its like you’re chewing on a shoe?  You over cooked them and on too low of temp.  This is not red meat.

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