Crispy Oven Baked Wings — Recipes From the Internet

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Story

My quest to make wing night wings in my house is a journey I have only embarked upon just recently. The story that is my relationship with wings goes back much much further.

Inspiration

My love affair with wings stretches back to my high school days in my hometown of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Afternoon stops at CK's Wings and Things were a staple lunch of our abbreviated "short Fridays." CK's has of hundreds of different wing flavors with my personal favorite being Pizza Wings. If you were looking to make a visit to the emergency room, CK's is home of the infamous Nuclear Hell wing where signing a waiver is required if you want to punish your digestive system. With the love for wings following me to college at Penn State, I found myself ordering Meek wings from Champs Sports Grill if not every week at least a few times every month. The sweet and spicy flavor of Stanley's Wonder Wing Sauce paired divinely with their house made ranch dressing. After college I found myself roaming the South Side of Pittsburgh where I eventually fell in love with wing night all over again at Archie's. If you find yourself there, you cannot go wrong with the Spicy Parmesan.

Fast forward to now and I don't have many options for quick and easy local wing night. I have tried many wings made on the grill or in an oven, but nothing could quite bring them up to par with wings from the bar fryer. That was until a quick "crispy oven wings" google search landed me on this page from www.recipetineats.com.

MADNESS

2 to 4 pounds of thawed wings.
1.5 to 2 heaping teaspoons of baking powder (DO NOT use baking soda!).
1 tsp garlic salt.

METHOD

Thaw and pat dry the wings.
Preheat oven to 250F/120C.
In a large freezer bag mix the wings, baking powder, and garlic salt. Shake well until wings are equally covered.
Space the wings out evenly over a lightly oiled baking sheet.
Put wings in the oven for 30 minutes on 250F/120C.
At the end of 30 minutes leave the wings in the oven, but bump the heat up to 425F/220C and set the timer for another 30 minutes.
At the end of 30 minutes on the increased temperature, remove the wings from the oven and flip them.
Put the wings back in the oven for an additional 30 minutes at 425F/220C.
Remove the wings from the oven and allow them to rest for 5 - 10 minutes. Even with oil the wings will stick to the baking sheet, but peel off nicely after resting for a few minutes.
Place wings in a bowl with a generous amount of your favorite sauce and toss to coat.
Serve with celery and ranch or blue cheese!

Since finding this recipe I have not had wings outside of my house. This is a good thing since a typical wing night involves me covered in wing sauce up to my elbow and needing to stop by a sink to rinse off.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS

Look no further if you are trying to make crispy home made wings in your oven. The baking powder and different temperature cooking method does an amazing job at crisping up these wings. After tossing in baking powder and spices you can cook them right away or leave in your refrigerator for up to two days prior to cooking. You can interchange the garlic salt with regular sea salt, accent, onion salt, or anything sodium based to give your wings a different underlying flavor. Whatever you do, it's real hard to go wrong with this recipe. ENJOY!