Finger Lickin Chicken Wings

One of my favorite appetizers to make and eat are chicken wings. While they are simple to make they can be done poorly. Overcooked they will be dry, oversauced and they are just messy. My Finger Lickin Wings give a nice balance that are just yummyliscious to eat

INGREDIENTS

4 pounds Chicken Wings

Oil

2 tsp Salt

2 tsp Garlic Powder

4-6 cups of Milk

1 bottle BBQ Sauce

Look for wings that have a good amount of meat on them. It is annoying to pick up a wing do not even have a full bite of meat on it. I don’t make wings often but if I find them on sale I pick them up so they are ready for when I do.

Rinse off the wings in warm water then pat dry. Place in a large bowl and pour enough milk no to cover. Or, place into a ziplock bag and do the same thing. Soak in the milk 2-12 hours. This tenderizes the meat and is the secret to frying up great chicken. Pour off the milk and pat the chicken dry. Spread out on a pan and pat some more. If liquid is on the wings it will make your oil splatter so you really need to make sure the skin is nice and dry. This is when you will season with the mixture of salt and garlic powder. Just a little as it is just adding layers of flavor.

Dry those babies off

Choose your favorite oil and keep in mind it’s smoking point. You will be using a high temperature and if you choose the wrong oil you will have a big ole mess in the kitchen. This website lists smoking points for various oils.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_point

Next, decide what cooking vessel you prefer. If cooking on the stove I like good cast iron because it keeps the Heat consistent. I also have a deep fryer if I am going to be frying quite a bit of food. I also have a Salad Master electric skillet which also keeps the oil at a consistent temperature. I like to keep my oil at 325 degrees. Between batches be sure to allow the oil to come back up to temp before adding more chicken. I use a splatter screen for two reasons. First, to keep the oil from splatter all over while frying, and second, it allows the chicken to drain a few seconds before I place in the oven to keep warm.

Once i I have allowed the chicken to drain for a few seconds, I transfer to a cooling rack that is on top of a cookie sheet. This goes into a warm oven until all the chicken is fried. Keeping it on a rack makes sure the skin stays crispy.

I use the same cooling rack is use while baking cookies. The low oven temp will not hurt it.

Once all the chicken is done I place the wings in a bowl and coat with a light layer of BBQ sauce. The wings then go back onto a clean cookie sheet and into a 350 degree oven. Placing parchment paper under the wings will ensue easy cleanup later on.

Use very little sauce, as you will e building up layers.

Bake for about 5 minutes, or until you see the sauce is cooked.

You can see it has thickened and Apis sticking to the wings.

Now using a pastry brush, add another thin layer and cook for another 5 minutes. Do this a total of 4 times.

Yummy yummy for my tummy tummy!

The last layer you will place in under the broiler until you get a little char and a nice soft crust. If you like, serve with warm BBQ sauce on the side for extra dipping.

Chicken nirvana!

Now there are lots of variations you can make for your chicken wings and I will share some of them a little later. The main thing is to properly cook the wings before adding the sauce. I hope this inspires you to make your own for the big game rather than buy a bag in the frozen food section. Let me know how it goes!