Oven-Fried Chicken Wings

When my son complimented me on the chicken wings that I had made and asked me if they were fried, my feet did a happy dance under the dining room table. Frying chicken wings was not an option for many reasons, including the lingering scent of cooking oil, a greasy, hard-to-clean cook top, and fear of developing a muffin top. My goal was to obtain that crackling just-fried flavor, without the mess or added calories. And now thanks to the experts at America’s Test Kitchen, I can satisfy my craving for the taste of crispy skin and moist chicken, using just three ingredients and my oven. This recipe for oven-fried chicken wings, modified very slightly by me, was published in Cook’s Country magazine, October/November 2013.

Oven-Fried Chicken Wings

The addictive qualities that we love in chicken wings are the blistered, bubbly, crackly skin and the juicy  meat underneath. Baking powder is the secret to crispy chicken wings without frying.  Yes, you read that correctly. According to the culinary research teams at America’s Test Kitchen, Cook’s Illustrated, and Serious Eats, baking powder, which is slightly alkaline, helps to raise the pH level of the chicken skin. This aids in breaking down the proteins in the skin, resulting in faster browning and extra crisping. In addition, the baking powder draws moisture out of the skin of the chicken, allowing it to become extremely hot, resulting in extra crunch. In this recipe, after the wings are tossed with baking powder and salt, they’re baked in a low oven, on a wire rack for better air circulation, to fully dry the skin and begin rendering the fat. Then the oven temperature is increased to finish roasting the wings and crisping the skin. When the wings emerge from the oven, they appear fried with a golden brown, crunchy skin. And in case you were wondering, you cannot taste the baking powder. It’s important to note that while baking soda will produce a similar texture, it also adds an unpleasant metallic flavor to the skin, so do not substitute one for the other.

Assemble your ingredients. Use paper towel to dry the excess moisture from the chicken wings.

Set a wire rack in a parchment-lined baking sheet. Spray the wire rack well with cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 250 F. and set the oven racks in the upper third and bottom third of the oven. Separate the chicken wings into flats and drumettes. Discard the wing tips or save for chicken stock. Combine baking powder and salt in a large resealable plastic bag or on a plate. You need 1 teaspoon of baking powder and slightly less than 1/4 teaspoon table salt for each pound of chicken wings.

Place all of the chicken wings in the resealable plastic bag containing the baking powder and salt and shake the wings to coat with the mixture. Alternatively, dip each chicken wing into the baking powder and salt mixture on a plate. Place the coated chicken wings on the prepared wire rack. Bake wings on the lower-middle oven rack for 30 minutes. Move the wings to the upper-middle rack, increase the oven temperature to 425 F., and roast until the wings are golden brown and crispy, 40 to 50 minutes longer. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the chicken wings stand for 5 minutes before serving. Use the dipping sauce of your choice with the wings. My favorites include Thai chili sauce and honey Sriracha mayonnaise (recipe below).

Print Recipe

Oven-Fried Chicken Wings

Meat, Chicken and Fish

By Cook's Country magazine, October/November 2013 – Serves: 8

Prep Time: 10 minutes – Cooking Time: 75 minutes – Total Time: 85 minutes

Oven-fried chicken wings with blistered, bubbly, crackly skin and moist, flavorful meat underneath

Ingredients

• Chicken wings
• 4 pounds chicken wings, halved at joints, wingtips discarded
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• Honey Sriracha Mayonnaise (for dipping wings)
• 4 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce (or more to taste)

Instructions

Chicken

1

Adjust oven racks to lower middle and upper middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 250 F.

2

Set a wire rack in a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Spray the rack well with cooking spray. Pat the chicken wings dry with paper towels.

3

Combine baking powder and salt in a resealable plastic bag. Place the chicken wings in the resealable bag and shake them to coat with the baking powder and salt mixture. Alternatively, combine the baking powder and salt on a plate and place each wing on the plate and roll in the mixture, to coat.

4

Place the coated chicken wings on the wire rack. Bake the wings at 250 F. for 30 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 425 F. and bake the chicken wings for an additional 40-50 minutes until golden brown and crispy.

5

Allow the chicken wings to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Honey Sriracha Mayonnaise

6

Combine the mayonnaise, honey and Sriracha sauce, stirring until smooth.

Notes

This dish is best served fresh.