If you're anything like me, you know that wings are the ultimate finger food. The problem with getting wings at home is the potential need for a fryer, something most home cooks won't have access to. Another option involves using a dutch oven with a ton of oil, which isn't always my favorite way to go when I just want crispy wings without a ton of mess. Naturally, the oven would be the final option.
I'll walk you through the pros and cons of some oven baked wings, and I'll give you my favorite technique along the way. Watch the video below for the full walkthrough of the process, or check out the write up of my findings.
The Process
I tested 4 different techniques for baking the wings: baking powder, corn starch, potato starch, and no coating. Each wing was cooked for the 50 minutes at 425f (convection). I flipped each wing every 15 minutes to ensure even browning and cooking.
The Wrap-Up
The control wing (no coating) performed as I expected. Although the skin did get crispy, it became tough to bite through as well. It felt as though it needed a little insulation from the heat of the oven. Not the best option.
While baking powder does create a crackly/ crunchy crust on the wings, the process of using baking powder slows down the recipe by a lot. Here is a link to an in depth article by J. Kenji López-Alt. It works best if you give the wings time to sit in the fridge while coated, and to me, that is too much work for a nightly wing craving. The powder also creates a noticeable burnt acrid taste on the wings that none of the other coatings had. In my opinion, it's a great way to go, but no my favorite due to the time constraints.
Corn Starch gave a really nice light crisp texture to the outside of the wing, however the starch created a noticeable grittiness you could taste. It starts out really nice, but there is better option out there.
Potato starch really comes out on top. Perfect crunch, flaky in all the right ways, and no added taste to take away from the chicken. These almost taste like they were fried, which is perfect in my book. Take the little bit of time to coat the wings in a little potato starch, and you'll be really happy you did.
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