Tips on How to Make My Chicken Wings Crispy When Frying

Making chicken wings crispy is a challenge that I accepted years ago.   I did tons of research and tested various batches of chicken wings to come up with the 8 best tips for Crispy Chicken Wings.

I absolutely LOVE finger foods.

From Chicken Cordon Bleu Stuffed Mushrooms to Easy 4-Ingredient Chorizo Dip (Keto) as well as Olive Stuffed Meatball Appetizers, I love making appetizers.

And I decided it was high time to write a post on the best tips for making crispy chicken wings.

Making crispy chicken wings at home is not at all hard.

And the amount of money you will save in doing so is well worth the little bit of effort needed to ensure that your wings are crispy and delicious.

With no further ado, let us dive into the best tips and tricks for making crispy chicken wings.

Tips for Crispy Chicken Wings

Tip #1 - Drying the wings

Why?

• Drying chicken wings well before adding any seasoning is vital
• Less moisture on the chicken wing skin ensures that the wing ends up nice and crispy

How?

• Use paper towels to blot away any moisture, pressing firmly on the wings
• You can also let the wings "air dry" in the fridge overnight and then just lightly pat them dry before baking

Tips #2 - Using the proper equipment to bake the wings

Why?

• Airflow is very important in making sure that all sides of the chicken wing crisps
• Eliminating any moisture is important to help to make sure that your wing does not get soggy

How?

• Use an air fryer which helps to circulate the air
• If using the oven, use a roasting rack on top of a baking sheet so that the air can circulate around all sides of the wing
• Use the "convection" setting on the oven - particularly the "roast" feature - if it is an option on your oven (I actually have a "roast" function on my oven which means that both the top and bottom burner are running simultaneously along with the convection fan.  The "bake" feature on ovens implies that only the bottom burner is producing all the heat and the "broil" indicates that only the top burner is on)
• Do NOT use a Silpat baking sheet or parchment paper to cover the baking tray that the wings are sitting on as they will inhibit the wings from crisping.
• DO use aluminum foil or grease the baking tray well with a high smoking point oil (such as avocado or coconut)

Tip #4 - Do not overcrowd the wings

Why?

• If wings are placed too close together, then the amount of circulating air that is necessary to dry the wings to produce a crispy wing will not be able to occur

How?

• If using the oven, make sure that each wing is separated by at least ½ inch
• If using an air fryer, do not overcrowd the wings.   This means that you may need to stand some wings upright along the edge of the basket (if this is the type of air fryer you own like my Ninja Foodie) or do the wings in smaller batches.

Tip #5 - Use baking powder to coat the wings

Why?

• Baking powder is alkaline, so it raises the pH level of chicken skin, breaking down the peptide bonds and jump-starting the browning process, meaning the wings got browner and crispier faster than they would on their own
• DO NOT use baking soda which is more acidic (even though I saw many recipes calling for baking soda on the internet, there is a big taste difference so please do not substitute one for another)

How?

• Use about 1 tablespoon of baking powder for every 2 lbs of wings
• Coat the wings with the baking powder first and then add any additional spices.  This ensures that the baking powder directly adheres to the chicken skin
• Use aluminum-free baking powder.  If you don't, you can end up with a "metallic" taste to your wings

Tip #5 - Bake the wings at the right temperature

Why?

• High heat is required to really crisp up the outer skin on the chicken wing.  If the wings are cooked at a low temperature, they will not crisp.
• A constant high temperature cooked the wings faster but also seemed to dry out the wings.

How?

• In the oven - "roast" or "bake" them at 325 degrees F. convection for 30 minutes and then increase the temperature to 425 for the final 20 minutes of baking time.
• In the air fryer - "air crisp" at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes and then increase the temperature to 400 degrees F for the remaining 10 minutes

Tip #6 - Make sure to flip your wings

Why?

• flipping the wings makes sure that all sides get evenly cooked and crispy

How?

• depending on the cooking method, allow ⅔rd of the time to pass before flipping the wings for the remaining ⅓rd of the time

Tip #7 - Do NOT sauce the wings right away

Why?

• when the sauce is added directly to the wings from the oven, the sauce creates steam on contact and it can soften the "breading" quite a bit

How?

• Allow the wings to cool for about 5-7 minutes before adding any additional sauce
• Due to the bones in the wings, the internal wing stays hot longer and therefore you will not be eating cold wings

Tip #8 - Don't melt the butter before saucing the wings

Why?

• Butter is about 15% water
• If you melt the butter, the water will separate which can reduce the crispiness of the wings

How?

• Put the butter you will be using in a large bowl and allow it to come to room temperature.  Add in additional flavours or hot sauce.  The butter should be the consistency of thick peanut butter
• Place the cooled, but still hot wings, in the butter mixture and toss to coat
• Or, use olive oil, which does not contain any water, and stir in your hot sauce or seasonings and then coat the wings

Try these tips for crispy chicken wings on the following wing flavours:

• Honey Garlic from Spend with Pennies
• Roasted Miso from the Cooking Channel
• Beer-Braised Szechuan Chicken Wings from Cooking TV
• Buffalo Wings from Dinner at the Zoo

If you try any of these tips, let me know what you think by commenting below!

Tips on How to Make My Chicken Wings Crispy When Frying

Source: https://mycrashtestlife.com/2020/07/07/8-tips-for-crispy-chicken-wings-air-fryer-oven-baked/

Share this post