Oven Wings!!!

There's not much going on in the barbecue world this time of year.  I don't even know if you can light charcoal when it's 3 degrees outside.  And while barbecue is my favorite type of food, there's also some other wholesome foods that should be considered.  And one of the most wholesome of all is chicken wings.

Okay, they're not all that wholesome.  But they are tasty. And while BWW does a pretty good job with the wings, you can also make them at home, even without a deep fryer.  And the oven version of these will have significantly less fat than the deep-fried version.

First of all, buy the wings.  Whole wings are cheaper, but you have to cut them up.  Sometimes you can find good deals on frozen bags of pre-cut wings.  Either will work.  Go ahead and buy some wing sauce while you're at it. 

Now that you have your wings, you are ready to cook.  Pre-heat the oven to 225 degrees.  Yes, 225 is not a very hot oven, but that's the point.  Take a cookie sheet and place a wire rack on it.  Lay out the wings on the rack.  You don't really need to space them very far apart, but they shouldn't be stacked on top of each other.  If you're using frozen wings, there's no need to thaw prior to cooking.

Put the wings in the oven for 3 hours or so.  The wings will cook very slowly and render off much of the excess fat.  After the three hours are up, remove the wings from the oven and turn the oven up to 500 degrees.  Yes, 500 degrees. 

Pick up the wire rack with the chicken wings and transfer to a clean cookie sheet.  You don't want all of the rendered fat to go back in the oven or significant smoke will occur.  Very significant.  Put the wings back into the oven once it gets to 500.  Cook for 15 more minutes.  The chicken skin will crisp up nicely.  There will be a little smoke from the oven, but it won't be too bad.

Take the wings out, toss in your favorite sauce and enjoy.  Meanwhile, send one of the kids out to shovel a path to the grill.