July 26, 2003

So Many Chicken Wings

Wings

This is probably the last of the oil before I need to dump it. So, wings it is. Above you see my definition of the perfect plate of wings. All "drumettes".

Back at the CIA one item of discusssion was what kind of wings folks prefer -- the drumettes, or the 2nd joint. As with all things at the CIA, when you get a bunch of "food-geeks" together with some beer, there's no end to the arguments. But after all, since you have to test out the theory by eating the examples, there really are no losers.

The "leftover" 2nd joints either get used for chicken wings when I'm not feeling so picky, when other folks are over who prefer them (or don't care), or for use in making stock. Chicken wings are great in stock because they contain gobs of gelatin, which is what makes stock have a good "mouth-feel."

The one real unfortunate thing about chicken wings is that now that they've become popular, they are also expensive. An 8 pound frozen bag of wings now costs almost as much as a similar bag of frozen chicken breasts. I never buy frozen chicken breasts any more -- I think they taste just awful, and I'd rather use whole chicken that I cut up myself anyway. I'd also make some statement about not wanting to support factory farming, but buying frozen chicken wings is just as bad.

Posted by dowdy at July 26, 2003 01:35 PM