Smothered Turkey Wings Recipe - Food.com (2024)

FAQs

Do you rinse turkey wings before cooking? ›

Otherwise, do not wash a turkey before cooking. In fact, this advice holds true for most raw meats and poultry. Research shows that when you rinse raw meat and poultry, you're not simply washing bacteria safely down the drain, you're actually spreading bacteria around the kitchen. There's the splash factor, of course.

Soaking the wings in water, an acid (vinegar, lemon juice, etc.), and a little salt will clean off the wings in a flash. Make sure to dry your wings off. Add some oil to the wings to help the seasonings stick. The fat content will also create a slight crust on the wings and a beautiful color.

Turkey wings need time to become tender. If they're tough, they likely haven't cooked long enough.

For cooking, transfer the turkey from the baking tray to a rack set inside a roasting pan. (Don't worry if you don't have a roasting pan: There are alternatives.) If one of the wings comes untucked, just tuck it back under the bird.

Toss the wings in a few tablespoons of neutral cooking oil (like canola or vegetable oil), then season with salt and pepper before adding them to the grill. The oil will prevent the chicken from sticking to the grill.

Add sauce at the very end to maintain and maximize wing crispiness. As for the baking stage, make sure to dry your chicken wings with paper towels before you put them in the oven. If there's any moisture on the wings, this can inhibit their ability to crisp nicely before they've even had the chance to cook.

By soaking the wings in a mixture of water, salt, sugar and hot sauce the pick up tons of flavor and stay super-juicy throughout the cooking process. Brining chicken is nothing new, but the real genius comes when the wings are cooked in the brine before frying.

Brining your turkey in saltwater adds extra moisture to the lean bird, helping it stay juicy as it roasts (even if you accidentally overcook it).

Applying salt to an uncooked turkey, either by soaking in a water solution (wet brine) or by sprinkling salt directly on the bird (dry brine) causes the protein strands in the meat to break down over time so the meat tenderizes, absorbs flavors, and retains moisture.

Are turkey wings better than chicken wings? ›

You'll see more of a difference across the board when comparing chicken wings to turkey wings. Chicken wings are slightly higher in total calories, sodium, and saturated fat. They do, however, contain the same amount of protein and percent daily value of iron.

On the other hand, if you overcook a turkey it's going to be too tough and chewy! The best way to avoid this is by taking out the turkey right before the thickest part reaches 165°F (74°C).

Oven-Roasted Turkey

We recommend starting the turkey in a 425 degree oven for 30-45 minutes before tenting the pan with foil and lowering the temperature to 350 degrees until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees when inserted into the thickest part of the bird.

To achieve a perfectly golden, juicy turkey, let the bird spend time both covered and uncovered in the oven. We recommend covering your bird for most of the cooking time to prevent it from drying out; then, during the last 30 minutes or so of cooking, remove the cover so the skin crisps in the hot oven.

The best side dishes to serve with turkey wings are mashed potatoes, coleslaw, baked mac and cheese, cheese curds, onion rings, goat cheese dip, stuffed mushrooms, sweet potato fries, cornbread, stuffed mushrooms, roasted vegetables, crispy green beans, and garlic herb rice.

Salmonella, Campylobacter and other harmful bacteria live on raw chicken. Washing or rinsing doesn't remove this risk, it worsens it by helping the bacteria spread. When you add water through washing or rinsing, you give these bacteria a way to travel throughout your kitchen.

Pat It Dry

Use paper towels and get the skin "as dry as possible" before doing anything else. And if you're wondering, no—you don't need to rinse the bird, whether it's been dry-brined or wet-brined, before adding more seasoning and roasting.