I brought some chicken wings home from the bar last night and they’re currently residing in my fridge. What is the best way to re-heat them? Previously I’ve just wrapped them in foil and heated them in the oven, but this I find this leaves the wings really soggy and just not that good.
So what is the secret to making good re-heated chicken wings?
(Perhaps this should be in IMHO?)
Well, the oven is your best bet. I would say, instead of wrapping them in foil, just place them on a lyaer of foil, or onto a baking sheet. When you wrap them, you give no pale for the evaporated moisture to go, so it will condensate on the foil and just drip back onto the wings. By leaving them open in the oven, the moisture is free to go away.
bouv’s right. Unwrap those babies and bake 'em. I like my toaster over better than my regular oven, because it’s so much smaller, it reflects the heat better or something. Whatever it is, it makes reheated breaded things crispier than my oven.
But you must let them breathe!
Well, in the spirit of that query, lemme point out that wings are never as good reheated. It may have something to do with the inebriated state you are in during the first take. 
Place the chicken wings on tinfoil and put the rack on the third level from the top. Use the broil setting and watch them carefully. In about 5 to 10 minutes you should have perfectly crunchy and browned chicken wings. 
If still under the influence, just break out the propane bottle and they’re hot in 30 seconds.
I have eaten wings ice cold while still under the influence. I’ve also been unaware of all the sauce running off my chin and onto my shirt. Good times! 
Ahh, the elusive acceptably crunchy and unsoggy chicken wing reheat. It’s a lost cause, they can never be reconstituted to their original perfection in texture. The oven or broiler reheat is your best bet, but I find that microwaving them on high in the takehome box (covered) for about 3 minutes past the time that you would consider them done and reheated and then letting them sit uncovered and seperated on a plate to “dry out” for a good 7-10 minutes gives you the best texture for a microwave reheat. Basically, overcook them in the microwave and let them sit and steam out for a while.
Straight Dope Reheated Chicken Wings
ingredients:
6-8 leftover chicken wings
1 quart Jack Daniels
tools:
microwave
tin foil
oven/broiler
propane torch
lighter
Preheat broiler. Microwave chicken wings for 2 minutes on high power. Drink one shot of Jack Daniels. Place chicken wings on a sheet of tin foil. Drink one shot of Jack Daniels. Place under broiler. Broil for 2 minutes, during which time you should drink 2-3 shots Jack Daniels. Flip and broil other side 1 minute more. Remove from broiler. Light propane torch with lighter. (Move the Jack Daniels first.) Use the lighter to gently crisp any spots untouched by the broiler. Season to taste. Enjoy with the rest of the Jack Daniels. Note: beer may be substitued for Jack Daniels.
Not responsible for the Darwin Award of any asshat who actually tries this recipe.
**Next Day Buffalo Wing Sandwich
**
1.) Strip all the meat off the wings (No, don’t try to remove the skin/fat, strip everything-this is health food, Dammit!) add more hot sauce to taste and reheat in microwave on high 45 sec or so to warm through (depending on number of wings and microwave wattage).
2.) Slice a sub roll in half, nearly all the way through, and lightly butter or spray with oil. Add several pieces of thickly sliced cheddar cheese to the thick side, stripped chicken wing meat to the other side and brown, open faced, in a toaster oven on the high “toast” setting. Watch carefully and remove before the edges of the roll get too burnt. Slather meat with leftover Blue cheese.
Now if only you didn’t have a pounding headache you could enjoy it.
This is correct. I know of no deep fried foods that taste anywhere near as good when reheated. They must be prepared to order and eaten at point of sale—at least chicken wings must be, as the sauce soaks into the skin. It’s noticeable enough that whenever I get through a pile of wings, the ones on the bottom start to go soggy after about 5 minutes or so.
I’m a stickler for proper chicken wings and no place that reheats their wings will get my business.
5 to 10 minutes…you weren’t kidding! They were in there around 8 minutes and they got nice and burnt! :smack:
Ah well, the insides were still nice.
Shred up the chicken and make a hot wing quesadilla! I shredded my wings mixed with some of the sauce and microwaved it for about 30 seconds. Put mozzarella cheese, slap ya mama hot sauce, fresh ground black pepper and the chicken in a tortilla on the stove and cooked it until crispy and cheese was melted. I served it with green salsa but if I had sour cream I would have mixed some of the wing sauce in with it with hot sauce and black pepper. Green onion in it is yummy as well!
Moved to Cafe Society.
Note that the wings in the OP have been in the fridge now for over 9 years, and may not be that great even if reheated.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Take a time machine back to when they were still hot, then return with them to the present.
Along those lines, the best whatnot reheat any fried food is in your oven, or the toaster oven. Fries, wings, etc.
So, I Google-searched how to reheat chicken wings and this thread was at the top of the list!
I just read your post, WhyNot, and will follow your directions carefully: but with beer! Thanks for the laugh. 