What's the deal with chicken wings ?

[Doug_Bowe]

*Originally posted by MagicalSilverKey *
**I enjoy eating chicken wings just as much as anyone, but I don’t get one thing:

Why are wings so damn popular, at this point in time?

(snip)

So, what’s the deal with wings? What started this trend? **

–To answer the OP.
It’s not like chicken wings weren’t already a staple from places like Hooters to your neighborhood hangout. It might be that KFC finally decided to jump on the bandwagon and is currently flooding markets with mega advertising.

[pulykamell]

*Originally posted by funguy *
**buffalo wings are never breaded they are cooked in a deep fat fryer for 17 minutes @325 degrees then tossed in an equal amout of butter and franks red hot then served with celery and bleu cheese preferably kens steak house **

I agree with all, except that I’ve heard that margarine is the correct oily substance of choice. Now, hold on a sec! I hate margarine as much as the next gastronome, but in this case margarine creates the correct texture for the wing sauce. This is the ONLY time I ever use margarine in my cooking. And the wings should NEVER be breaded (as funguy stated.) I personally cook them at a higher temperature with peanut oil (I find them less greasy that way. Usually around 375. And, no, they don’t burn.)
Plus tabasco is always welcome in the sauce.

[AWB]

*Originally posted by lorinada *
**Of course, you realize that when you eat chicken wings, you are not actually eating chicken. The wings were considered junk for eons because there is only half a bite of meat on the thickest one. So what people are gobbling up is all the fried breading heaped on that tiny morsel of “chicken”. **

At Domino’s, we use unbreaded wings that are quite meaty. We also use the brand of sauce originally created to make Buffalo Wings.

[DAVEW0071]

*Originally posted by pulykamell *
**

I agree with all, except that I’ve heard that margarine is the correct oily substance of choice. Now, hold on a sec! I hate margarine as much as the next gastronome, but in this case margarine creates the correct texture for the wing sauce. This is the ONLY time I ever use margarine in my cooking. And the wings should NEVER be breaded (as funguy stated.) I personally cook them at a higher temperature with peanut oil (I find them less greasy that way. Usually around 375. And, no, they don’t burn.)
Plus tabasco is always welcome in the sauce. **

Parkay Squeeze Margarine, to be specific.

Let me chime in and say I went to college at SUNY Fredonia from 1977 to 1981, and wings were extremely popular there. For those of you who think Fredonia is nothing more than the mythical setting for the Marx Brothers film “Duck Soup,” Fredonia is about 30 miles south of Buffalo. One of my friends there was from Buffalo, and was friends with the owners of the Anchor Bar. She always maintained that’s where they originated.

Story goes that they served chicken, but always threw the wings out. Realizing they had already paid for them, they tried to think of a way to make use of them. Deep frying them and coating them with hot sauce seemed a good idea. They used to keep baskets of them on the bar, along with the peanuts and pretzels, until people became addicted to them and they figured they could make money off it.

But I remember wing-eating contests…and ten cent wing nights…

Mmmmmmmm…chicken wings.

[kanicbird]

Also I have noticed the price has more then doubled over the years. At one time - when wings were begining to be popular but not many people knew how to make them they cost somethign like $4-$5 for a 5-6 lb bag - now I see them for $7-$10 for a 4-5 lb bag.

[pulykamell]

There’s also this guy who claims to have the original Anchor Bar recipe. I can’t vouch for the veracity, but it’s not a bad recipe. But, then again, Anchor Bar wings are not my favorite…

[knarf]

When I worked at a pizza/fried food place in Detroit in 1983, we had the hardest times getting rid of wings. No one wanted them at all. When we started to get too many of them my boss would run a “10 wings for a dollar” special. BTW, these were battered, entire wings. Tasty too. Every time I’ve had wings since about 1988 I’ve been amazed at the change in popularity.

[rjung]

*Originally posted by lorinada *
Of course, you realize that when you eat chicken wings, you are not actually eating chicken. The wings were considered junk for eons because there is only half a bite of meat on the thickest one.

You should have wings with my wife sometime – her favorite part is cracking the bones and sucking the marrow out of 'em. The meat and batter/breadding is incidental.

[Judith_Prietht]

My wing M.O. is usually to separate the three sections-drumstick, the forewing, and the wingtip–begin with the drumstick part, chewing off the cartilege, then the forewing, separating the two bones and sucking those clean, and then taking the wingtip and gnawing that to death. Basically, my post-wing plate looks like Gacy’s crawlspace, but I neatly pile up the naked bones and try to clean the radius of sauce and god forbid meat that may have fallen off the plate. My mother taught me well.

[Colibri]

*Originally posted by elmwood *
** There’s more Toronto-Buffalo interaction than Rochester-Buffalo interaction – wings were slow to spread eastbound on the Thruway, but they finally became commonplace in Rochester in the late 1980s. **

I recall first seeing “Buffalo Wings” advertised by a bar in Schenectady, New York, in 1985.

[Philster]

Wings? Well how about Salsa, too?

Spicey food, mexican food and the chile pepper have grown in popularity as Americans quest for tastier and more diverse foods popped up via the take out explosion born from households that feature two earners.

All it takes is a national chain to feature wings and other national chains go into their R & D departments to keep up.

Asking why wings have gotten so popular is like asking why Chinese food got so popular…or why hamburgers and hot dogs got so popular.

If it makes sense, like Pizza, and can be a good inexpsensive item, it has a good shot at success. Another key: If take out places can quickly add the item to menus and not add equipment, they’ll try it. Wings? Simple ingredients for the most part and a good fryer does the trick.

They key to landing yourself in Americana for wings and salsa might demonstrate the power of the Superbowl. These items are firmly entrenched along with pizza/hoagies/subs, chips/pretzels and beer/soda.

Now it’s pizza/wings/subs…chips/tortilla/salsa/dips and beer/soda/water.

Standard fare now, because they are inexspenive, easy to make/market, and appeal to the take out boomers who have become tired of the burger/fries they grew up on.

[SCSimmons]

*Originally posted by vanilla *
**I’m serious. I used to get kentucky fried chicken and just eat the breading, it was so good… **

Hey-how about a date? We could eat real cheap together at KFC-I always peel the breading & eat the chicken …

[Krispy_Original]

…just a minor nitpick:

Wings have a lot of skin and dark meat, which makes them a bit tastier

I agree that they are tasty…but…dark meat? Around these parts, chicken wings are considered white meat…
Oh…and:

Hey-how about a date?

Back off. I saw her first.