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PizzaAl

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We currently do not sell them. Do you think it is a good idea to add to the menu as a good side with pizzas going forward.
Also we just have the conveyor ovens,and have never made wings, how is the quality baked?

For those that do sell and bake their wings, any advice? Right now we mainly just do pizzas and pastas, so I am concerned that by adding wings it will create extra work and slow down the pizza production. thoughts?

I appreciate all feed backs. Cheers
 
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Do it. No problem with ovens. Nice add-on sale and pretty simple to deal with.

I suggest that you use precooked wings, put them in the oven and run them through. The same cook settings we use for pizza work just fine. Prep on the line is a lot less than for pizza. It takes about 30 seconds for a cook to put a dozen wings on a piece of parchment paper on a screen and put it on the conveyor.
 
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I also cook wings in my conveyor oven and they come out awesome. I prefer them over the fried wings. It helps set us apart from other people too, because in my city there is probably 100 pizzerias, 10 fried chicken shops, and 2 take out/delivery places that do just wings. One of these wing places does $50k a week, which blows my mind but people love chicken. As far as i know, no one else sells baked wings. The wing places use fresh chicken, as do a few pizza shops, but the vast majority use wing dings.
I take fresh wings, marinate them, and precook them in the conveyor for about 15-20 minutes. I bought the oven-b-que pans from lloydpans, which work great. The wings get crisped up on the outside, and the inside is moist and full of flavor. I sell a small order of wings for $6 (7 pieces) and a large for $12 (14 pieces). So what i do is cool down the wings, portion them into bags of 7, and if someone wants a flavor squirt some sauce in the bag, shake it up and dump it into an aluminum to go container, or for a large 2 bags and a bigger container. Pass it through the oven the for the same time a pizza cooks and its good to go - reheated to at least 160.
Last time i did out the numbers, my total cost was about 30%.
I tried other ways, precooking in a conveyor then frying, or frying from raw, but I liked this method best.
Good luck
 
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Thanks for the great feedback,

I will contact my supplier this week to see what they got for precooked wings.
For pre cook wings do you just get plain and then put the sauces( hot, honey garlic ect) on the wings before, or halfway in the oven? Or get the already flavored wings?

My conveyor is at 500F and cooked at 5:45, so I hope they don’t get burned or the wings get stuck to the aluminum take out containers.

Also, do you cook from frozen or do you heat them up first in the microwave and then bake them?

I am sure I will know the answer through trial and error when I order the wings, but might as well get some tips from the veterans.
 
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I forgot to ask, are the wings you sell breaded or un breaded?
Do the pre cooked ones only come breaded?

If you buy and cook your own wings, what are the best directions to do so?
 
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In no particular order, things we learned about wings in 13 years responding to your questions:
  1. There are a lots of choices in pre-cooked wings both breaded and unbreaded. If you are going to add sauces (and you should) go with unbreaded.
  2. There are also lots of sizes available. Size/price do matter. If you are going to go higher end on price I think you need to use one of the larger sizes. We use the largest we can get and they are huge. Our pre-cooked wings come in at 2oz each average. We charge $9 for a dozen and the order weighs 1.5 lbs.
  3. We thaw them ahead of time and cook them to order. With shelf life for fully cooked product being several days it is not hard to have them thawed and ready for prep. When we are really busy we have wings waiting in one of several sauces we use to go straight in the oven. At slower times, we just have them thawed and go into the sauce right before they go in the oven.
  4. We tried using raw:
    a. After weight loss in the inital cooking and taking into consideration prep time and other supplies, we found they were NOT any cheaper.
    b. Cleanup was an added bonus as was doubling the number of grease trap cleanings.
    c. No way to catch up on them on the fly if we did oversell the prep.
    d. No question they were better. They were… but not by much. They just do not save any money and they are a PITA.
For the last two years we have been using a rotiserie roasted product we buy from Sysco. Tastes great with no sauce at all, like a roasted chicken.

Try different sauces. There are some really good ones out there besides Frank’s Hot sauce and various BBQ sauces. Jamaican Jerk Sauce and Thai Peanut Sauce have been very popular for us.
 
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Another note on raw wings. The calandar from Middle January until April 1 brings nightmarish pricing to everyone using raw (I cannot speak of pre-cooked) wings. Right now, I am staring down the barrel of $90 for a 40# case. Super Bowl starts the festivities, then a brief two-week dip after that game, then the ramp up to March Madness. Holy Toledo. The often fall off in early April, but sometimes they linger.

Raw wings do hage a better texture for immediate service. Once you sauce, box, and deliver 20 minutes after leaving the fryer, there is less difference. Live the bodega one said, there is possibly less difference than the problems caused for a shop not otherwise frying. Raw wings also add handling issues for the cooler and the staff . . . . not a big deal, but another trianing and supervision item to make sure you don’t salmonellize someone 🙂
 
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I was experimenting with some wings I bought today at the grocery store. Here is how it went and if you see anything that I could do better please feel free to point it out.

I got raw chicken split wings, seasoned them with a bit of salt and pepper, and then cooked them in the conveyor oven at 500F @ 5min 35 sec for 2.5 times. I had them on a foil which was on a pizza pan with some oil on it. Had some issues with the skin getting stuck on the foil but other than that they looked pretty good. I let them cool for a few hours (wasn’t hungry yet).

1st try: I grabbed about 6 wings and I mixed it with honey garlic sauce, placed them on a foil and cooked it once through the conveyor oven. Result, not very good. The honey garlic sauce was a bit burnt and the wings got stuck to the foil due to the sauce, so I couldn’t take them off without the skin falling off, making a mess.

2nd try: Grabbed another 6 wings, put them on a small pan with no foil and cooked through once. Came out nice and crispy, no sticking and then I sauced them. They were real tasty.

Do most ppl do the 2nd method? Anything I could have done better or avoided? What’s the best way to package these wings?

Thanks
 
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Another ditto on parchment paper…when I use a sweet sauce, like BBQ, we push 'em in a bit further, to prevent burning…

I’ve done both frying “old sokol” and reheating thru the oven and just refrying, saucing and go…

Because of our lease restrictions, I’m going to try some pre-cooked ones for our on-line orders and try 'em in the oven, sauced…
 
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How do you guys deal with the wings burning in the oven when you sauce before hand? Or should I stick with the saucing afterwards?

Sounds like parchment paper is a great idea, do you put the parchment paper in the take out container as well for the customers or just take the wings off them and into the containers?

All you guys have been a great help by the way!
 
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We sauce before going in the oven.
We slide the wings off the parchment into the to-go box with a foil liner.
 
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bodegahwy:
We sauce before going in the oven.
We slide the wings off the parchment into the to-go box with a foil liner.
Click to expand...
How long are you cooking the wings? I tried doing this today for the first time (I am not sure if the greaseproof paper I am using is considered parchment) and cooked the wings 1.5 times through the oven (about 11 min at 550) and the parchment paper was flaking and falling apart. I had to spatula the wings off the paper because the paper was just falling apart. Next time I am going to try cooking on a screen instead of in a pan and hopefully be OK with just 1 pass through the oven.

Dan
 
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Parchment and grease proof are not the same. Parchment is designed to take the heat.
 
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Grease proof" is usually wax coated. It will disintegrate and put nasty stuff on your food. I guess you found that part out, though :shock:

Parchment" or baking paper is silicone impregnated. Pretty bulletproof in terms of this application. You want something that says “baking” or “oven” right on the box or description.
 
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My question is regarding wings. As of now we buy raw wings for our pizza restaurant and lightly season them with salt and pepper and bake them in our bakers pride pizza over and store them in the walk in. We reheat them in oven when ordered then put on sauce of choice like barbecue etc. The problem is they are not as good as they could be and would like some advice on a different baking method, seasoning etc or how to prepare them differently. They seem dried out and no flavor.
Ps: we are not able to fry
 
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I offer two things to improve the texture of your finished wings:
  1. brine: soak 8 to 10 hrs in a salted/seasoned water bath. Salt permeates to the the bone, and the salt gives osmotic pressure to hold moisture in the tissues when cooking. you can use all sorts of seasonings, dry/fresh herbs and flavorings. Google brining chicken for ideas.
2: If no like the bringing, then “dry brine”. To me that is aggressive seasoning all over the chicken, then cover and refrigerate overnight. You get the osmotic penetration of the seasoning, less moisture, and a definite change in finished texture. Most people season then bake right away, which seasons the skin and/or very outside.

Also, when 1st bake, finish as close to 160F as possible and chill quickly. That carry-over is robbing the wings of valuable gelatin, which gives mouthfeel of moistness even when a little overcooked. That’s the sticky bit you get on your fingers with plain wings. Since reheating, you could cover the wings on 1st cook to capture steam and moist cook them. Will keep some moisture in, but gives flabby skin . . . needs definite attention on 2nd cook to make palatable.
 
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always trying to improve,got tired of cleaning the fryer and surrounding area, currently not frying anything and doing better than before ! Wings,30 lbs frozen costco wings, add olive oil,sea salt,paprika,fresh ground pepper, handful of onions and green peppers, 2 cups water, big stainless pot with lid, turn on high 1 hr ten minutes, cool, layer with parchment paper in bin,take order, put on pizza screen with pizza tray under, one trip through conveyer at 535, 6:20, dip and serve,
 
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