The Reheat
Is there a correct way to reheat wings? Yes, there is. I have made it my life’s mission not to impart my views on anyone else. Figure things out for yourself. Sometimes, facts are just too darn stubborn.
I tried everything to reheat: oven, grill, re-smoke, air fryer, convection oven. Remember, I pretty much just eat chicken wings. We can never lose sight of the perfect texture. You will probably come to the same conclusion, but the absolute winner of the reheat battle is…
Air Fryer!
Why? Well when the wings get coated in oil (check out the entire process here), that allows them to really crisp up and get the crunch required to be considered perfect. When reheating in an air fryer, it pulls the oil that was in the skin to the surface and actually enhances the crunch.
I often ask my friends and family (they always ask me if I have wings) if they can tell a difference or if they have a preference of fresh off the smoker or re-heated. The consensus (totally unofficial) is that both are amazing, but the reheat can elevate the crunch.
From frozen, I typically reheat in an air fryer for 6 minutes and flip at least once at the half way mark or pull the basket out and pretend like I am a chef and shake the basket up and down to move the wings around. That is for my sets of 6 wings. If I do 12, I add another minute to the reheat.
Pro Tip: Don’t ever cheat the preheat – if you put wings into an oven or a grill coming up temp, you are going to ensure the texture will worsen and they will not crunch. Don’t ever, ever, ever cheat the pre-heat!
(insert vid of crunch here too)
My full reheat experience
Grill to reheat – Might as well have grilled the wings. Although I have reheated some tasty, tasty wings on a grill, my wings are smoked and I think that kind of makes them grilled and not smoked. I could be wrong on that, but just don’t cheat the pre-heat on the grill y’all.
Oven to reheat – Better with convection/speed back going to get some air flow. People with a convection oven tell me it’s just the same as an air fryer. Well, I have tested this and it is not true. We have a new oven on order with an air fryer feature built in. It would be nice to have a large basket where I can reheat more than 12ish at a time when we have a large gathering. I’ll keep you posted with an update after the oven arrives.
DON’T CHEAT THE PREHEAT if you want perfect wings reheated. I can’t stress that enough.
