FOOD NEWS
The Baking Soda Hack To Get Crunchy Chicken Wings
BY CATHERINE NYORANI
To achieve a crispy exterior and tender interior in chicken wings, use baking soda. Start by patting your wings dry with paper towels to remove as much moisture as possible.
In a separate bowl, mix baking soda with seasoning. Use one teaspoon of baking soda for every pound of chicken wings to create an alkaline environment on the skins.
Add the wings to the spice mixture and toss to spread evenly. Place them on a rack over a baking sheet and let them rest in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight.
This resting phase allows the baking soda to break down the proteins in the chicken skin. Lastly, bake, fry, or air fry your chicken wings until they are golden brown and crispy.
Due to baking soda's alkalinity, when you apply baking soda to the chicken wing skin, it raises the pH level, which makes the skin's peptide bonds break down and hasten browning.
When baking soda is exposed to the poultry skin's moisture, it produces tiny carbon dioxide bubbles that get trapped in the skin, and when the wings are cooked, the bubbles expand.
The expansion of these bubbles creates a beautiful, crispy texture. The combination of accelerated browning and carbon dioxide production results in a crunchy wing.