How long can I safely keep steamed chicken wings in the refrigerator before baking them?

November 28, 2009 1:35 PM

How long can I safely keep steamed chicken wings in the refrigerator before baking them?

I'm following this amazing recipe which has you steam them for 10 minutes, dry in the refrigerator for an hour, then bake at 425° for 40 minutes.

Can I turn the hour in the refrigerator in to 4 hours? 12? 24? Can I put them in the freezer for an extended period of time (and if so, how would I properly thaw them) ?

Note that I'm asking about how the wings keep after being steamed, not before.

posted by 0xFCAF to food & drink (4 answers total)

You can keep them in the fridge for as long as you would normally keep partially cooked chicken. The chilled period is just to dry the surface, so the skin roasts up super-crisp. If you're extending the chilling period, I'd cover them for most of it, then uncover 1-2 hours before to dry. Leaving uncovered for a long time will totally dessicate pieces as small as wings. You can freeze them, too; just thaw them as normal in the fridge, separate, pat dry, and leave to dry out (chilled!) for an hour.
posted by peachfuzz at 2:08 PM on November 28, 2009

for as long as you would normally keep partially cooked chicken.

... uhm, which is how long?
posted by 0xFCAF at 2:29 PM on November 28, 2009

for as long as you would normally keep partially cooked chicken.

Which, in my experience, is about 2 days in the fridge.
posted by chudmonkey at 3:50 PM on November 28, 2009

The point of this step would be to dry the skin throughly, so that it'll crisp up. You can accomplish the same thing with a hair dryer set to cold, if compressing the cooking time is your goal.
posted by fontophilic at 8:39 PM on November 28, 2009