I do not have a deep fryer (and do not plan to purchase one), but I have made chicken wings successfully in the oven. (My mom, --from Buffalo, NY-- even approves of this method.)
The problem is that my results are not consistent. The first time I made them, they were perfect - they tasted just as though they'd been fried. The second time, they were way over-cooked. And the third time, I could not get them done enough, even after nearly tripling the cook time.
Here's what I'm doing...
- Remove wings from refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking.
- Preheat oven to 425 F.
- Pluck out any feather bits remaining in the wings.
- Use a knife to separate the full wing into little drumstick pieces (one length of bone) and little wing pieces (remaining two lengths of bone).
- Line up the pieces on a baking sheet. I didn't have very much space between them. (Is there recommended spacing?)
- Bake for 45 minutes.
- Toss with desired hot sauce (I used Frank's Red Hot Wing Sauce).
Does the cook time change depending on how many wings you're cooking? Is there a certain size wing that works better? Should I be making sure the wings are room temperature before baking them? I can imagine endless factors that could be causing my poor results.
EDIT: I'm not deep frying b/c I don't want to buy another appliance - my kitchen is about as big as the monitor you're looking at. Maybe a little bigger, but not much. Anyway, it's about having space for appliances.