"Boneless" Wings, the Cheaper Bite

[Nick Theodorakis]

... in restaurants from Sarasota to Seattle, an improbable poultry part is showing up on menus: a little chunk of chicken breast that is fried and sauced and sold, with marketer’s brio, as a "boneless wing." ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/bu...y/13wings.html

Apparently a quirk in wholesale chicken prices have made it cheaper for restaurants to turn breast meat into "boneless wings" than to serve actual chicken wings.

Nick

[snapdragonfly]

It is ironic. Before "Buffalo Wings" caught on, chicken wings were something that you could almost get for free from the butcher as nobody would buy them.

I accidentally got a package of Tyson's "wyngs" - boneless wings (what an oxymoron) instead of the real ones that we like to snack on - and I thought they were just NASTY. I would not eat any. They were sort of like nuggets (which I also disdain) only nastier. I'll serve and eat chicken tenders, but that mashed up shaped blobs of chicken goo? Yeck. They just gross me out. Horrible. (the article claims that the boneless wings are chunks of chicken breast but they taste like chicken goo shaped into parts to me, not peices of real breast.)

[Jay Tea]

Who would be content with that? They might be a bit picky what what meat you do get on a wing is usually delicious, as opposed to shaped, tasteless breast meat.

[Insensible Crier]

Originally Posted by Jay Tea

Who would be content with that? They might be a bit picky what what meat you do get on a wing is usually delicious, as opposed to shaped, tasteless breast meat.

I think that's why they usually absolutely drown them in sauce.

I already ranted about this in the "Things that annoy you" thread so I'll just repeat what RCIAG said, "Boneless wings = chicken nuggets."

(and the Boca chicken patties are tasty, especially the spicy ones)

[qualli]

I'll chip in for the "wings" side.

There's a local wings place here that has amazing sauces (Garlic Parmesan and Cajun Teriyaki are my current favorites). They serve wings, but they also serve boneless wings, chunks of breast meat, cooked and sauced like the regular wings.

I LOVE them. I can not eat anything that has a bone in it. I get physically sick. (texture thing maybe? The feeling of the meat popping off the bone, and the squishy feel of tendon or ligature ...blugh)

Those boneless wings are a lifesaver, and very very tasty. Chili's also has a very good boneless wing (breast meat chunk) that has a spicy ginger sauce.


I do agree though that most frozen "wings" are chicken nuggets in sauce. Good quality resteraunt wings though? yum.

[candy from strangers]

I'm totally with qualli on this issue, good quality "boneless wings" are yummy. I know animals have bones, but I have a block against eating meat on the bone. I don't like to eat things with my hands either, so even if eating meat on bones were mentally possible for me it would be physically difficult.

[RCIAG]

Originally Posted by Insensible Crier

(and the Boca chicken patties are tasty, especially the spicy ones)

Those are my fave! Somehow they even LOOK like chicken when you pull them apart or cut them.

[RCIAG]

Originally Posted by snapdragonfly

It is ironic. Before "Buffalo Wings" caught on, chicken wings were something that you could almost get for free from the butcher as nobody would buy them.

My aunt always loved the wings & we were glad to give them to her because no one ever wanted them. I've always thought that there's not enough meat on them to bother with. Like you said, they were the freebies thrown in cause the bird had 'em.

I accidentally got a package of Tyson's "wyngs" - boneless wings (what an oxymoron) instead of the real ones that we like to snack on - and I thought they were just NASTY. I would not eat any. They were sort of like nuggets (which I also disdain) only nastier. I'll serve and eat chicken tenders, but that mashed up shaped blobs of chicken goo? Yeck. They just gross me out. Horrible. (the article claims that the boneless wings are chunks of chicken breast but they taste like chicken goo shaped into parts to me, not peices of real breast.)

Boneless wings = chicken nuggets in my book & once again, like you said, a GIANT oxymoron.

Boca makes some great fake chicken patties that beat those "real" boneless wings any day.

[bjohn13]

The problem with chicken wings is learning how to eat them.. They are delicious, and the "boneless" variety just doesn't cut it.

[mags]

Originally Posted by snapdragonfly

I accidentally got a package of Tyson's "wyngs" - boneless wings (what an oxymoron) instead of the real ones that we like to snack on - and I thought they were just NASTY.

FWIW, I've bought Tyson chicken breasts before, and they didn't taste good. So, regardless of whether they were chunks of meat or reconstituted paste, it seems to be a problem with Tyson.

I personally love the texture of the boneless wings I've had (so far, I've had them at KFC, Wendy's, and a place called Beef O'Brady's). Chunks of chicken breast, with a crispy deep fried crust, then coated in sweet goodness. The wing flavors I gravitate towards are always sweet based (I like some spicy in there too).

If they got such a nice crust on the regular wings before adding the sauce, I think I'd like them better. As it is, usually it's just the skin with sauce on top, and I don't like chicken skin so most of the sauce is lost for me. Plus, it seems to take so much work just to get a little bit of meat off the wings.

The boneless wings remind me very much of my favorite types of Chinese food. Things like orange chicken or sesame chicken often have the same sort of deep fried chunks of chicken soaking in a sweet sauce. Mmmm.

[DoubleNaughtSaleen]

Tyson "wyngs" are nasty, but Zaxby's has some good boneless "wings". The sauce is kind of spicy sweet Chinese-style.

[rlobinske]

Originally Posted by snapdragonfly

It is ironic. Before "Buffalo Wings" caught on, chicken wings were something that you could almost get for free from the butcher as nobody would buy them.

$0.19 per pound chicken wings were one of the things that got me through college without starving. Cheaper than ramen noodles and more satisfying.

But I refuse to pay the prices they want now for them. Damn successful marketing.

[Linnea]

When the husband and I go to get wings, he'll order a dozen wings, and I'll order 1/2 dozen boneless wings. Both orders cost the same, but the boneless wings have much more meat, you can eat them with a fork, and its white instead of dark meat. I can't really see why you'd order the wings unless you really liked dark meat and getting sauce everywhere.

[videoguy]

Originally Posted by Linnea

When the husband and I go to get wings, he'll order a dozen wings, and I'll order 1/2 dozen boneless wings. Both orders cost the same, but the boneless wings have much more meat, you can eat them with a fork, and its white instead of dark meat. I can't really see why you'd order the wings unless you really liked dark meat and getting sauce everywhere.

Wings are primarily white meat. I wouldn't eat them if they weren't. I don't know what the wings are like that your husband eats, but there's a good chance that they're nothing like wings from Buffalo. Some restaurants in Buffalo ship prepared wings all over the world because former Buffalonians can't get good wings anywhere else.

[Linnea]

Originally Posted by videoguy

Wings are primarily white meat. I wouldn't eat them if they weren't. I don't know what the wings are like that your husband eats, but there's a good chance that they're nothing like wings from Buffalo. Some restaurants in Buffalo ship prepared wings all over the world because former Buffalonians can't get good wings anywhere else.

I guess that never occurred to me, since usually they look so dark, but that must be from all the fat from the skin and deep frying changing the color a bit. That makes it even grosser to me than if they were dark meat.

[videoguy]

Originally Posted by Linnea

I guess that never occurred to me, since usually they look so dark, but that must be from all the fat from the skin and deep frying changing the color a bit. That makes it even grosser to me than if they were dark meat.

I don't know what they're doing to your wings in Colorado, but the chicken in chicken wings in Buffalo is white, even after they're cooked.