Chicken Wings: Delicious Low-Carb Treat? Or Veiny Gross Peasant Food?
This is my first MGoBoard post in at least 4 years. Anyone complaining, in the words of Brian Cook can "Get Bent".
So I've been doing the Keto diet on and off for the last two years with mostly great results. One of the downsides of Keto is that the only real certifiable junk food that is acceptable is Chicken Wings(with a lower carb sauce). So while in the past Chicken Wings were something I might find myself eating only a couple times per year during football season, I now find myself eating 20 of them at least once per week.
But I'm still quite unsure of what I think about them. Although they usually taste pretty good, it's tough to consume them while remaining fully enthused about the experience. Either some nasty veins, some non-crispy epidermis or a little too much dark stuff on the inside seems to always taint my enjoyment.
So I pose this question on an offseason Thursday to the crowd in an effort to settle the longstanding debate..
Chicken Wings: Are they a delicious low-carb treat perfect for dieters and gluttons alike? Or are they a nasty throwaway piece of carcas on par with Pig's Feet and Rocky Mountain Oysters?
chicken wings are not healthy at all
eat them in extreme moderation - especially if they are fried
Nobody is saying they're healthy, but good for low-carb dieters to remain in Ketosis while satisfying a craving for junk. And usually they're decently filling for the amount of calories.
If baked they can be healthy, assumming a natural, moderate seasoning, not bathed in a sugar bbq quoting.
it's still not healthy, it is just less unhealthy
How is it unhealthy? You've got some nice protein and fats there in the skin.
Chicken skin is not a healthy fat. Healthy fats come from nuts, fish, fish oils, coconut oil, avocados...
Chicken fat is great for you, as is pork and beef fat.
The results were a surprise. Participants who ate a diet low in saturated fat and enriched with corn oil reduced their cholesterol by an average of 14 percent, compared with a change of just 1 percent in the control group. But the low-saturated fat diet did not reduce mortality. In fact, the study found that the greater the drop in cholesterol, the higher the risk of death during the trial.
Keys rigged his earlier data to match his prejudices. This later study, which fully disproved the conclusions from the Seven Countries Study, was buried and never published until recently.
So, we are here in super fat and diseased America due to some basic errors most undergrad stat student would recognize.
Fat was demonized due to Type I error (null hypothesis that eating animal fat was OK was REJECTED incorrectly).
Later, the low animal fat diet was incorrectly kept due to Type II error. (null hypothesis that low animal fat diet had better health outcomes was incorrectly NOT REJECTED)
The real crime here is this does not appear to be due to an innocent mistake but was some degree of scientific fraud.
But...the article you linked to does not conclude that animal fat is good for you. Rather, it concludes with this:
Dr. Ramsden stressed that the team’s findings should be interpreted cautiously. The research does not show that saturated fats are beneficial, he said: “But maybe they’re not as bad as people thought.”
In other words, consuming saturated fats in moderate quantities probably won't kill you and may have some health benefits. That makes sense. But eating an ass ton of chicken wings or beef fat is still not a good idea.
well, other than more of the low saturated fat group ending up dead... ;)
Grilled > Baked
....if they are not fried, why eat them???
Grilled and smoked wings are great. The grilling char blends with spicy buffalo sauce to give a much better flavor profile IMO than fried.
My understanding is it only works if you refrain from poo.
Wings vary greatly depending on where you get them. A place BWW serves a gross peasant food while a nice local spot can serve wings that are a top notch food. They truly have a wide spectrum of quality imo.
So true. BW has done nothing but raise their price on wings and lower the quality. The difference in price and quality from now to 20 years ago is massive.
Do they not both come out of the same Cisco truck?
No joke. A SMALL order of boneless wings now costs $12(!) at BW3s. I used to go twice a month about 10 years ago, but now it only happens once or twice a year when someone else chooses the restaurant.
God help you if you don’t think chicken wings are amazing. I can’t fathom being that miserable a person.
When the first Sweet Baby Rays restaurant opened in Chicago (many years ago), I stopped there in the way home to get some grub for the family. While waiting for everything, I had a beer and an order of wings.
They were awesome because they were very meaty. I'm not a fan of the tiny, overcooked wings. When I make wings on the grill, I only by large wings. Otherwise, I get drumsticks.
Love wings but a good and healthy alternative; and I’ll get negged for this but fuck it, my points still aren’t working... baked cauliflower. Bake and toss with some hot sauce and margarine and go to town!
I eat a lot of cauliflower nowadays, so I’m with you, but I still have to get my wings fix on cheat days.
I envy nobody near you after eating all that cauliflower.
This is also something I've become acquainted with during low-carb, and there's a finite amount you can eat. The first 15 are good, but the wall hits you quick and you can't choke down another bite.
My record is 34
34 dicks? In a row?
Try not to suck any dicks on your way through the parking lot....
Even better is fried brussel sprouts. They get nice and crispy, don't really taste like brussel sprouts, and with some salt can be a nice substitute as a side dish for fries or chips.
Brussel sprouts are (for veggies) pretty high carb, and generally not allowed on keto diets.
Yeah, everyone knows brussel sprouts are horribly unhealthy.
I prefer broccoli over cauliflower personally.
Been Keto for a few years as well, love me some wings, best way is to cook them on a hot grill, cuts down on greasy-ness, and just as crispy and delicious!
Don’t over think it...delicious.
Generally delicious, but really it depends entirely on the sauce/preparation. Second that grilling wings is a greatly underrated prep; they're also delicious smoked but what isn't?
You had me at wings...
and lost me at taint. That word just doesn’t belong in a sentence about food. Especailly in a sentence talking about dark stufff...
just ewwwwww!
ok. Now that I’m recovered, may have to grab some wings after work!
I bought a turkey fryer so I could make chicken wings in it.
They are tremendous.
While I love the flavors of buffalo wings (spicy, tangy sauce, blue cheese, and celery), I hate the chicken wings. Give me those flavors on chicken tenders and I'm good.
I’m a fan. Like to pressure cook and then broil in the oven, using low card/ fat sauce (basically franks, without the butter).
They're delicious. You just have the season them well and get them crispy
Great junk food for Keto diet? Kale chips!!! Holy crap are they addicting. Preheat your oven to 375. Take a lot of kale, take out any big ribs in it then put it in a plastic bag with a little bit of oil then salt and whatever other seasonings you want. Close and shake the bag so the kale is lightly coated in oil. Then put the kale on a lined baking sheet and spread it out into a single layer. Bake until crispy and shake the pan a few times while baking. Then take off the pan and season with more salt if you want. They're so good and addicting
Not gonna lie. I had the best wings of my life a few weeks back at work. A coworker brought in his air fryer and cooked them, no breading.
Most succulent perfect chicken wings ive ever eaten.
Thanks for being so honest. Much appreciated.
I knew Alfred had skills, but I didn't know he could cook too. Was it a souped up dark black fryer with bat ears and an attitude?
Coworker, must have been Robin.
Air fryer is the way to go! Crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside
Not gonna lie. I had the best wings of my life a few weeks back at work. A coworker brought in his air fryer and cooked them, no breading.
Most succulent perfect chicken wings ive ever eaten.
"Veiny gross peasant food?" I'll be seeing you in hell ya Bastard!
Been doing Keto for a couple weeks. About to throw in the towel. It’s just too damn expensive. Plus: I can never have fries, ice cream, cookies, hush puppies, popsicles, Detroit coneys,and a shit ton of other stuff. Sure I can make “brownies” and “cookies” but it’s just not the same. Not only that it costs $20 just to get the ingredients to make an imitation of something that costs $2.50 at Kroger.
Switch to the 4 hour body by Tim Ferris....did it for a while a few years back and it really worked. You get a cheat day once a week where you can eat whatever you want. That, and they allow you a glass of red wine nightly is what allowed me to keep going on it because it's boring as hell.
The blog did a post a year or two ago on smoked chicken wings and they are seriously life changing. I brine mine beforehand and smoke them for like 3 hours low and slow with a BBQ rub on them - truely they don't even need sauce at that point.
I'm on mobile so I can't link it, but Google mgobbq chicken wings and you should be able to find it.
Found it:
https://mgoblog.com/content/mgobbq-super-bowl-finger-foods-wings-and-bacon-tots
Highly recommend the Thunderbird Wings rub as well - it has just the right amount of heat.