Took me 4 attempts to nail the right oil temp for chicken wings

I kept getting either soggy wings or burnt outsides with raw meat inside. Thought 350F was safe but my cheap thermometer was off by like 30 degrees. After ruining 3 batches of wings I finally grabbed a digital probe thermometer from Ace Hardware. Turns out the sweet spot is 375F and you gotta let the oil come back up between batches. Took me a solid 2 hours of wasted chicken before I figured it out. Anyone else have a cheap thermometer mess up your fry game?

3 comments

3 Comments

briancarter11d agoTop Commenter

@lilykelly yeah that cheap thermometer struggle is real lol, glad you got a good one finally.

ray_hernandez11d ago

Yeah the "cheap thermometer was off" part got me. I used to think thermometers were basically all the same, figured a $5 one from the grocery store would get the job done. Then I started burning through oil and ruining fish too. Picked up a Thermapen after reading about it online and realized my old one was reading 40 degrees low. Now I check temps constantly and actually trust what I'm seeing. Makes a huge difference when you're not just guessing.

lilykelly11d ago

Oh man, "ruining fish too" really hit home for me @ray_hernandez. I did the exact same thing with a cheapo probe from the grocery store and wondered why my salmon always came out dry or my fried chicken was greasy. Got a Thermapen for Christmas and realized my old one was reading almost 30 degrees off in the other direction. Now I check oil temp every time before dropping anything in and my food actually comes out right instead of guessing and hoping for the best lol.