Today, I’m cooking up 100 Chicken Wings for a local event.
I know for sure that I won’t be able to feed everyone and the only reason I’m doing 100 is time limited. So let’s get to it.
My local church has a high number of members that cover over 40 different nationalities, so each summer they hold an international feast. The Indian and African tables always get a lot of people but the British tables, not so much. I wanted to let people know there is good British food out there and so, for the first time ever, I took my actual BBQ on the road.
Saturday I loaded the BBQ into a van, this was not without a struggle, I had a ramp to get it in but due to a lip the BBQ wouldn’t fit through the door. I got the tape measure and checked and it would fit but needed to be perfectly in-line. 4 of us lifted it in and there was a 1cm gap at the door entrance. With everything loaded Sunday morning should be easy.
But Saturday wasn’t done, I needed to prep the wing coating. I know that the trays of wings I bought have on average 21 wings, so I figured, 5 trays I would make 11 bags of seasoning to coat the wings, 10 at a time.
Except we had no bags.
I use large freezer bags from Ikea to make sure I can get the wings in and toss them to get them coated nice. A late trip to Ikea (and it closed not long after we got out), bags procured and coating can be prepared.
The recipe for the coating is as follows:
- 1 x 1/4 cup of Cornflour/Cornstarch
- 1 x 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 x teaspoon of baking powder
- 2-4 table spoons of BBQ Rub
For the rub, I am using Angus & Oinks Fools Gold as it gives the best flavour and works with the cheese.
I have made these chicken wings before, I’ve been asked to make them on several occasions and they always come up flavourful and juicy.
Sunday morning and it’s an early start as I need to unload and do other things before I can get to cooking.
Unload is at 07:30 and I next see the BBQ at 11am. Food needs to be ready for 1:15pm and the recipe I am using says 45mins at 400F.
I get the BBQ lit as I think it’s not going to light straight away but I was very wrong and it lit first time and got to temp rather quickly to, so I turn down the temp for a while as I don’t need to start cooking until 12:20 for the first batch.
A friend offers to help so we start putting the chicken wings in bags and getting them coated. We ended up with 120 wings so a couple of the bags had a few more wings in but there was plenty of seasoning.
First batch in and after around 15mins I check on the wings….they look good and nearly done.
So I temp probe some and yep, they were nearly done and 5 mins later the first batch were off, covered in foil to keep warm and the next batch in.
This is actually a blessing as I know I need to be clear of the site by 4:30pm and the bbq needs around 2 hours to cool enough so cooking quicker means more time cooling.
We had 3 batches of cook in total, I finished cooking around 2:05pm.
The wings were all gone at 2:10pm.
I had a queue quite quickly when we could start serving but more people were heading to the African and Indian tables, hence why they lasted so long, but word did spread from those that tried them to others to come and taste.
I disappointed so many people when we ran out.
I had high praise from people including praise from people I wasn’t expecting. I had people asking for the recipe, I had people asking about the BBQ but the biggest comment was why didn’t I cook more?
Better planning for next time and I’ve had someone offer to pay for another 200 wings at the next event!
I’ve done big cooks, this is the most number of people and the comments have really made me realise that although I might never be 100% happy with what I cook (I know the wings were good but they could have been better), but I am rather good at this bbq lark, I need to try an expand on what I cook but that takes time & money.
I also need a photographer ><
