Sous Vide: Party (Chicken) Wings, Un-Fried!
About
Deep frying at home can be daunting, messy and wasteful. This alternative method liberates the enthusiast while satisfying the cravings.
Ingredients
Chicken wings, single joints, 6 pieces.
Powdered egg whites (or 1 each fresh), as needed.
Salt and pepper as desired, your favorite seasoning blend, or one from our assortment.
Vegetable oil spray (or drizzle).
Carrot sticks, 4 each.
Celery sticks, 4 each.
Blue cheese dressing (or Ranch), 2 oz/60 ml.
Frank's RedHot pepper sauce, or equivalent, 1 oz/30 ml.
Butter, melted, 1 oz/30 g.
Parsley, fresh, chopped, as needed (optional).
Equipment requirements
Immersion circulator, portable or stationary.
Lipavi container, minimum of 2 gallons/8 liters.
Lipavi racks, or equivalent.
Heat rated sous vide bags.
Channel or chamber vacuum device.
Cookie sheet/sheet pan, generic with a screen (optional).
Convection oven, conventional oven, or air-fryer.
Instructions
Above: Lipavi C15 container, N15 polycarbonate racks. Lipavi C15L-UNIR lid. Actual prep time: 1 hour Serves 2 Level of difficulty 1.0
Procedure:
Preheat your sous vide bath to 135 F/56 C. Vacuum seal the wings in single layers in heat rated plastic bags. Sous vide process the packages for 5 hours. When the interval has elapsed, shock the packages in iced water until they achieve 70 F/21 C. Refrigerate at 40 F/4 C until day of service. The sealed wings can be safely refrigerated in this state for at least two weeks.Day of service
Preheat the oven to 400 F/200 C. If you use an air-fryer, pre-heating is not usually indicated because the air space is so small.
Remove the packages from the refrigerator. 
Remove the wings from the packaging. 
Gently separate the wings from each other. 
Dust lightly with powdered egg white. If you prefer, combine one fresh egg white with 1 oz water and beat well. Use a pastry brush to apply sparingly to the surface. 
Mist with water (not necessary if you use fresh egg whites). 
Sprinkle with desired seasonings. Adding a little paprika to your rub will facilitate coloring. 
Turn the wings over. 
Repeat the procedure with the egg whites. 
Moisten. 
Repeat the seasoning procedure and spray (or drizzle) with a light coating of oil. Allow to rest for five minutes. Spread the wings out on a screen or an oiled cookie sheet. Use the oven's broiler function (or a 450 F/230 C oven) to crisp the surfaces on both sides of the wings. A toaster oven/air fryer can also be used. Internal temperature should be at least 130 F/55 C. Arrange the carrot and celery sticks on the plate and make a 1 oz/30 ml puddle of blue cheese dressing. Combine the wing sauce with the melted butter and blend or shake well. 
Arrange the wings on the plate and drizzle sauce over them. Garnish with chopped parsley (optional). 
Norm
Epilogue: Options
Of course, the option of dredging the wings in flour and deep frying at 350 F/150 C still remains... 