The grocery store had PC wings on sale a few months back, so I grabbed a box that had the words crunchy and spicy and thought that was the way to go.
As it turns out, I already did a review of these wings back in 2008! Things that were immediately noticeable in change was the box art, that they used to be 1kg, and that they now come with a dipping sauce. The price is still in the same target though!
Is this the longest name for a product? "Crips & Crunchy Spicy Southern-Style Chicken Wings". Not having remembered doing a review in 2008, I came at these relatively fresh in perspective.
The ingredients on the box actually weren't bad. The chicken was seasoned, the coating was in wheat flour but not a crazy amount. Could be worse?
I opened the plastic bag the wings came in, and they looked pretty big. Sightly frost bit, but that's on me I'm pretty sure.
Also in the box was Garlic Dip ... this is not like the usual dips (ranchy, blue cheese) so maybe this one would be worth while. Into warm water it went to thaw.
I dumped the bag out and there were 21 wings in total. The box guarantees 16, so 21 seemed like a bonus.
I decided to toss these on the old bbq grill. I used a BBQ mat which I find helps crisp up chicken wings, or in this case, keep them crisp.
I had the right grill on high and the middle grill on low to cook relatively indirectly. They cooked for about 10-15 minutes on one side till I flipped them over. You can see them getting golden brown and crispy here. You can also see some bacon wrapped jalapenos that I was also cooking.
I walked away from the wings, and something bad happened. See I had the bacon wrapped jalapenos cooking on the bbq mat as well, and, well, the bacon grease pooled on the mat. Then it over flowed, and drip down into the flames. It caught fire, and woosh! We had a huge rager, which meant charred bacon, and collateral damage - badly charred wings. Woops. The wings were salvageable. The bacon, not as much.
I took the wings off and some were way to black. I still tried scraping them, but those wings were going to be burnt and bitter. Bollox.
Here was the final product: Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos with almost no bacon, and over cooked frozen breaded chicken wings.
I mean, most were still edible. They were just a lot tougher and hard crunchy rather than lightly crunchy. That's all on me and not PC.
There's a pretty shot of them with some of the lighter ones and the Garlic dip.
The platter of the best jalapenos and wings for my wife and me. Doesn't look to shabby eh?
The size of the wings were not huge, but not tiny either. They were also pretty meaty, but there was also a fairly thick breading. The coating was very crunchy. The meat wasn't too tender either. Again, my bad on cooking.
I mean, they weren't pretty looking, that's for sure. Again, that's mostly on me and my grilling negligence. They didn't have much flavour to them - maybe I burnt it off? There was a bit of smoke flavour from me cooking them on the grill, but that's it. The name says spicy but there was no spice. Even with my mistakes, I wouldn't eat these naked. They are a great vessel for saucing or dipping.
I was hesitant to try the dip, because PC may make some decent wings, but dips are just not that good. I wish they put in an extra wing instead of the dips.
This dip wasn't that bad. It helped with the plain flavoured wings. I didn't love it either. The texture is kinda weird after thawing. Still, it's creamy and garlicky, it did what it was supposed to do, I guess. I'd rather use my own dips though.
Would I buy it again?
Ya probably. Not for the flavour, because it was pretty blah, but because these are a pretty good crispy canvass for sauces and dips. Disappointed in the lack of heat especially, but I can get past it. I do recommend cooking them on the grill, just never leave bacon unattended on the grill. Ever. Ever. Ever.
8.5/14
