Chicken wings changed!

[rxlowry]

So bad news for me anyway.  On board the Breakaway now and the chicken wings are different. The Buffalo sauce is more of a glaze and the wings do not have flour anymore (according to the waiter). There’s no little crunch parts.  It’s a naked wing now.  The sauce seemed different on embarkation but not crazy spicy.  Last night, it was so spicy I could not eat.  He ordered the Korean because in the Joy this year they were the hottest.   My husband who is a spice fantastic judges them as very hot.  I’m sad because the wings have always been top notch.  Now it’s something that’s just ok if it was like embarkation.  But I guess it’s healthier for me now lol. 

[weltek]

Heh, this is actually reallygood news for me. I 100% prefer a naked/unfloured wing and have always grumbled at the NCL wings. Sorry you are disappointed. It's always a little sad when our favorite treats change.

[goldmom]

We were also disappointed in the wings on our most recent trip on the Breakaway.  The waiter said that they no longer fry the wings, they bake them which also accounts for the different texture.  Not sure if he's right about the cooking method, but they were definitely different than on prior trips.

[weltek]

19 minutes ago, goldmom said:

We were also disappointed in the wings on our most recent trip on the Breakaway.  The waiter said that they no longer fry the wings, they bake them which also accounts for the different texture.  Not sure if he's right about the cooking method, but they were definitely different than on prior trips.

Hm. I bet they convection bake them, similar to what air frying does at home. It's not my favorite way to have a wing, but if it's done well, I like them. Unfortunately, many places do it too fast and they are flabby.

[rxlowry]

55 minutes ago, goldmom said:

We were also disappointed in the wings on our most recent trip on the Breakaway.  The waiter said that they no longer fry the wings, they bake them which also accounts for the different texture.  Not sure if he's right about the cooking method, but they were definitely different than on prior trips.

That explains a lot.  Kinda a slimy texture with the glaze especially 

[detroitlions]

All of this is a bummer especially if they stop frying the wings darn it!

[EllieinNJ]

Same on the Joy last month. Wondered why they weren't as tasty as before.

[New2cruise2022]

19 minutes ago, EllieinNJ said:

Same on the Joy last month. Wondered why they weren't as tasty as before.

I own a restaurant that does no-fry naked wings. Our wings are baked and then baked again to order. Maybe an order with a smile and ask them to make them extra crispy. They can be really delicious this way! Also, ask them if they have some Franks Red and they may be able to get you a traditional wing. I’ll try this when I cruise next. 

[ColeThornton]

First a years long pandemic and now THIS?          How much more can we take?    😉

 

 

[New2cruise2022]

Oh, and sauce on the side if you are worried. If you don’t feel like you are asking for too much (probably are) a side of melted butter and franks red hot and you can double dip it delicious. 

[dbrown84]

wow.  I was on the getaway a few weeks ago, and I knew there was something different about the wings, but couldn't quite put it into words (besides they were smaller).  I only got them on the first night because I didn't like the change.  Usually I would end each night after leaving the night club with wings.  This trip I went with a nightly burger, but had them add corn beef and bacon to it.  It was really good.

[mjkacmom]

One of my kids has celiac, I hate when they flour the wings. You can get them very crisp in the over starting with a very dry wing and tossing in baking powder.

[juju2454]

I've always ordered them as naked wings, then I get a side of Ranch/Italian or such to dip them in.   So flour was never an issue for me to not have on them. 

[MissRabbit]

Good to know going in. Bummer cause wings at 2am after a night of drinking was just the ticket! 

[uneamie]

If they are not crispy then they do not appeal to me. I like garlic parmesan but the wings need to be crispy first. 

[tgloersen]

Yep i agree, was on the Spirit this past July and was very dissapointed in the wings.  Same as comments above, waiter said no more frying.  Did not like them at all.  Bummer!

[PATRLR]

Count me on the side of welcoming this news.  I never cared for the wings and on my coming Encore cruise we wouldn't have even bothered ordering them.  Now I'll look forward to trying the new style.

 

Someone said they were smaller - I can't imagine how that is possible.  Is there any meat on them at all?

[New2cruise2022]

2 minutes ago, PATRLR said:

Count me on the side of welcoming this news.  I never cared for the wings and on my coming Encore cruise we wouldn't have even bothered ordering them.  Now I'll look forward to trying the new style.

 

Someone said they were smaller - I can't imagine how that is possible.  Is there any meat on them at all?

No one should “give up” on the wings based on a forum. One of the food items in my restaurant most impacted by inflation and supply chain issues the past 3 years is chicken wings. From week to week, the pricing and availability has been unpredictable. Often times, you have to substitute brand and size just to keep wings in stock. It’s possible the current selection is hitting a price or availability and NCL is doing the best it can to keep it stocked. 

[PATRLR]

19 minutes ago, New2cruise2022 said:

One of the food items in my restaurant most impacted by inflation and supply chain issues the past 3 years is chicken wings. From week to week, the pricing and availability has been unpredictable. 

Not to hijack the thread but what the heck - I'd heard that about chicken wings and wondered why that is.  Prices going up I get, everything is going up.  It's the availability I wonder about.  To the best of my knowledge chickens still come with exactly two wings so why the shortage?  Are people eating more wings?  Are there fewer chickens being raised? 

[New2cruise2022]

7 minutes ago, PATRLR said:

Not to hijack the thread but what the heck - I'd heard that about chicken wings and wondered why that is.  Prices going up I get, everything is going up.  It's the availability I wonder about.  To the best of my knowledge chickens still come with exactly two wings so why the shortage?  Are people eating more wings?  Are there fewer chickens being raised? 

Wings are one of the weird casualties of the pandemic. The price went up so high because of supply and demand that there was no way the price was coming down to reasonable levels in an environment of inflation, labor woes (availability and wage), and transportation woes (cost of fuel, available drivers). 
 

As the market stabilizes so will the availability and pricing with all things poultry. I kept wings on my menu but the size has changed along with the price. I try to put my customer first on value and I adjust for the product available. Right now wings are small. I have added more wings to the “typical” order so that customers aren’t paying more for less. 
 

Here is to hoping it improves and NCL and others get back to wings people want. 

[ColeThornton]

I'm old enough to remember way back in the day when wings were throw away parts or used for soup stock.  🙂

[cruiseny4life]

38 minutes ago, PATRLR said:

Not to hijack the thread but what the heck - I'd heard that about chicken wings and wondered why that is.  Prices going up I get, everything is going up.  It's the availability I wonder about.  To the best of my knowledge chickens still come with exactly two wings so why the shortage?  Are people eating more wings?  Are there fewer chickens being raised? 

My favorite podcast covered this issue back in 2021. The part of the podcast covering chicken parts (see what I did, haha, I'm a hoot) starts at 9:15 and it runs about two minutes. Make Me Smart Podcast on Chicken Wings Yum!!

 

Also, we went to a restaurant close to where I grew up a few months ago (recently bought a house and moved back to within 30 miles of my hometown, so I'm trying out my favorite haunts from back in the day). I remembered their wings being totally different than a traditional hot wing (naked, lots of yummy hot sauce/butter), but still good. Well, they are definitely very different: they're the smallest wing I have ever seen in my life, breaded (yuck, sorry, not sorry), and I believe oven-baked. They've done all the sins to a wing that can be done. 

 

Photo to show how incredibly small these things were. That's a small-sized takeout container, not a large takeout container! Supposedly the sauce is a hot sauce. Methinks not. 

 

 

Back on topic! I had heard how delicious the wings at O'Sheehan's are. We tried them once in April and once in September, just to see if their was a difference between the two sailings. Well, they were equally disappointing. I would absolutely bet that the wings were baked in April. They were definitely baked in September. The hot sauce wasn't nearly hot and there was a lot of breading on the wings. I do like crispy, naked wings. 

 

For take home and bake wings, we prefer the Costco Foster Farms wings. They're much cheaper than going to a restaurant and bake nice and crisp in our oven at home (it's a convection oven, so that helps). The only downside is the hot sauce is not very good so we make our own sauce. I wish NCL could make a deal to purchase these wings from Foster Farms. They're plump and cook up so nice. I'm just afraid that they wouldn't be cooked quite right, but I suppose @New2cruise2022's suggestion that we ask for extra crispy might be helpful. I'm not going to be the guy that asks for butter and red hot (even though I'm a high falutin' Havener). 

 

When I get on the Joy in March, I'll be seeing if I can get some extra crispy naked wings with good hot sauce. It'll make my cruise if I can get crispy wings without breading. I know, that's not what all of you want to hear. And here's to hoping we can all have what we want, breaded or not! 

 

[DCGuy64]

If they're more like air fryer wings, count me in! My wife bought us an air fryer recently and wings are phenomenal in it, so juicy! (And healthier, too!)

[New2cruise2022]

11 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

My favorite podcast covered this issue back in 2021. The part of the podcast covering chicken parts (see what I did, haha, I'm a hoot) starts at 9:15 and it runs about two minutes. Make Me Smart Podcast on Chicken Wings Yum!!

 

Also, we went to a restaurant close to where I grew up a few months ago (recently bought a house and moved back to within 30 miles of my hometown, so I'm trying out my favorite haunts from back in the day). I remembered their wings being totally different than a traditional hot wing (naked, lots of yummy hot sauce/butter), but still good. Well, they are definitely very different: they're the smallest wing I have ever seen in my life, breaded (yuck, sorry, not sorry), and I believe oven-baked. They've done all the sins to a wing that can be done. 

 

Photo to show how incredibly small these things were. That's a small-sized takeout container, not a large takeout container! Supposedly the sauce is a hot sauce. Methinks not. 

 

 

Back on topic! I had heard how delicious the wings at O'Sheehan's are. We tried them once in April and once in September, just to see if their was a difference between the two sailings. Well, they were equally disappointing. I would absolutely bet that the wings were baked in April. They were definitely baked in September. The hot sauce wasn't nearly hot and there was a lot of breading on the wings. I do like crispy, naked wings. 

 

For take home and bake wings, we prefer the Costco Foster Farms wings. They're much cheaper than going to a restaurant and bake nice and crisp in our oven at home (it's a convection oven, so that helps). The only downside is the hot sauce is not very good so we make our own sauce. I wish NCL could make a deal to purchase these wings from Foster Farms. They're plump and cook up so nice. I'm just afraid that they wouldn't be cooked quite right, but I suppose @New2cruise2022's suggestion that we ask for extra crispy might be helpful. I'm not going to be the guy that asks for butter and red hot (even though I'm a high falutin' Havener). 

 

When I get on the Joy in March, I'll be seeing if I can get some extra crispy naked wings with good hot sauce. It'll make my cruise if I can get crispy wings without breading. I know, that's not what all of you want to hear. And here's to hoping we can all have what we want, breaded or not! 

 

I sail Bliss in January and I will see if I can find a wing that works. If it does, I’ll post with pics and story. 

[New2cruise2022]

14 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

If they're more like air fryer wings, count me in! My wife bought us an air fryer recently and wings are phenomenal in it, so juicy! (And healthier, too!)

I agree that they are delicious in the air fryer. The problem? Air fryers take time. Even commercial ones are slow. Kitchen staff worries customers are impatient (many are) and are trying to clear tickets. They short the time on the wings and you are left with gummy skins instead of crispy ones. The perfect wings when you are baking take the right time to render the fat and crisp up. Once the heat gets there, they crisp over the course of about 30 seconds. I like the sauce on the side, just in case the time from oven to table gets delayed (which it often does). The crisp will stay long and you can dip and enjoy.