Honestly? I’ve never been a huge fan of chicken wings.

They seem like an awful lot of work for very little payoff — “not enough juice for the squeeze,” as the people say. I do appreciate the fact that they’re a very low-carb option in restaurants that don’t have many low-carb options. And I’ve found that sometimes those restaurant wings really are tasty. So of course I’ve tried making them about a billion ways: started in the pressure cooker and finished in the air fryer.

Sizzled in the air fryer from start to finish. Slow-cooked for hours and finished under the broiler. They always came out either falling apart (but not crispy at all) or very crispy (but dry and stringy).

Part of the problem, I know, is that I was cooking them straight from frozen. Criticize me if you must. But trying to get dinner on the table after I get off work and before anyone in the household turns homicidal is a skill I’ve been working on for more than 20 years. Part of the solution often involves skipping a few steps: using a jarred sauce here or a steamable vegetable there. I figured wings would be that way too: I’d need to skip some steps to make it work.

And according to my latest experiment, I was right. It’s just that I was skipping the wrong few steps. Turns out, I should have been cooking the little buggers first and then freezing them. Did you know that grocery stores actually sell them that way?

Of course you did. You probably know all the grocery store secrets. But there are a lot of things about grocery stores that I don’t know. You see, I cannot be trusted to peruse the aisles of a grocery store unattended. If I do, I will come home with eleventy-seven bottles of condiments and exactly half the necessary ingredients for at least three recipes that I hadn’t actually planned to make until I got into the store. That’s just who I am as a person. I have accepted this about myself and try to go to small grocery stores most of the time. I try to keep blinders on when I have to go to the big stores. (These are metaphorical blinders, guys. I’m not out here bringing shame on my whole generation by wearing actual blinders to a grocery store.)

Anyway, fresh chicken wings were on sale recently at my store. I bought two bags. And, since none of the methods I’ve tried so far have worked well, I checked YouTube to see if any geniuses out there had developed a strategy. And of course they had. The folks at “America’s Test Kitchen” had come up with a way to cook a ton of wings at once, which was perfect. I was so happy with the way these tasted. I feel sure I will cook them this way from now on. At least for a while — until something shiny catches my eye.

ROASTED CHICKEN WINGS

Ingredients
Chicken wing sections (drumettes and flats), about six per diner
2 tablespoons oil
Seasonings of choice: I used salt, pepper, garlic, onion, paprika and grated lemon peel. Use a seasoning blend if you have one you like. Check the label to see whether salt is the first ingredient in your blend and adjust salt proportionally.

Directions
■ Place racks in oven: one in the top position and one in the lowest position. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
■ Place wings into a large bowl and dry with a paper towel. Drizzle with oil. Add seasonings. (Amount of seasoning will vary depending on number of wings, but season liberally.)
■ Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or extra-wide nonstick foil. Arrange wings on lined pan with drumettes lined up along the outer edges of the pan, meaty side closest to the rim. Place flats in the interior part of the pan.
■ Lay a second piece of parchment paper or wide foil over the top of the drumettes. Lay a second rimmed pan on top of the parchment or foil to make a sort of wing/pan “sandwich.” (The top pan helps brown the skin.)
■ Place the whole shebang on the bottom rack of the oven and roast for 45 minutes.
■ When time has elapsed, carefully pour cooking liquids from the sheet pans into a clean mixing bowl. (Use the top pan to prevent the wings from sliding.) Refrigerate cooking liquids for later use.
■ Remove the top pan and top layer of paper or foil from the pan of wings. Turn oven to broil and place wings, uncovered, back into the oven, this time on the top rack. Allow them to broil just long enough to crisp up the skin, about 5 minutes.
■ Serve plain or tossed in your favorite wing sauce.
■ If desired, flash-freeze any leftover wings. Once frozen, place wings in a freezer-safe bag. To reheat directly from frozen, place in air fryer or convection oven at 400 degrees for about 8 to 10 minutes.

Amelia Plair is a mom and high school teacher in Starkville. Email reaches her at [email protected].

Amelia Plair is a Starkville resident who writes occasional food columns.