I am looking to bake some Buffalo wings and am wondering if it's alright to bake them in an aluminum pan (disposable or otherwise). I will be brushing/basting the chicken in the sauce not 'drowning' the chicken in it. I have heard that acidic sauces like Tomato sauce (less acidic than wing sauce) should not be cooked in aluminum (stovetop pans bakeware) because of some chemical interaction, but I've seen those big foil pans full of pasta spaghetti sauce at wedding, etc. Is the whole acid/aluminum thing true or an old cooking myth?
I think it should be fine. Ive never heard that before. However aluminum conducts heat differently so it may change the end result. You might want to consider deep frying your wings. At the very least par boil them first so that you can get them crispy
Cook the wings in the pan without the sauce so they will get good and crispy then put them in a covered bowl with the sauce and shake and serve.
Personally I never seen anything eat through a foil pan, and if I did I wouldn't eat what was in it. Tho it discolors but so does most anything you store in foil. Sometime you may store a bowl covered with foil and remove the foil later and it is turning like black (the foil, not the food). But anyway......it's true you should fry them first. Then melt some margarine and add your hot sauce and pour this over the crispy fried wings......the reason you heat or melt the margarine is to allow it to be better absorbed by the chicken. You can still bake them for a few to get it to stick well. Good luck.
The aluminum pan thing is NOT a myth. Short term storage in an aluminum pan for catering an event as described above is generally fine, however if you intend to store acidic foods for more than a couple hours then stainless steel or plastic is the way to go. The acids will eventually discolor the aluminum pan and in severe cases even eat completely through them. Personally I would advise that you deep fry the wings and then toss in a large bowl with enough sauce to coat the wings, not float them.
I dont know about the myth, but I can tell you that when we were tailgating we baked them in aluminum pans and they turned out fine.....good luck.
