That friend swore preheating my air fryer for 5 mins would make wings crispier, but I tried it last night and they came out dry as cardboard.

I followed his advice exactly at 400°F for 18 minutes and now I'm wondering if he's secretly sabotaging my game nights, anyone else find preheating makes things worse?

3 comments

3 Comments

sean_cooper583d ago

Oh so your friend is out here running his own top secret air fryer sabotage operation, huh? Sounds like he's trying to thin the competition before the next wing eating contest at game night. His recipe definitely sounds like a trap, I'm pretty sure 400 for 18 minutes with a preheated basket is just a fancy way to make chicken flavored charcoal briquettes. Your sister's method makes way more sense, cold start gives the chicken time to render fat instead of just searing the outside into jerky instantly. Maybe your buddy's taste buds just got fried from all those years of microwaving hot pockets and he genuinely thinks that's how wings are supposed to taste.

the_claire3d agoMost Upvoted

Wait is your sister secretly running a wing counterintelligence unit or does she just actually know how to cook? Sounds like your buddy better stick to frozen pizza before he starts a whole air fryer war.

rowan_thomas844d ago

The real issue might be that preheating an air fryer without anything in it can make the heating element work harder and actually overshoot the temp. My sister runs a little air fryer recipe blog and she did a whole test on this - she found that putting the wings in a cold basket and letting it come up to temp with them inside kept them way juicier while still getting crispy. 400 for 18 minutes sounds like a lot too, maybe try 375 for 20-22 minutes and flip them halfway through.