Hot take: most people ruin chicken thighs by skipping the preheat

I see folks toss frozen chicken thighs straight in and wonder why they come out rubbery. You gotta let the air fryer run empty at 380 for a full 5 minutes first. Tried it side by side last week and the preheated batch had way better crust. Anyone else notice this or am I just being picky?

3 comments

3 Comments

ivan_fisher9913d ago

Gotta disagree here. Preheating is fine and all but I've been throwing frozen thighs in cold for years and they come out great. The trick is to pat them dry first and give them a good shake halfway through. Last week I did a batch straight from the freezer at 400 for 12 minutes flipped them at 6 and they had that perfect crispy skin. My air fryer takes forever to preheat anyway so by the time it's ready the chicken is already leaking juices everywhere. Seems like extra steps for the same result.

karenm4913d ago

Yeah the "pat them dry first" thing is huge. I used to skip that step and my chicken came out soggy every time. But once I started drying them off really well with paper towels before tossing them in, it made a big difference. I also add a tiny sprinkle of baking powder to the skin sometimes, it helps get that extra crunch without needing to preheat.

hart.ryan11d ago

Does anyone account for how frozen thighs bring down your air fryer temp so fast that a preheat barely matters in practice? I run mine hot enough that the cold bounce evens out by the halfway mark.