Just realized half the people in this sub are crowding their air fryer like a Tetris game

I mean, maybe it's just me, but I keep seeing photos of people stuffing 15 chicken wings in a tiny basket all overlapping. Last week I tried that with some frozen fries and the bottom layer came out soggy while the top was burnt. Did an experiment with just one layer of wings, like 6 max in my 5.8 quart, and they all came out crispy in 12 minutes. Am I missing something or do folks just not want to cook in batches?

3 comments

3 Comments

drew_jones3114d ago

@ivanbell nailed it, air fryers need breathing room not a buffet.

ivanbell14d ago

That first photo I saw of someone trying to cram an entire bag of frozen wings in a 5.3 quart had me laughing out loud. It's like they think air is optional inside the basket. I did the same thing with fries last week and ended up with a half soggy, half burnt mess that took twice as long to cook. Pretty sure these people never learned the golden rule of leaving space around each piece. You want crispy wings? Give em some elbow room instead of treating the basket like a clown car.

phoenix_lewis13d ago

I accidentally crammed a whole bag of those frozen sweet potato fries in mine once and they came out looking like sad little mushy worms lol. You really gotta resist the urge to fill it up, even when you're hungry and impatient. @drew_jones31 is right, these things work best when you treat them like a tiny oven, not a deep fryer. I do batches now, just a single layer with gaps between everything, and it takes a little longer but the texture is way better. If your wings are frozen, give them a quick toss in a little oil and seasoning first too, that helps the outside get that crunch. Soggy food just feels like such a waste of effort, especially when the fix is just letting them breathe.