When air fryers arrived on the market a few years ago, waistline-watchers everywhere rejoiced:
Finally they could enjoy fried foods with less fat and fewer calories. A major win-win
all around! Compared to deep-frying, air fryers are simply a more health-conscious way to cook.
Rather than bathing your food in a quart of hot oil, an air fryer usually only employs
one tablespoon of oil or less. Hot air containing fine oil droplets does all
the heavy lifting as it's circulated around the food, resulting in a deliciously crunchy
exterior. If you indulge in fried foods frequently, switching to air-fried foods
reportedly helps promote weight loss by cutting back on how much unhealthy oil you're consuming.
If you've invested in one of these handy countertop wonders,
chances are you've been itching to try out some homemade air-fried chicken wings.
We're talking bite-sized portions of tender chicken, with just the right ratio of crispy,
fried skin to juicy meat — honestly, what's not to love?
"Boy, some chicken wings'd really hit the spot."
But before you attempt to make air-fried chicken wings,
there are a few things you really need to know this very minute.
Although quite a few air fryer foods ultimately benefit from a tablespoon of oil, chicken requires
none whatsoever. So that's a big plus right there. But if you've ever struggled with
overcooked or undercooked poultry, you might think that chicken wings simply have no business
going near an air fryer at all. Well, you'd be wrong! A deep-dive into air-fried chicken wing
recipes online reveals various recommendations for cook times and temperatures, so that's going to
require some trial and error depending on your particular model of air fryer. But one common
theme exists across the board: air-fried chicken wings don't need oil to be gosh-darned delicious.
Oh, and there's absolutely no muss and no fuss: You can simply season your chicken wings and air
fry your little heart out. A website called Air Fryer World agrees, claiming that a chicken's
fatty skin contains enough oil to yield a crispy-fried exterior. Using the chicken's
natural fat seems to ensure tasty results every time. Sounds simple enough, right? Well,
there's another pro tip that can really take your air-fried chicken wings to the next level.
While air fryers do a lot of good in the realm of creating healthier
versions of deep-fried favorites, they can sometimes fall flat on that crispy,
crunchy coating we get from a deep-fryer. Well, when it comes to chicken wings,
there's a hack for that. According to the Air Fry Everyday cookbook,
"[Tossing chicken wings in baking powder before air frying them produces] a particularly crunchy,
browned skin with a rough, craggy texture."
Ok, honestly, what more could you want?
According to Serious Eats, baking powder raises the pH level of chicken skin,
allowing the proteins to break down and transform into crispy,
evenly browned skin. Baking powder also blends with the chicken's natural juices,
creating a carbon dioxide gas that creates a layer of tiny bubbles on the skin. Those
bubbles brown and become crunchy, providing that delicious craggy texture we all love.
We recommend arranging your pieces of chicken in the air fryer so they're standing up and leaning
on the sides of the basket, because you want to put as much space between each piece of meat as
you possibly can. You see, you want to make sure you aren't overcrowding your food, which can lead
to unevenly cooked meals when using an air fryer. This is an incredibly common mistake that people
make when air frying their food, and sometimes they don't even know that they're doing it!
While it may be hard to hear, you really do need to give your wings enough space to cook.
Whether you need to feed a crowd or just really, really love wings, you should probably follow
Martha Stewart's advice. She recommends keeping them warm in an oven set to 160 degrees Fahrenheit
so you don't end up with a serious case of food poisoning after accidentally eating raw chicken.
Wait to toss the wings in whatever sauce you're using until right before serving, so they stay
nice and warm without getting soggy. Mmm… you know you want to try it, so why try to fight it?
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