Took me 6 months to realize I was overcrowding my air fryer basket

I kept wondering why my chicken wings came out soggy instead of crispy, even after 25 minutes at 390. Then my buddy Mike from work told me he only does 6 wings at a time in his basket, and I was trying to jam like 12 in there. Soon as I cut the amount in half, they came out perfect with that golden crunch. Anyone else have that moment where you realize less is more in these things?

2 comments

2 Comments

adams.taylor1mo ago

Dude, that is the exact same thing I went through! I read online somewhere that air fryers basically work like tiny convection ovens, so if you crowd the basket you're just steaming everything instead of getting that blast of hot air all around. I was trying to do a full batch of frozen fries, like way too many, and they came out all limp and sad. Once I started doing them in two smaller batches, they got crunchy on the outside and fluffy inside, like actual fries from a restaurant. It's so frustrating because you think you're saving time by doing more at once, but you're just making the food worse.

sanchez.sean1mo ago

One time I tried making chicken wings in mine and packed them in tight because I was hungry. They came out with that weird rubbery skin instead of crispy, and I was so annoyed I just microwaved them instead. Have you tried shaking the basket halfway through or does that mess up the timing for you?