Most People Air Fry Chicken Wrong! Try These Southern Tricks for Perfect Chicken Every Time

Limp, dry or pale-bottomed air fryer chicken comes from six fixable mistakes, and I give you the fix for each one. You also get three Southern fried chicken tricks for the basket: a buttermilk soak, seasoned flour and a buttermilk drip. A food thermometer is how you know air fryer chicken is done, and I show you where it goes in bone-in, skin-on thighs. The mistakes are the ones that block the hot air or leave the skin wet or bare. They include packing the basket instead of cooking one even layer, putting chicken in with wet skin, and leaving out the oil. They also include skipping the preheat for breaded chicken, skipping the turn halfway, and going by colour instead of temperature. I take a Southern fried chicken recipe that serves six down to four small thighs for two. That means one cup of buttermilk with egg, pickle brine, hot sauce, honey and salt. The thighs soak for four to twelve hours. Then you pat them dry and press them into flour and rice flour seasoned with salt, onion powder, granulated garlic and smoked paprika. They go in skin side down on oiled foil after a three-minute preheat at 380°F. They cook 22 to 25 minutes, with a turn and a spray halfway, and they come out at 170°F. Then they rest for ten minutes. The rest of the family pack covers two more suppers. The first is plain dry-brined thighs at 400°F, taken to 175°F. The second is thighs on russet potato wedges at 350°F, with the potatoes finished alone at 400°F. I also cover a breast next to a thigh, four thighs of four different sizes, and why Ninja's chart says 390°F when the recipe says 380°F. The safe minimum for chicken, thighs included, is 165°F in the thickest part, away from the bone. The higher numbers in these recipes are for texture. Times vary by fryer, so read the booklet that came with yours. Which one does your air fryer chicken usually do: soggy skin, dry meat or a pale underside?