Air Fryer Fried Chicken

This is the experiment with the air fryer that I have been waiting to try. Whole chickens have been over six dollars a pound but Walmart finally had them on sale for $1.97 which is at least reasonable. There are just a few things I like made with chicken and fried chicken is second on the list. Normally I fry the chicken in oil until browned and finish it in the oven. I have heard and read that an air fryer does a good job with fried chicken. Still sceptical of that claim but definitely worth trying. If it fails I can always heat up some oil and correct it was my thought with this experiment.

This isn’t a recipe for fried chicken, my recipe is already posted, this is just wether the air fryer can cook my normal fried chicken recipe. There aren’t many chicken recipes I like, chicken wings, fried chicken, chicken parmesan, chicken Kiev, and maybe a couple of more are about it. Cooking the chicken I like isn’t the healthiest way to eat chicken, so the air fryer makes it healthier by eliminating the oil. My wife and I years ago changed how we eat, we make everything we can from scratch, eat more salads, and vary what we eat drastically. We didn’t get stupid with it we just followed the rule of everything in moderation and some stuff rarely.

I decided that even if this experiment was a complete failure I was going to post it. I read a number of different recipes but decided to go my own way with cooking time and temperature. I did it the simplest way because of all the recipes I read. Some said spray the coating with oil before frying others said it wasn’t necessary so I went with no spray, which I thought was a mistake. Cooking temperature I decided 200c would best for a crisp coating and 25 minutes to insure it was cooked, turned it after 13 minutes. I oiled the grill plate well to insure nothing stuck and hoped it turned out.

The verdict is in, it worked. It tasted like my fried chicken tastes just no greasy after taste. Yes, it surprised me, it was crisp and still moist. As I thought not spraying the coating lightly with oil is a mistake. Spraying it will give a more even crispiness to the coating. I have a pump up oil sprayer so next time I will lightly spray it with extra virgin olive oil. So yes you can take your normal way of making fried chicken and do it in the air fryer rather than oil.