Air fryer wings turned out dry versus the oven method - which is better?

Made buffalo wings in the air fryer at 400 for 15 minutes. They came out crispy on the outside but super dry inside. Oven-baked wings I did last week at 375 for 45 minutes stayed juicy. Anyone else find the air fryer dries out chicken wings or am I doing something wrong?

4 comments

4 Comments

barbara_jenkins6618d ago

Oven wins every time for wings. Air fryer just blasts the moisture right out of them. That 15 minute heat at 400 is too aggressive for meat that needs time to cook through. Stick with the oven at 375 and flip them halfway. Baked wings stay way juicier.

iris_schmidt18d ago

Heard a chef on a food podcast say the same thing. Said air fryers are good for reheating but not for cooking raw meat from scratch. Oven gets that even heat without drying everything out.

fisher.thomas18d ago

Gotta disagree with @barbara_jenkins66 on this one, I actually get better results with raw chicken thighs in the air fryer - they come out crispy on the outside but still juicy inside if you don't overcrowd the basket. Oven just takes too long and never gives that same crust.

lee68915d ago

Yeah I've noticed this same split with lots of kitchen gadgets honestly. People either swear by air fryers for everything or treat them like a narrow use tool. My own experience is somewhere in the middle - air fryers are great for certain things but they definitely have limits with raw meat, especially if you're used to oven results. I think part of it is just that people get excited about a new appliance and want it to do everything, kind of like what happened with Instant Pots a few years back. But in reality most tools work best when you use them for what they're actually good at instead of forcing them into jobs they weren't made for.