Blew my mind that frozen chicken wings cook better without thawing first

I read a post on Serious Eats that said frozen wings come out crispier in the air fryer because the ice creates steam pockets. Tried it last night with a bag of wings from Costco and they were way better than the thawed ones I usually do. Has anyone else noticed a big difference with frozen vs thawed meats in your air fryer?

3 comments

3 Comments

lunaf6722h ago

Dude are you serious?? I literally just went through the SAME revelation last week! I always thought thawing was like a NON-NEGOTIABLE step for cooking meat but apparently not with frozen wings in the air fryer. The Serious Eats thing makes SO much sense now because I tried it on a whim and my wings came out CRUNCHIER than the thawed ones I spent hours planning for. It's like the ice evaporates and leaves this perfect crispy shell without drying out the inside. I've been telling Everyone I know about this technique because it's such a game changer for lazy cooking days. You're totally right that it's better than thawed - I honestly felt kind of stupid for not trying it sooner.

the_aaron21h ago

The Serious Eats article is the only reason I tried it too. @lunaf67 it really does work better frozen.

wendyg438h ago

Oh wow yeah I do frozen chicken tenders in my air fryer all the time now and they come out way crispier than thawed ones.