TIL I was ruining my air fryer by overcrowding it

I used to just pile everything in there like a regular oven... figured more food = faster dinner. Then last week I made frozen chicken tenders and they came out soggy on one side and burnt on the other. My buddy Mike said 'you gotta give them room to breathe' and showed me his perfectly crispy batch with just 4 tenders spread out. Now I do smaller batches and everything actually gets that golden crunch. Anyone else make this mistake for way too long?

2 comments

2 Comments

emery_flores1mo ago

lmao I was doing the exact same thing for like a solid year. I thought piling it in would cook faster but naw, it just made everything sad and steamy. Now I'm out here doing tiny little batches like a civilized person and my food actually looks like the picture on the box for once.

ray_campbell461mo ago

Sad and steamy" is the perfect way to put it. I finally learned that crowding the pan just traps all the moisture and you end up with boiled food instead of crispy. Now I do two or three smaller rounds and it makes all the difference.