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Tried putting frozen chicken wings straight in the air fryer without thawing first
I read somewhere you could skip the thawing step, so I tossed a pound of frozen wings from Costco in at 380 for 25 minutes. They came out cooked through but the skin was rubbery and not crispy at all. Learned my lesson: you gotta thaw them first and pat them dry, otherwise you're just steaming the meat.
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jasonf172d agoTop Commenter
The temp is actually fine, but the real issue is you skipped the thaw and dry step like you said. Air fryers work by circulating hot dry air, so any moisture on the surface turns into steam instead of crisp. Pro tip though, you don't actually have to fully thaw them. Toss them frozen in at 360 for 20 minutes to cook through, then crank it to 400 for another 10 minutes after you pat them dry. That gets the skin crispy without the rubbery mess. The key is getting that surface moisture off before the high heat hits them. Costco wings are good but they're already par-cooked, so you're really just reheating and crisping them up anyway lol.
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emery_black2d ago
Have you ever noticed how that applies to basically everything in life, not just cooking? People always skip the prep step because they're in a hurry and then wonder why the result is garbage. Like trying to paint a wall without cleaning or taping it off first, the paint just slides off and looks terrible. Or sending an email without proofreading and then having to send three follow ups to fix the typos. It's that same shortcut mentality that gives you rubber chicken skin every time.
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