My coworker told me to stop crowding the air fryer basket and she was right

I was making chicken thighs the other night and my coworker Jen, who works the shift after me, saw my sad results in the break room photo. She said "you're packing them in like sardines, they need breathing room." I always thought more food meant more efficiency but she explained the hot air needs to circulate around each piece. Tried it with just 4 thighs instead of 6 and they came out crispy in 18 minutes flat. Anybody else have a simple tip they ignored for way too long?

2 comments

2 Comments

schmidt.grace25d ago

Is crispy chicken really worth reorganizing your whole workflow over?

jennyh5525d agoMost Upvoted

Actually, crispy chicken might be a bigger deal than people realize. The original recipe from KFC costs about $1.35 per piece to make at home with their 11 herbs and spices, but their restaurants have a completely different process. They pressure fry their chicken at 360 degrees, which takes exactly 15 minutes. If you're running a kitchen, that completely changes how you prep, bread, and time everything else. You can't just throw it on a flat top and call it a day. Have you tried replicating that texture with a standard home fryer?