Shoutout to frozen chicken wings for making me toss my $80 deep fryer
I used to haul out my deep fryer every Sunday, heat up a quart of peanut oil, and stink up my whole apartment for maybe 10 wings. Then about 8 months ago my girlfriend bought a $60 air fryer on a whim at Target and I figured it would sit in the closet next to the bread maker. Now I do 2 pounds of wings in 22 minutes at 380, flip once at the halfway mark, and they come out with crispy skin and zero oil splatter on my stove. The deep fryer went to Goodwill 3 weeks later and I have not missed it once. Does anyone have a dry rub they swear by for air fryer wings, because I keep going back to plain salt and garlic powder.
That 22 minutes at 380 is dead on, but the real trick is patting the wings totally dry with paper towels first and then leaving them uncovered in the fridge for an hour. The skin gets this tacky feel and that is what gives you the crunch without any oil. For a rub, try brown sugar, smoked paprika, cumin, and a little cayenne, maybe a teaspoon of baking powder mixed in to help the skin crisp up even more. Toss them in that before they go in and flip halfway like you already do. You will never touch that salt and garlic combo again.