Discovered a trick for crispy chicken wings in my air fryer last Tuesday that cut cooking time by 8 minutes

I tried patting the wings dry with paper towels and tossing them in a tiny bit of baking powder before seasoning, and the skin came out so crunchy my wife asked if I deep fried them instead, has anyone else experimented with adding baking powder to their air fryer recipes?

3 comments

3 Comments

jenny_lee13d ago

Well, I'll be honest, I used to think baking powder was a gimmick too, but now I'm a believer.

betty_perry2413d ago

Oh boy, I'm gonna be the one to disagree here. I tried the baking powder trick on some chicken thighs last week and ended up with a weird chalky taste that I just couldn't shake off. Plus it left this powdery residue all over the bottom of my air fryer basket that was a real pain to scrub clean. I'd rather just cook them a little longer and get a decent crunch without messing around with extra chemicals in my food.

the_brian13d ago

Yeah so the chalky taste thing is actually from using too much baking powder or not mixing it in well enough. A little goes a long way, like half a teaspoon per pound of chicken max, and you gotta really work it into the skin so there's no visible powder left. The residue in the air fryer is a real problem though, I found lining the basket with foil helps a ton with cleanup. As for the "chemicals" concern, baking powder is just baking soda plus an acid like cream of tartar, it's the same stuff in most pancake mixes and self-rising flour people use all the time.