Told myself air fryer chicken was always dry until a brine trick changed my mind

I spent a whole afternoon messing with times and temps on chicken thighs and they still came out like cardboard. After 4 tries in one day I was about to toss the thing. Then a buddy said try a 15 minute salt water soak first. I did it and the chicken was actually juicy. I had been skipping brine because I thought it was extra work but it only added 15 minutes. Has anyone else fought with air fryer chicken longer than they expected?

2 comments

2 Comments

claire95819d ago

Did you do a dry brine or a wet brine? I keep hearing different advice on which one works better for air fryer but nobody really breaks it down.

lindahunt18d ago

It's funny you bring that up because it's like the whole dry vs wet thing applies to so many things in life, not just cooking. I mean look at skincare for example, some people swear by oil cleansing and others think it's a disaster for their face. It's the same kind of back and forth. Anyway for air fryers I've done both and honestly dry brine is the way to go if you want that crispy skin. The wet brine makes the meat tender but it leaves too much moisture on the surface which steams instead of crisps in the air fryer. Dry brine pulls the moisture out of the skin so it gets really crunchy. I learned that the hard way after making a soggy chicken that tasted good but looked like a mess. It's really about what texture you're after though, like are you going for juicy or crunchy?