The Little Trick To Get Extra Crispy Air Fryer Wings

Who hasn't wished they could get juicy, crispy, bar-style chicken wings at home? We're sure there are countless people who yearn to sink their teeth into a wing with that perfect snap, that not-quite-crunch that makes your mouth water. Unfortunately, we're also sure those people would rather not be burned with hot cooking oil, which makes deep frying at home a risky proposition. An air fryer, then, is a great, impossible-to-screw-up way to approximate that beautiful restaurant-quality crispiness while making less of a splash, so to speak. (We're talking about splashes of boiling oil, if you didn't get it.) But how do you get them extra crispy in the air fryer? We asked Marissa Stevens, the founder and recipe developer of Pinch and Swirl, and she gave us a few tips, chief among them positioning your wings just right in the fry basket.

According to Stevens, it's important to make sure the skin of your wings are facing the heat source. "Exposing more skin to direct heat helps fat render and encourages crisping," she says. This applies no matter which cooking appliance you're using, whether an air fryer or an oven. "You need to give the wings space and keep the skin side facing up for the best texture," she explains. Of course, you're going to have to flip your wings during the cooking process to make sure both sides are golden brown and delicious, but it's a matter of making sure that the skin is facing up first.

So you've set up your wings in the air fryer skin side facing up, ready to get nice and crispy. Is there anything else you can do before you press the "start" button? According to Marissa Stevens, there are a few other strategies you can use for shatteringly crisp wings. "You need to dry them really well, otherwise they'll steam instead of getting crispy," she says. A good round of patting with some paper towels ought to do the job nicely, as it does with many other kinds of meat; you'll use the same step to make five-star-restaurant-quality steak, as well as for juicy grilled shrimp.

Stevens also recommends tossing them with kosher salt, as you might expect, as well as with one other ingredient you might not expect. "Toss with kosher salt and cornstarch," she notes. "Yes, you read that right! Not baking powder — just plain cornstarch. It crisps the skin without any weird metallic aftertaste and it works particularly well with dry heat." Indeed, baking powder is often recommended for oven and air fryer wings, but cornstarch gives the same benefits without the odd, unpleasant drawbacks.

Oh, and one more thing. "Don't crowd the basket. You have to have good airflow for crispy wings," says Stevens. Follow all these steps, and you'll end up with the crispy, crunchy wings of your dreams.