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Used to baby my chicken thighs in a pan for 40 minutes, now the air fryer does them in 18 and I feel like I wasted years
For about a decade I made chicken thighs the same way every single time. Cast iron pan, oven at 375, start them skin side down on the stove, flip once, then let them ride in the oven for close to 40 minutes total. Fifty if I wanted the skin really crisp. I would stand there with a thermometer and a splatter screen for most of it. My wife got me a basket style air fryer two years ago and it sat in the box in the garage for a while because I figured it was a gimmick for frozen fries. One night in February I was short on time so I threw four thighs in at 400 for 18 minutes, flipped them once around the 12 minute mark, and that skin came out better than anything I ever got from the cast iron. Same rub, nothing fancy, just salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and a little garlic powder. The cleanup is the part that really gets me. No grease all over the stovetop, no baking sheet to scrub, just pull the drawer and rinse it. I still use the pan when I am doing eight thighs for the whole family, but most weeknights it is the air fryer now. Has anyone figured out a good way to get a crust without the top going dry? Mine are fine but I think I am leaving something on the table.
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