My wife told me my chicken was 'rubber' and she was right

She said it after I bragged about my air fryer chicken thighs. I was so mad I almost didn't listen, but then I bit into one and yeah, it was tough and dry. Turns out I was cooking them at 400 for 25 minutes straight like a dummy. Now I drop the temp to 350 after the first 10 minutes and pull them at 165 internal temp, no higher. Has anyone else had to eat crow after getting feedback on their air fryer chicken?

3 comments

3 Comments

richard_dixon1mo ago

Oh man, that 400 for 25 minutes thing hits close to home. I read somewhere that air fryers run hot and you gotta account for it, specially with chicken. @sarah531, I had the same smoke detector issue when I tried higher temps, my wife still brings it up. But I gotta back up barbara_baker57 on the 175-180 thing. I started pulling thighs at 175 and patting them dry with paper towels before seasoning, that alone fixed the rubber texture for me.

barbara_baker571mo ago

...but 165 is too high for thighs honestly. Dark meat is way more forgiving than people think, it actually needs to hit 175-180 to break down the connective tissue. Pulling them at 165 is why they're still tough, not the temp or time. I cook mine at 375 the whole way till they hit 180 and they come out juicy every time. Might be worth trying next batch.

sarah5311mo ago

Gotta be honest, I read "165 is too high" and thought wow, I've been cooking my thighs all wrong apparently. So I tried the 375 straight through thing last night and my kitchen smelled like a dream but my husband asked if I was trying to smoke us out with the smoke detector going off twice. They were definitely more tender though, guess I should've been making a mess this whole time.