The Secret to Crispy Air-Fried Food with an Air Fryer: Amazing Results Out of Thin Air! | ChefSteps

We all love the crispy and crunchy texture of deep-fried foods, but deep frying—especially at home—leaves a lot to be desired. Once those delish chicken wings or French fries are devoured, there’s a stinky, greasy mess to clean up and a lot of oil to properly discard. (Not to mention, consuming deep fried foods on the reg ain’t exactly good for the ol’ ticker.)

Air frying has taken the world by storm—a super-heated answer to our culinary quandary of how to achieve deep-fried results without the mess and extra calories. But, through all of our air-fried endeavors, we’ve found that air frying is not the exact one-to-one replacement as many people believe it to be.

So, our chefs set out to develop strategies that play to the strengths of a smart oven air fryer and help you achieve as good—or even better—results compared to deep frying. Follow along and check out our fave air-fried recipes below to rev up your air fryer and level up your results.

Both air frying and deep frying are a delicate dance to balance how quickly the crust is cooking and how efficiently the interior is steaming and cooking through to the core.
When deep frying, the crust acts as a barrier between the oil and the meat. Below the crust, the water content in meat and veggies is steaming at a rapid rate. That steam escapes through the crust, creating little nooks and crannies that contribute to the final crunchy texture. The hot oil reacts with the escaped moisture, creating air bubbles that keep the oil circulating around the surface of the food. And then, as the water bubbles away, the surface dehydrates, getting deliciously crispy and browned.

But in an air fryer, forced convection rapidly heats the surface of food—almost twice as quickly as the convection heating that happens in a standard oven. Since we’re relying on air circulation and radiant heat here, the interior has less time to steam and cook through before the surface dehydrates and burns.

The best way to compete with the air fryer’s super convection, is to divide and conquer by baking breaded items, like chicken wings, first and then using an air fryer to finish the exterior to crispy, golden brown perfection.

Get the best results from your air fryer with these tips from Grant Crilly and the ChefSteps team.

#airfrying #airfry

ChefSteps is here to help you go from curious to confident in the kitchen. With a deep knowledge of traditional methods, our team digs into the science and techniques behind cooking to teach you not only how to cook, but why these ingredients and methods work. We make mistakes so you don’t have to, and regularly turn those cooking traditions upside-down to find new, more efficient, and fun ways to make your favorite foods.

[wolfingitdown]

I don't understand why people give you guys so much flack for promoting your own products with all of this FREE knowledge you share. Keep it up and thank you for all of the lessons!

[silviopina_]

This guy just put me in a really good mood! 😁 I don't care if they are promoting a product. I have a different brand, but can glean tons of useful info! Well done Mister! You may always fall back on stand up comedy as a side gig!!! Great human!!!

[rdfjfgjyfdhfghy]

I really appreciate the animations - honestly love the editing in all your videos

[jazzy_taste]

I hadn't thought about air fryer rack but it makes great sense to allow hot air to pass through each side of the food. Thank you for this tip! 😉

[GeorgeBobeck]

The new Joule oven is actually just a Breville air fryer / oven with added app functions.

[lsteiner]

6:37 Stop already! It's breakfast time, the sheer rib joy is giving me a hankering!

[saccaed]

Perfect to link to a friend that got an Airfryer as a gift recently.

[BeeBee-nxzi]

YASSS!! Finally! Can't wait for more air fryer videos!

[judy]

Who's is this chef guy? He's fabulous!! He kept my attention like none other. I just discovered him & will watch any cooking classes he teaches. Love his personality & the way he expresses himself. I just subscribed, hoping he's the chef at Chef Steps

[hellobello]

0:10 “You might not think it’s good for you…but you love it.” Yes. You win.

[zerosuperher]

Okay, I’m totally glad I didn’t get the oven yet since you guys have a joule-enabled one now! Yes!

[bostonbesteats]

When will you guys come out with a Joule Combi steam oven??? That's the future of home cooking! Please convince Breville to make one.

[cynthiatorres]

How do you deal with juices when air frying?

[StuartOtterson]

The finishing tip is a good one, will definitely give that a go!

[markknudsen]

Have you done a dehydrating video?
Looking at expanding the use of my Breville Smart Oven

[TATEY]

You guys are doing an amazing job, creating great products and educating us home cooks at the same time, literally for FREE! Don't listen to the haters, keep up the good work! 👌

[dimitrimatsacos]

Great vid, very helpful and fun. I have a food trailer and am wanting to learn how to utilise the air fryer as a finishing tool. I sous vide the chicken wings, then just before searing in air fryer, I do 3 steps.
-coat in seasoned flour
-dip in egg wash mix
-dip back into flour
The results I got last night using a small Philips Essential air fryer were phenomenal, previously I was going to finish them in the oil hot oil, smelly, dangerous, expensive.... this just seems a better option. I am looking forward to seeing how much better they come out when cooked in a wire rack that allows air flow, instead of the tray that I used. Also I sprayed a little oil and had to turn them, which again shouldn't be necessary with baskets.

Now I am trying to find an air fryer that doesn't break the bank or consume/require more than a 10 amp plug. (I live in Australia on the Gold Coast). I am getting a little confused with product descriptions while comparing products. Is a an air fryer, by definition, an oven that has heating elements on the top & bottom to promote a cyclonic type of heated air flow. An oven just cooks from either the top or the bottom, and doesn't cook nearly as fast? Maybe the airfryer has hotter elements?

[TheLiriousDream]

Is there a recipe for frozen french fries on the breville? I have had the Breville Smart Air Fryer Oven PRO for about two weeks now, but nothing I've air fryed has turned better results than on a standard drawer-style air fryer :/

[walterdowns]

Thank you for the advice on Frozen foods because when I used the air fryer oven it really overcooked the food then I went back to using just the toaster oven but now I will try at 20% less time and hopefully that will work

[lornagonzalez]

Do I need to put anything under the air fryer basket so grease doesn’t get all over the place?