I grew up primarily in North Carolina and somewhat bit in Louisiana, and though I’ve lived within the Northeast for almost 30 years, I nonetheless miss the actually glorious fried hen you get within the South—completely juicy, additional crispy, flavorful-in-every-bite fried hen is simply too onerous to come back by up right here. And, positive, I might make my very own, however deep frying in my studio condominium was a one-and-done occasion for me. When your kitchen doubles as your lounge and bed room, the cost-benefit evaluation would not typically fall on the “deep fry it!” facet.

Fortunate for me—and all fried hen lovers—you may make a fantastic model of fried hen in your air fryer, no vat of oil required, because of this air-fryer fried hen recipe created by our Birmingham, Alabama-based check kitchen colleague Marianne Williams. Learn on to find out how, via quite a few exams and tweaks, Williams made a recipe that delivers air-fryer “fried” hen that is juicy and filled with taste on the within and super-crispy on the surface, then use our ideas and the total recipe under to create it in your individual kitchen.

Whereas the recipe is written for a mixture of bone-in and skin-on breasts and thighs, you may make this recipe with no matter hen items you like: skin-on or skinless, bone-in or boneless, breasts, thighs, or different components. (Although if you’re going with boneless and skinless meat, we suggest selecting thighs, which keep juicier than breasts.) This recipe is written to serve six individuals and have to be cooked in two batches; nonetheless, it may be simply halved in case you solely need to serve two or three individuals. I prefer it with Southern sides like cornbread or buttermilk biscuits, stewed inexperienced beans or okra, and mac and cheese.

5 Suggestions for Marking the Greatest Southern Fried Hen within the Air Fryer

1. Lock in taste and juiciness with a buttermilk-pickle brine. Soaking the hen in a mixture of egg, buttermilk, and pickle juice, together with scorching sauce for somewhat kick and honey for a contact of sweetness, ensures the meat is seasoned all through with each salt and a contact of acidity. The salt and acid not solely add taste but additionally lock in juiciness—because of salt’s capability to forestall proteins from releasing an excessive amount of water throughout cooking and acid’s pure tenderizing results. We usually do not suggest marinating for various hours (most flavors outdoors of salt and acid do not penetrate far into the meat, and most acids can flip meat mushy if left on it for too lengthy), however this marinade could be allowed to work its magic as much as in a single day, because the lactic acid within the brine is gentler on meat than different acids. 
2. Pat the hen dry after marinating. Whilst you usually don’t pat hen dry after a buttermilk brine and earlier than dredging, because the wetness may also help the dredge to stick, however on this case drying the hen helps a ton with getting a crispy crunchy exterior within the air fryer. An excessive amount of moisture can result in soggy fried hen. 
3. Add rice flour to the dry dredge. Slicing the wheat flour with rice flour improves the crispness and texture of the ultimate coating. It’s because wheat flour comprises gluten-forming proteins, which might result in extreme toughness. A extra pure starch like rice flour combined in reduces the whole quantity of these gluten-forming proteins, whereas nonetheless offering starch to soak up moisture. The ultimate result’s a lightweight, crunchy coating that resists sogginess. (Baking powder can also be added to the dredge for related toughness-fighting advantages.)
4. Generously season the dry dredge. One grievance I’ve about a number of the fried hen you get outdoors of the South is that even when the coating is satisfactorily crispy (a giant if), it is typically bland and underseasoned. Williams solves this by spiking the dry dredge with not solely ample salt but additionally onion powder, granulated garlic, and smoked paprika, which give the crunchy exterior a sturdy taste. 
5. Use oil well. Whilst you want considerably much less oil within the air fryer than for deep frying, some oil remains to be obligatory for attaining a crispy “fried” hen texture. Step one is including oil to the air-fryer basket (you may line it with foil first), which our testing revealed is a vital step to make sure the hen crisps the place it is involved with the basket. You then’ll use cooking spray to coat the hen throughout earlier than frying, creating one thing like a micro-layer of oil through which the hen can “fry.” Do not maintain again right here: You need to spray the oil all around the hen items till no dry flour is seen.
6. Cook dinner it on the proper temperature. Williams examined air frying the hen at numerous temperatures to reach on the “Goldilocks” spot of 380°F (193°C). Any cooler, and the hen won’t be crispy sufficient; nonetheless, going hotter will seemingly lead to overbrowning and burning earlier than the meat is absolutely cooked via. 

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