Why is creating chicken fingers so hard

If you think using avocado oil is to be fancy or say "I use avocado oil", you would be incorrect. It's about the flashpoint of the oil. They all have different temperature uses.

For instance, using vegetable oil on a high temp quick fry will have your chicken fingers somewhat soggy, because the oil takes longer to fry at temp, and they didn't cook long enough, keeping the breading saturated instead of crisp. Vegetable oil is more suited for a longer cook at medium-high, and great for frozen air fried food.

Avocado oil has a lower flashpoint, which would be a better use case for high temp/quick fry, like homemade chicken fingers.

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PawnWithoutPurpose@reddit

Alright, chill bro. Your cooking oil isn’t going to explode

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wompod@reddit

if you use the wrong oil at high enough heat it will burst into flame. In other words it might explode if u have the attitude you do. And you probably don't want burnt oil on your food.

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PawnWithoutPurpose@reddit

There are very few oils which are use at their flash points for cooking methods

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inherendo@reddit

the oil takes longer to fry at temp

Can you elaborate? I have no idea what this means. Are you saying it has better properties for frying than other oils given the same temp?

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wompod@reddit

At high heat it doesn't burn or discolor or smoke the same way many other oils do. And it's got a much higher flashpoint than olive and a bit higher than canola too. So for really high heat cooking it's actually super useful. Great for searing.

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inherendo@reddit

Aside from a little smoke in the air fryer, there's not much benefit then is what you're saying.

You keep saying flash point but no one is accidentally setting their oil on fire very often. That's gonna be someone that has their burner on high and leaves if for long period of time while their food smokes and burns first.

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DrMonkeyLove@reddit

It's fancy because it's fucking expensive.

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LePontif11@reddit

1) The picture looks like an air fryer 2) Many oils fry fooda without issue so using avocado is definitely being fancy. Nothing wromg with that but you can definitely fry with many different oils other than avocado

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True_Bumblebee_50@reddit

Lmao 🤣

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weinerbarf69@reddit

Probably, but air fryers can get hot enough to make canola/vegetable oil smoke, avocado oil can withstand ~500 fahrenheit

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xXAssmaster420Xx@reddit

or just normal oil

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blargennn@reddit

Sure, if you don't care about your health

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ViciousPuddin@reddit

The people down voting you are dumbasses

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Heavy-Studio2401@reddit

I think it needs saffron oil from the seeds harvested around lake Minnetonka

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Ilikethemfatandugly@reddit

I like to cool myself in the waters there

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wompod@reddit

Flashpoint of saffron oil is 200 f 💀 it is not good for cooking.

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Cypherzero212@reddit

On the 4th full moon of the 7th month by virgins.

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chud_rs@reddit

OP nowhere to be seen

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SkynetLurking@reddit

Just because it’s an air “fryer” doesn’t mean it’s actually good at frying. I’ve found spraying things with some oil goes a long way to getting it crispy, but if it’s breaded it will never come out remotely similar to deep frying

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creatyvechaos@reddit

I think both you and OP have a strange misconception of why an air fryer is named that way. Idk, maybe it's just the way I'm reading your words, but to me it sounds like saying "this oil fryer isn't frying my food without oil!" Frying as a gimmick requires — requires — oil or fat of some variety. With an air fryer, that simply means a heavy (heavy) reduction of oil. You aren't frying food in oil like you would an oil fryer, you're frying food covered in oil with hot air. It should be stated somewhere in the instruction manual that that's the case.

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D31taF0rc3@reddit

Its just fancy baking. Its a toaster oven with a fan built in repackaged as "healthy fried food".

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dingdong6699@reddit

Yo what is this hate on air fryer? Most used appliance in my house of 4 with 2 young kids for years. It’s easy, fast, and yes pretty healthy comparing alternatives. It does everything beautifully if you know what you’re doing.

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TheCheeser9@reddit

The hate for air fryers comes from the dishonest marketing. It's a convection oven, not a fryer. While technically heathier than frying things, it's a dishonest comparison. Compared to an oven, it's not healthier.

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camdalfthegreat@reddit

It's not healthier but it's much faster due to its small size and high heat output. Air friers are marketed as a health product?

Air fryers are the king of reheating previously deep fried foods. The things you're cooking just need a fat content somewhere.

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wompod@reddit

they are amazing for frozen junk food yeah

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D31taF0rc3@reddit

It also comes from the first adopters of the appliance being wealthy health freaks who were psychos about the thing as well as it being a status symbol for a while since they were so expensive. "Clearly you don't own an air fryer" didn't come out of nowhere.

I think its a perfectly fine piece of tech and much like a toaster oven its particularly good for children and singles or couples, but its not a necessary appliance and a regular oven gets you simillar results.

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FriendlyDrummers@reddit

I love an air fryer and I'm glad it's called that. Who normally would buy a mini convection oven, even if that's literally what it is

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dingdong6699@reddit

I agree with this fully. I don’t know what “convection” is and I don’t need another “oven” style appliance, and I can 100% guarantee you I would have never taken the time to learn about it and would have passed it up. Which would be a tragedy because it’s easily my most used appliance. It’s much easier to understand you don’t actually “fry” anything in the air fryer, than to take the time to know what convection oven is. It’s just a very hot compact space with a high speed fan. It cooks things super fast.

I do think original marketing was like “batter this stuff just like you would a fryer and it comes out crispy like you actually fried it” which yeah is deceptive and false, but who cares, the thing is awesome for what it does and I haven’t seen marketing like that in many years. I have the multi shelf unit which imo is far superior to the single bowl ones. Entire family dinner in 10 minutes with no mess. It is superior to the oven in speed by a multiple of like 3 and superior by way of no big dishes to clean!!

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D31taF0rc3@reddit

Wasn't hating on it, just calling it what it is.

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chipthamac@reddit

A mini convection oven!

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permadrunkspelunk@reddit

Air fryers are named that because it sounds cool and caught a new marketing gimmick. They are just a new sixr of toaster oven.

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MoobooMagoo@reddit

I don't know what you're going on about but air fryers are just convection ovens but named something else for marketing purposes.

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creatyvechaos@reddit

I don't know what you're going on about but

The ability to read would help you greatly, in this instance

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MoobooMagoo@reddit

And the ability to write would help you greatly. Or you can just be a giant taint your whole life, which I guess is easier.

You're right that frying requires fat, but I don't know what you're trying to say with the rest of your comment, unless you fundamentally don't understand how an air fryer works.

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creatyvechaos@reddit

Or you don't understand sarcasm over text. It's okay, we've all been there ♡

You're right that frying requires fat, but I don't know what you're trying to say with the rest of your comment, unless you fundamentally don't understand how an air fryer works.

Hmm hmm, maybe ask an actual question, hmm?

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MoobooMagoo@reddit

14 popsicle sticks in a tomato and you've got yourself a wild night.

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Imwhatswrongwithyou@reddit

gif

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MoobooMagoo@reddit

See this guy gets it

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creatyvechaos@reddit

Mmm, no, I prefer my joints and edibles, thanks ♡

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crumpledfilth@reddit

frying requires a liquid substrate to act as a thermal conductor between the hot surface and the food, instead of air which insulates. That liquid substrate should ideally stay liquid at high temperatures, we use oil because it can do this at standard atmospheric pressure. But if you were to increase the pressure of the system, you could in theory get a good fry using water. Though who knows how the ambient pressure will interact with the water in the food. Perhaps a liquid which is liquid at higher temps than the liquid naturally in the food is required to fry, regardless of system pressure

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Julian_Sark@reddit

I feel inspired. Gonna try brake cleaner.

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creatyvechaos@reddit

True, and an interesting thought experiment. Food science is hella cool tbh, when you actually stop to think about it. One of my favorite subjects

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Fitzy564@reddit

Need to get the good kind 8 bucks!

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RecordEnvironmental4@reddit

You need to use some sort of oil spray

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Rndysasqatch@reddit

Avocado oil would have helped a lot here

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midwest_elder@reddit

3 big things right:
1) you need a cooking oil mister i like to use peanut oil and sparingly.
2) prep man! those are all different sizes they will have different cook times. cut everything down to the lowest common size, and possibly hammer them flatter
3) breading, this pic loos like it might be heavy on the potato or corn starch. watch some binging with babish, Ethan Chlebowski , or mythical kitchen on youtube, all do complex breakdowns of fried chicken with every oil/breading combo and critiques. you dont need to pick their favs, you can see their results and take away what you like.
4) methamphetamine, an extreme chemical addiction can help draw your focus away from minor food factors like taste, texture, and daily caloric minimums for survival.

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izyshoroo@reddit

You cant just airfry flour and expect it to fry, it just dries it out. It needs oil

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Commie_Scum69@reddit

air fryer doesnt actually fry anything. It's just an oven with extra steps.

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Wrestler7777777@reddit

Yeah, I love my air fryer but it's such a stupid name. Totally not a fryer.

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Doggystyle_Rainbow@reddit

Portable connection oven

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FriendlyDrummers@reddit

It's a rebrand but honestly I love it. I wouldn't have bought "a convection oven" because it sounds intimidating. I love air frying now

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Sierra-117-@reddit

Yeah it’s a good rebrand. It crisps stuff up, and does so extremely fast with zero warm up. So it “feels” like a fryer if that makes any sense

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Princess_Slagathor@reddit

For years I had no idea why anyone cared about air fryers. I've only used one before, it required a preheat, only shaved a minute or two off the cook time, was loud, made the room hot, and took up a HUGE amount of counter space, while only being able to fit maybe two medium chicken breasts at a time.

Only recently learning that most of them are what you describe.

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pasaroanth@reddit

That’s only partially true. Mine can preheat to 350 in about 2 minutes compared to maybe 5-7 for my oven. If it’s 400 then the gap is even wider.

As far as cooking it generally shaves 20-30% off for me. Specifically, there are frozen Tyson “rotisserie” chicken tenders (basically seasoned grilled chicken tenders) at Costco that between the time I hit the button to preheat and when I have finished hot food is about 9 minutes. Preheats in 2 and cooks in 6-7.

There’s no way I could accomplish that with my conventional oven. Granted it may still only be a 10-15 minute difference, it’s still a meaningful difference.

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FriendlyDrummers@reddit

Yeah that may have been an older one. Most nowadays are the same size as a toaster oven. Mine is still a bit loud, but it's not an issue.

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Wrestler7777777@reddit

Yes, but it also leads to people comparing air fryers to regular fryers. And then those people are upset that it doesn't fry like a regular fryer does. Yeah well YEAH. Because it just isn't a fryer!

It is its own device. It's a small convection oven. There's no oil if you don't put any in. Yes, it will dry your food if you don't use oil. Fries from an air fryer DO taste differently! It's just not a fryer, despite its name! It does not make sense to compare the food from an air fryer to "truly" deep fried food.

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dildo_gaggins_@reddit

So what you're saying is I can fill up my air fryer with oil and deep air fry. Hold my beer.

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Mouthshitter@reddit

Fast air oven

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Emm_withoutha_L-88@reddit

You guys are why they name the kill puppies and shoot the poor legislative bills the "Save America Act"

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Alert-Potato@reddit

I am in a committed long term relationship with my air fryer. But I'm also not stupid. (not always anyway) It doesn't fry things.

I've had people tell me with their whole chest that I don't need to continue to own a deep fryer since I have an air fryer. That I can make battered fish for fish and chips, and tempura, and donuts, all in the air fryer and they'll be just like if I made them in the deep fryer but healthier. Bitch please. Again, not stupid. I don't think those are health foods, and I'm not trying to make them into health foods. Some things need to be deep fried to come out right.

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Commie_Scum69@reddit

Ur not stupid <3 haha and having both is actualy very intelligent thing to do

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Alert-Potato@reddit

Oh, I have my moments. We all do. But thankfully I'm willing to admit it (usually) and laugh. Hell, I have an inch long scab on the back of one of my fingers from putting it against the edge of a cast iron pan, and it really was a moment of true stupidity when I did it. I have way too many kitchen appliances if you ask some people. But I like to have what I need and not have to improvise.

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Myrtylle@reddit

Alert potato! Cast iron is hot! Haha love ur user name

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Commie_Scum69@reddit

When I was a teenager I decided to put hot glue on my finger because I thought it wouldnt hurt 😅

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Looptydude@reddit

People assume it can "fry" because it's killer at making chicken wings, but the reason it works so well is because it's literally chicken covered in fat.

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Kgby13@reddit

So it’s an air dryer?

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neuroso@reddit

But cooks faster than over

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broccoli_02@reddit

More like less steps

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ThirdBorracho@reddit

I mean, surely with less steps?

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Commie_Scum69@reddit

No it's just warm air. Something most mini oven can do nowadays. The extra step is it cost way more and has less space for the food due to it coffee maker shape. It's mostly marketing.

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ThirdBorracho@reddit

Thats not a step - for me the oven takes ages to preheat, and it doesnt hold heat as well - so if i'm doing chicken wings or something, the air fryer (stupid name inclusive) is much quicker and the results are better

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Commie_Scum69@reddit

Yes its advantageous on time. Tho I have a mini oven that does the same thing. But I also can cook other things in it.

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Aggleclack@reddit

Are you talking about a toaster oven? A toaster oven isnt a toaster oven. Unless it has a convection setting, then it’s the exact same as my toaster over airfryer combo I bought for $50 at Walmart.

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Commie_Scum69@reddit

it has a convection feature. And it's just quicker/easier since I live alone. I have a big oven but it's brand new, unnused and I dont like cleaning lol. Same as an air fryer I can make mozzarela stick or chicken fingers in 15 min

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Aggleclack@reddit

OK, so you’re arguing against air fryers, but you realize you do literally own an air fryer lol

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Commie_Scum69@reddit

I own a small toaster oven that has the option for convection.

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userrnam@reddit

I thought the same until actually getting one... The whole point is that it's smaller and therefore more effecient at heating up smaller meals. Don't need to heat an entire oven to only feed 1-3 people. Also, they're stupidly cheap at this point?

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Commie_Scum69@reddit

I have a mini oven.

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Aggleclack@reddit

Jesus we know

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Commie_Scum69@reddit

gif

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Diacetyl_Puppy@reddit

It's a mini convection oven with more fans that heat up a smaller space. It moves super heated air all over the food, quickly, hence the name.

Still stupid name and a lot of marketing. Though I believe lots of industrial kitchens use them nowadays, much larger ones, so they have their use cases and I could see them being handy in the kitchen but you got to be able to get similar results with a decent countertop convection oven.

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Commie_Scum69@reddit

10 years in kitchens here. We use convection ovens nobody call them big air fryers. But yeah it's basically the same but cooks quicker

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FriendlyDrummers@reddit

I don't mind a toaster oven but they often take more time to heat up, and they don't recreate the crispy surfaces of fried leftovers

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ThePsychoKnot@reddit

I don't think you understand what steps are

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Frydendahl@reddit

Fewer*

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ThirdBorracho@reddit

fixed :D

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Aggleclack@reddit

An air fryer IS NOT an oven. An air fryer IS a convection oven.

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Commie_Scum69@reddit

Jesus we know

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Aggleclack@reddit

lol that was actually funny

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Interhorse_@reddit

Isn’t it less steps? I use my air fryer when my oven seems like too much work. It doesn’t need to be preheated.

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SignificantExit3123@reddit

Can’t you just spray some Pam on each side?

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NewspaperHelpful6500@reddit

This is probably the funniest thing I've seen all day

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Mr_Herbaceous@reddit

If you’re using breadcrumbs fry them in a little oil or toast them in the oven before breading

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MintyKitten96@reddit

Try a wetter or panko breading. I make some all the time because it cuts out the extra oil.

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BadPunCentral@reddit

Because chickens don’t have fingers?!

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eupatorusG@reddit

They can also Air Boil eggs. It’s an air boiler.

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whitecastlebites@reddit

Use bread crumbs instead of flour for baked chicken fingers

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TheChocolateMiIk@reddit

First off, If you want authentic chicken fingers then you have to deep fry em

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kr4t0s007@reddit

I can make good air fried chicken, but yeah it does need oil. I use sunflower oil.

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TheSunflowerSeeds@reddit

The sunflower head is actually an inflorescence made of hundreds or thousands of tiny flowers called florets. The central florets look like the centre of a normal flower, apseudanthium. The benefit to the plant is that it is very easily seen by the insects and birds which pollinate it, and it produces thousands of seeds.

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PlumpyCat@reddit

Thanks, TheSunflowerSeeds! I can always rely on you for my sunflower facts.

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wompod@reddit

That's awesome. Like broccoli?

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wompod@reddit

Sunflower oil is another great searing oil. Love me some high heat.

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kr4t0s007@reddit

And cheap €1,50 for 1L bottle.

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DenseAstronomer3631@reddit

I dont think there is any type of oil you can get that cheap in the US 😭

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wompod@reddit

Damn it's way more expensive in the U.S. wherever you live must produce a surplus.

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cornonthekopp@reddit

And this is why I just eat out if I want fried chicken haha. Deep frying at home is such a pain in the ass

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DarkflowNZ@reddit

And the chicken needs to be a pink slime emulsion extrusion

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wompod@reddit

That's nuggets. Chicken strips/fingers need to be cuts of white meat.

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DarkflowNZ@reddit

I had to google this to confirm. Personally I was picturing fish fingers but chicken. Apparently what chicken fingers actually are is a chicken tender that's often made with a cut of meat from underneath the breast, or the breast itself

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wompod@reddit

A tender is supposed to be whole meat too. if its not its a nugget or like, a fry or something. or a patty. Source: I love chicken strips but not chicken nuggets.

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DarkflowNZ@reddit

I think chicken fries are closest to what I was thinking of. But like thicker

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LOTRfreak101@reddit

Yeah, chicken tenders are pretty easy to make from actually meat instead of Emulsified Meat Product^tm.

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TrainingFilm4296@reddit

To be even more pedantic, chicken "fingers" are specifically just the small "tenderloin" of the chicken breast.

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No-Internal7978@reddit

Wrong

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FriendlyDrummers@reddit

Sad but true

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Cynykl@reddit

If you are attentive you can shallow fry and get good results.

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GreyGanado@reddit

Just coating the whole breading in oil before air frying would also work. Not as much as actually frying but still a million times better than what OP has done.

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Any-Cow5680@reddit

Came here to say this. Sucks if OP's trying to make it less oily, but you're just not gonna get the same from air-frying as from deep frying

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scfw0x0f@reddit

Pan fry, but yes, needs far deeper oil.

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FlawedHero@reddit

Deep frying and pan frying are both acceptable techniques. Air frying, however, is the worst of the three options.

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scfw0x0f@reddit

Air frying is not a technique. Might as well give it to Chef Mike.

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killtostayalive@reddit

Normal frying pan with an inch worth of any oil. Medium heat.

Mix: mug of flour an egg A can of lager/beer Mix it until it ends up with a consistency of melted ice cream

Dip and fry. Easiest thing in the world.

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VeterinarianTrick406@reddit

You need fat in your binder no matter how much you try and shave off calories by air frying it. The ones you buy pre frozen have added fats in the breading.

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Sumoki_Kuma@reddit

Do you possibly know how they add those fats to the breading? Would it be hard to recreate in a normal kitchen?

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GiganticEgg@reddit

Ive seen a recipe online that pretoasted the breadcrumbs with some oil before they did the flour egg breadcrumb steps. Haven't tried it myself but the end result looked quite good, just need to make sure your flour layer is quite thin

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VeterinarianTrick406@reddit

Tasterspoon has a great recommendation on using your favorite off the shelf dressing because it’s consistent, easy and lasts for a long time. You can dredge your chicken right before breading. My mom makes it with beaten egg mix with an extra yolk and mustard and bread crumbs.

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SirPsychoSexy22@reddit

Pretty sure they're pre-fried

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idiotista@reddit

They are pre-fried.

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Tasterspoon@reddit

I marinate my chicken strips in salad dressing, such as Italian. Then I toss them in seasoned bread crumbs or seasoned cornbread mix. Then I bake in a convection oven.

The oil in the salad dressing seems to be enough for them to get adequately brown and crunchy. They are still better if I generously oil the baking sheet and roll the strips around a bit in it before baking.

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mayoronczka@reddit

I did similar mistake recently but in an oven. The meat was cooked allright but breading was dry as pope's heels. I fixed it by preparing a kinda Korean BBQ style sauce (maple syrup, sweet chili sauce and some herbs), throwing chicken onto pan with it and coating thoroughly. Breading absorbed the thick sauce and it was MUCH better.

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admiralackbar134@reddit

Dog. An air fryer is not an actual fryer

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desu38@reddit

protip: "air fryer" is a misnomer, as it doesn't actually fry. it's a certain style of convection oven

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cattoo_tattoo@reddit

I just successfully made chicken tenders in the air fryer yesterday. It looks like you didn’t put any oil on them after you did your breading

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cattoo_tattoo@reddit

Also I put mine in the fridge for about 45 mins after breading them but before putting on the oil so that the breading had time to bond with the egg mixture

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Hurricana26@reddit

Cornflakes instead of flour if they go in the airfryer

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Neat_Olive_3679@reddit

I used to bake chicken fingers in the oven and they worked fine (not as good as fried ones though). You need three steps. Flour them first (add salt & pepper to the flit) , then egg wash (add milk to the egg) , then bread crumbs last. You can add parmesan cheese and oregano to the crumbs if you want them to be more tasty after baking then bake them on a bread rack on top of a baking sheet. Air fryer could accomplish the same but will dry them out & more due to the circulating air. Otherwise you can just fry them in oil! Even a frying pan with oil in the bottom can work if you don’t want to all out deep fry them but deep fry is the most delicious:)

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liberalhellhole@reddit

Chickens dont have fingers. Maybe that's why

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enchiladasundae@reddit

I’d have to look at your recipe but air frying is definitely not the way to go. Honestly a regular oven would be better. Only proper way to fry, as much as I personally hate it, is with oil. Feels so wasteful but it works for a reason

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huey2k2@reddit

An air fryer isn't a fryer, it's a small convection oven. The way you are trying to make them will not work in an air fryer.

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griffincook14@reddit

Air fryers kinda feel like a final nail in the coffin of future Americans knowing how to actually cook

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T0lias@reddit

Hear me now. Salt (and pepper if you're fancy) your chicken pieces, then leave them in the fridge uncovered for some time (up to a few hours, even 15 minutes will do some work). Then dust them with cornstarch or potato starch (NOT flour, flour sucks) put them in the fryer and spray them with oil (I do extra virgin olive you do w/e you want). If you don't have a sprayer, take a couple tablespoons of oil (depends on quantity 1 tbsp per 250 grams or so) and slowly drizzle over the pieces. Air fry at 200C (400 in freedom units) for 20 to 25 minutes, depending on piece size. Turn them over in half time.

This beats any fried chicken recipe for me personally.

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Top_Statement_7373@reddit

Crack some eggs in a bowl and mix em up, pour some panko bread crumbs in a separate bowl, cut chicken breast into tendy pieces and dip in the egg then drop in the panko bowl, cover it w some panko and punch it a bunch then flip it over make sure it's covered in panko and punch it again. Take it out and set it aside. Repeat with the rest of the chicken.

Set up your pan over low to medium heat and pour in some olive oil to cover the bottom of it, maybe 1-2mm deep. Toss in the chicken and dial up the heat so things just start to fry up. Wait til their golden brown on the edges, flip and fry the other side. Let sit on a rack to cool off, then enjoy

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OffBeatBerry_707@reddit

gif

*Even if you don’t deep fry them atleast spray the chicken with oil

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marsitro@reddit

I recently found a great trick for baked breaded goods: toast the breadcrumbs in a pan before breading until desired colour with like a tablespoon of oil. Also, yours seem to have too much flour-make sure to shake off the excess before dipping into the egg.

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marsitro@reddit

Btw, I made baked chicken katsu last week using this trick and it turned out great, so it will work for chicken fingers:-)

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September_Royalty@reddit

Not enough oil and just a bit too much flour, I suppose.

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GarbageManKnows69@reddit

Chickens don't have fingers

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spitslaps@reddit

gif

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DriedMangoSex@reddit

Air frying is healthier simply because less oil is needed / the food cooks in its own oils. That’s the thing though.. you definitely need at least some oil or butter to start with or else the starches wont bind to anything. Get some oil/butter spray, maybe even reapply half way through cooking if it looks a little dry and you should be good!

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Beneficial-Staff9714@reddit

It isn't.

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wateryonions@reddit

Learn to cook and stop sticking everything in the air fryer.

I swear they are the new microwave. “Save a few minutes and your food comes out worse!”

Their only use in my house is to reheat something I want to end up crispy.

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Quick_Philosophy1426@reddit

i cannot believe that there are actually people out there that think their air fryer does the same thing as a deep fryer

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Weasel_Vomit@reddit

They look freezer burnt.

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NoEggsOrBeansPlz@reddit

because chickens don’t have fingers

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longDreadsNmore@reddit

Pre heat air fryer and spray with cookin spray food and fryer turn halfway thru

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LegDayLass@reddit

Your real question should be “why is it so hard to fry things without frying them” and the answer is common sense.

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Anxious_Emphasis5311@reddit

Por-Q is a great product

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caseythebuffalo@reddit

Because you need to actually fry them not chuck them into an air fryer

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SharVezSingh@reddit

Lol. Survival of the fittest doesn't apply to you 🤣🤣🤣 as if you cant cook simple breaded chicken.

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AugustWest101@reddit

After you bread the chicken let it sit to set. Then use a brush and dab oil over the breading. They will brown and crisp them up.

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EhMapleMoose@reddit

Use mayo to stick the breadcrumbs on.

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phillybluntz@reddit

I would still crush these with some good sauce

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phillybluntz@reddit

You know what I just saw the last pic these look rough. I’ll pass

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Alert_Row7148@reddit

But chickens don't have fingers!

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professorseagull@reddit

There's no oil in your fryer

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xXTheLastCrowXx@reddit

I've never cooked food in my air fryer. Only ever use it to heat food up to bring back their crisp. Like fries, wings, etc.

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Chem1st@reddit

Because you're misunderstanding what an air fryer actually is. Hint: it's not a fryer.

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error785@reddit

Because you’re kinda not using the right equipment. These are supposed to get deep fat fried if you’re looking for anything close to resembling something you’ve seen come from a restaurant. So for starters you need a bigger pan/dutch so that they can be fully submerged. Second you need a ton more oil. This is why picking up a 5 piece at the drive thru will remain your best option.

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slornump@reddit

What are they breaded in?

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Obvious-Water569@reddit

Because air fryers are fucking shit and no one can change my mind on that.

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Banned_from_italy@reddit

lol it’s not

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FNAF1ISTHEBEST@reddit

Why are they frostbitten

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Banana_Slugcat@reddit

Micheal Jackson chicken

Also please spray some oil on those, it's not a fryer it's a ventilated mini oven

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Lost_Horror4554@reddit

Creating chicken fingers is hard because they don't have fingers, they have toes.

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oogabooga20190@reddit

Im sorry, creating?

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jeremybeadlesfingers@reddit

You’re using the wrong tool.

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SquidFetus@reddit

I’m imagining OP starting out with nothing, trying to find the code to spawn a chicken.

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Mazasaurus@reddit

I mean chickens no longer really have fingers so you have to do some reverse engineering and

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Substantial-Water-10@reddit

Is that flour and bread crumbs ? If no flour then maybe you can toast the bread crumbs more before you bread the chicken , when I bake chicken with panko it’s mandatory to toast the bread crumbs otherwise they stay a pale color and don’t cook right. Also add a bit of oil and flip half way through.

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esperanzalos@reddit

First time seeing someone actually try to fry something in an air fryer. Usually at least put some oil on it the air will dry it put

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MediumSatisfaction1@reddit

Honestly id still slam these

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chrisp5000@reddit

gif

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Pretty_Lie5168@reddit

Chickens don't have fingers?

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MarzipanPlane9490@reddit

Did you read the instructions 🤔

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brendanb203@reddit

It says creating

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MarzipanPlane9490@reddit

Still might be directions or instructions 🤷‍♀️

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Xogoth@reddit

Don't air fryer if you're going to bread things

4-6cm of oil in a pan, heat to around 350°F, a few minutes on each side. If it's going golden brown, you're done, boss.

Don't forget to season at every step—chicken, egg wash, flour, and bread crumbs(or corn flakes, or whatever. If you're wanting that kind of crust/crunch.). At least salt and pepper, for fuck's sake.

And mix your egg wash with a fork, not a whisk—you don't want it frothy.

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robertbreadford@reddit

Have you tried looking up a recipe

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mhj0808@reddit

For real, every person I know that says they “can’t cook” really is just too lazy/impatient to read a recipe.

And God forbid they actually bother to remember anything they might read and repeat it back later down the line.

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Needy_Emo_Girl@reddit

I thought they were chicken heads for a second 😭

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pkmaster99@reddit

I mean, they are really good too when done right

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QuadraKev_@reddit

You need some oil to help thermal transfer and promote the Maillard reaction to enhance browning.

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mango-ranchero@reddit

I use this recipe when I make my own. https://www.recipetineats.com/truly-golden-crunchy-baked-chicken-tenders-less-mess/#h-really-crunchy-baked-chicken-tenders

The keys to good homemade tenders are 1) toast your breadcrumbs before dredging and 2 spray with oil before baking/air frying

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Ornery-Practice9772@reddit

Shallow fry in oil. DONT airfry. If you wanna airfry, low heat- cook for longer, brush with oil or theyll turn out like this.

Also is this a repost? Looks familiar

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Dave-James@reddit

Because they don’t have “fingers”…

Buy Wings. Don’t do anything to them, no breading, no seasoning. Put them in hot canola oil. Cook til golden and shimmering.

Done.

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InsertRadnamehere@reddit

Use oil next time. Or bake them instead.

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GrandmaForPresident@reddit

You aren’t frying them….

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odiin1731@reddit

Because chickens don't have fingers, silly.

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jpainphx@reddit

Did you egg wash and bread them? Looks like excess breading not shaken off. Not horrible

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MirandaScribes@reddit

I disagree. They look sort of horrible

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Snowf1ake222@reddit

There should be a subreddit where people post pictures of the shitty looking food.

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creatyvechaos@reddit

We could call it smthn like "shitty looking food" or something. Oh, but sex sells... Maybe "shitty looking food porn"???

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Snowf1ake222@reddit

Don't be silly. That will never catch on.

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creatyvechaos@reddit

Shit... :( I'm all out of ideas, then 😞

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LardLad00@reddit

They look like they were fried by a 3rd grader

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SpicyWokHei@reddit

Can someone explain to me why people seem to think coating something in flour is how you cook in an air fryer?

Is it like some rage bait meme that I missed?

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creatyvechaos@reddit

People think "air fryer = no need for oil." That is not and has never been the case. They need to actually start reading the instruction manual that came with their device. Got it for free and/or second hand? I assure you, google has that same exact instruction manual.

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Commercial-Star-291@reddit

chickens don't have fingers!

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leunam4891@reddit

It’s this easy. Flour, eggs, panko then deep fry them in a pool of oil medium low flame. Or you can do the buttermilk process, mix flour with cayenne, chilli powder, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt and pepper. Let the chicken fingers brine over night in the buttermilk and hit them with flour mixture you made let them rest for 10 min and dunk them in the. Buttermilk again and once again the flour. Then fry them in a pool of oil medium low flame

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creatyvechaos@reddit

It’s this easy. Flour, eggs, panko then deep fry them in a pool of oil medium low flame. Or

OP: you do not need a pool of oil if you are using an air fryer. Spritz your tenders with oil before you put them in.

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Sproose_Moose@reddit

Because they have wings, not hands! /s

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Soaring_Gull655@reddit

If it was easy, everyone would do it.

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creatyvechaos@reddit

It is easy and everyone can do it

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MyNameIsSkittles@reddit

Looks like you didn't fry them. That would generally help

Otherwise you need to spray with oil

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AlbatrossOk6223@reddit

The closest approximation I’ve found so far is to take a few slices of bread (not breadcrumbs), remove the crusts, add a few spoonfuls of oil, and crumble everything together. I then use this fresh “panko” to coat the chicken.

The combination of moisture from the fresh bread and the way the oil soaks while of mix during the crumbling gives it a better finish. It’s still nowhere near real deep-frying, but it produces a decent result.

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creatyvechaos@reddit

Oh, wonderful. You pre-molded your chicken.

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iamsheph@reddit

It isn’t 🤷‍♂️

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MisanthropicSocrates@reddit

Ditch the air fryer and fry em in a pot of bacon grease of beef tallow.

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Rajion@reddit

My recommendations. You won't get perfect, but don't let perfect be the enemy of okay. You want baked chicken. I did this a lot in 2020.

1) get a oil spray to spritz them before they go in or melt butter into the egg wash.

2) doing flour into egg into breading. Get them cool and dry, then hit with another egg wash before it goes in the air frying.

3) precook the chicken and cutting them into nuggets is another option

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