Hit 50 air fryer meals in a row without burning a single batch

I counted back through my notes and realized I've made 50 dinners in a row in my air fryer without a single burnt basket. It took me 3 tries to get the chicken thigh timing right, but now I can trust my settings blind. Anyone else keep a log of their successful cook times?

3 comments

3 Comments

piper_reed1mo ago

I get that "haven't ordered takeout in 6 months" is a huge win, but honestly that notebook sounds exhausting to me. I just wing it every time and if something burns I eat around the burnt parts, it's not that deep.

michaelchen1mo ago

My first air fryer was a cheap one from a department store and I burned almost everything for the first 2 weeks. I started writing times and temps down on sticky notes and taping them to the inside of a cabinet door. Now I have a little notebook with 30+ meals documented including the exact brand of frozen fries that cook best at 380 for 11 minutes with a shake halfway. The real game changer for me was realizing different brands of the same food item need different times, like store brand chicken nuggets vs name brand ones can vary by 3 or 4 minutes easily. I also learned that spraying a thin layer of oil on anything breaded keeps it from burning on the outside before the inside cooks through. My wife thinks I'm crazy but I haven't ordered takeout in 6 months because of that notebook.

alicew681mo ago

@michaelchen do you have a system for organizing that notebook or is it just chronological? I've been trying to keep track of my own experiments but mine is chaos lol. Also curious if you ever had to toss a batch of something that just refused to work right no matter what you tried.