This Is the Perfect Air Fried Chicken Thigh Method

What's up, dude? If you go to Google and search air fried chicken thighs, you are gonna find about 10 different cooking times recommended to you, and it honestly gets a little bit confusing. So today we're gonna test out five different times from 14 all the way up to 30 minutes to find out where the sweet spot actually is. Now let's go. And for this test, we're gonna need a plethora of chicken thighs. That's what I have here. Let's start by seasoning them up. And I have something very special for that I wanna share with you because we're gonna be using my famous homemade rosemary salt. If you know, you know. It's a herb and garlic seasoning we make on the channel. Absolutely incredible. I'll put a link to that video at the end of this one, and I highly suggest you learn how to make it. You'll be happy you did. So we're just gonna season up these chicken on both sides. I didn't wanna get too crazy with the seasoning for this test because this is really about the times. Now for our first test of the day here, we're going 380 degrees for 14 minutes. That's definitely on the shallow end. I'm not even sure they'll be done. They might just be cooked through, but there's only one way to find out. So here we go. All right, there we are, 14 minutes, and they honestly don't look too bad. I'm gonna rest them about five minutes, and then we'll give them a taste with Marcus. And at 14 minutes, you can definitely see this needed a little more crisping up. But what I'm liking is as you can see in that little point on the bottom of the thigh, it's just dripping away. So it definitely means it's juicy. Let's cut into it. And look at that, completely cooked through. That's definitely done, but is it too underdone? I kind of think so. Let's give it a taste. 14 minutes. Wow, I honestly thought it might not be done. Yeah, for me, the meat is just at that point where it's just seized up. That is like not when you want to pull it away from the heat. And the skin just isn't really that crispy at all. Just a tiny little bit. Like I can just say with much certainty that this just needs to cook longer. Simple as that. A little bit more time. Yeah, but it's not bad. I mean, these are cooked. And for the second test, we're going 380 degrees for 18 minutes. Let's see how this compares to the 14 minute ones. Bon voyage, my friends. And there we are. Our 18 minutes has elapsed. When I get these out to rest for a few minutes, here's our one that was cooked at 380 for 18 minutes. And as you can see, it actually looks amazing. Like the skin is like nice and crunchy too. You hear that? And here's what it looks like in the middle. Actually pretty good. See a little bit of juice coming out. I thought it was going to be a lot less cooked than this. So here we go. Pretty great. That's a pretty damn good thigh, man. And this is not what I expected at all, but man, it's juicy. Maybe still a little bit tough, but anybody you give that to is going to be happy with it, right? I mean, it's a cooked chicken thigh, it's good. Let's see how this compares to 22 and beyond. Now, before moving on, I think we can all agree that air fryers are universally loved. They're fast, easy, and just super useful. But my biggest problem with all of them is the size. The cooking surface is usually so small that everything ends up too crowded and just steams instead of getting nice and crispy like it should. And that's why I've been using the Teiffer Dome 2 air fryer for a few years now. And honestly, I genuinely think it's the best air fryer on the market. I mean, just look at the size of the basket. I can easily fit enough chicken wings or fries for a huge party in here. And one of the coolest features is the 360 degree heating technology because it has elements on both the top and bottom. Paired with dual temperature sensors, it cooks your food perfectly every time, no constant shaking or flipping required. It also has 15 cooking functions. So you can fry, bake, broil, grill, roast, dehydrate, reheat, and more. I also love that cleanup is easy because the upgraded self-cleaning function goes up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit, breaking down grease and grime for a much simpler cleanup. The Teiffer Dome 2 air fryer has become one of my most used pieces of equipment in this kitchen just for the ease and for how awesome it works. You can click the link in the description and use code THATDUDE2026 for 10% off at checkout. Grab your Teiffer Dome 2 now and save even more with the spring sale. Thank you Teiffer for sponsoring this video. Now back to the recipe. Let's get our next chicken thighs in and these ones we're cooking at the same temperature for 22 minutes, so we're increasing by four minutes each time. Bon voyage. 22 minutes has elapsed. Let's pull these out to rest and then give them a taste with Marcus. And looking at these 22 minute thighs, what I'm noticing is like there's more crunchies going on in the skin. You can see the way it bubbled up. You can see with our 18 minute thigh here, it just didn't get as crunchy, but still looks really good. This one just looks like it had a bit more rendering, looks a little bit nicer. All right, Marcus, here we go, 22 minutes. Slice into this thing. And honestly, it looks pretty similar to the last one, although I'm seeing like more juices I feel like running out of this one. It's getting a little drippy. And that skin, like I said, nice and crunchy. Is it slightly juicier or is it just me? Very similar though. Similar, but my piece had more bubbles on it. The more bubbles, the crunchier it ended up being, so. Biggest difference is the skin with the crunch, but pretty similar to 18. Moving on. For our third test here, we are going 380 for 26 minutes. Let's see if this makes a big difference. Bon voyage. And that's 26 minutes elapsed. Let's let these rest and give them a taste. And with the 26 minutes, you see, it's got a much deeper golden brown color, almost more brown than golden brown. And obviously when you hold it up next to the other one, it's a lot more clear. It is definitely browner just by a little bit, but you can see the difference there. All right, Marcus, 26 minutes. This one definitely looks good. It almost looks a little bit drier than the last one, actually. This might be a point where the longer cook times start having an opposite effect. I mean, this is gonna be more like, you know, barbecue, like fall apart. God, the skin is great. Definitely the crunchiest skin. But my observation here is it's drying out a little on the inside. You getting that? Yeah. Last one seemed juicier to me. The bite I just had was definitely drier, especially on the bottom. You can see in the video. Top's okay, but also like, if it's taking longer, there's no reason to get to this point. Just pop it out. Yeah, I mean, like you're getting better skin with this, but then not as much moisture being retained inside. So that's a tough trade-off because I honestly love the crunchy skin. With a sauce or something, that would be all right. But so far, I'm leading towards 22. It's not offensively dry, though. So how's 30 gonna be? Let's see. And for our final test here, we're going 380 for a full 30 minutes. I'm curious to see how these turn out. Could be crazy. 30 minutes has elapsed, and this is what they're looking like. Definitely a lot darker. Let's let them rest and give them a taste. And like I said, these 30 minute thighs are definitely a lot darker. The skin is nice and crunchy, but I will say this meat definitely looks the driest out of the bunch so far. 30 minutes. Nah, it's too much. When you braise thighs in a liquid, you can really cook them for a long time, and they won't get dry like this. But with dry heat and air frying, it's just too much, it's too dry, and even the outside is starting to burn and develop these sort of bitter, bad tastes. Yeah, there's just no reason to cook it this long. Just straight up. So as it stands right now, somewhere between 22 and 26 minutes is where it's at. You know, I would just go right in between and just try them at 24 minutes. I bet you it will be amazing. Anything to add to that? Just, just the, just the thumb? Just the thumb. Eat chicken. But keep in mind the size of your thigh and whether you use bone in or not is gonna make a big difference. Like the average weight of all the ones I used was about six ounces, just FYI. Otherwise, if you like these kind of test videos, here's an air fryer potato one we posted that seemed to get received very well. That's a lot of helpful tips in there if you wanna air fry some potatoes. And there's this video over here that I have no idea what it is. I'm just pretending like it's something that I already know, but I'm just gonna put something right there and just click it and watch it and buy everything I've ever sold to anyone, please. You know I love you in a minute.