Chicken thigh in an air fryer

Manufacturer figures with no state given

Each of these is a published figure for one named machine. The manufacturer does not say whether this is fresh or frozen. So they are kept apart from the figures above, and not used as the answer for any of them.

Whichever it is, this comes first: Poultry must reach 70°C in its thickest part and stay there for two minutes, or an equivalent pair from the FSA's published table.

• Russell Hobbs SatisFry Air Fryer & Grill Multi Cooker 5.5L: 180°C for 25–30 min

  Published range, with the manufacturer noting that cooking time depends on size.

• Cookworks 9L Dual Air Fryer: 190°C for 20–22 min

  The guide prints two single figures, each against an amount of 110 g: 22 minutes bone in and 20 minutes boneless. The range here is that difference, not a printed range. It does not say whether 110 g is one thigh.

• Ninja Foodi MAX Health Grill & Air Fryer AG551UK: 200°C for 14–16 min

  Published range for six boneless thighs weighing 600g between them.

Questions people ask about chicken thigh

Does it matter whether the thighs have the skin on or the bone in?

Both change the cook. Bone-in thighs are thicker and slower, and have their own page with their own figures. Skin needs time to render its fat before it will crisp, so skin-on thighs go in skin side up and want the upper end of a time band; skinless ones have nothing to render and dry out sooner at the surface.A general cooking principle, not a measurement. Bone-in chicken thighs

Why do chicken thighs make the air fryer smoke?

Thighs render a good deal of fat, and it collects under the plate where the next batch reheats it. One manufacturer's manual says fat from high-fat foods gathers beneath the crisper plate and should be poured out after cooking to avoid smoke, and that liquid marinades splatter and smoke and should be patted dry first. Empty the drawer between batches.From a manufacturer’s printed instructions: Cosori Dual Blaze 6.4L Smart Air Fryer CAF-P583S-KUK — User Manual. Smoke, and what each colour means

What usually goes wrong

Undercooked-tasting rather than unsafe. Thigh meat pulled off at exactly its safety target is still chewy, because the collagen has not had time to break down — the usual complaint is texture, and the usual fix is a few more minutes.

Running the appliance safely

The rules for the machine are the same whatever is in it: plug it straight into a wall socket, leave clear space round it, do not overfill it, do not leave it running unattended, and unplug it at black smoke or an electrical smell. They are set out once, each with its source and what to do if it has already happened, and not repeated on every food. Every rule for running an air fryer safely.

Chicken in fast-moving hot air

Lean chicken muscle holds little intramuscular fat, so once its water has gone there is nothing left to keep it palatable — which is why a breast passes from juicy to dry within a couple of minutes and a thigh does not. Skin behaves as a separate material: it needs sustained heat and dry air to render its fat and crisp, and it will stay flabby at a temperature that cooks the meat underneath perfectly well. Bone conducts heat slowly and shields the meat around it, which is why bone-in cuts finish later than their weight suggests.

More on chicken

Where to go from here

The pages that answer the questions this one tends to raise.

• Using a thermometer, and where to put itThe times above are for a piece that is not the one you are holding. A probe measures yours, which is what the safety rule on this page asks for.
• How food actually gets crispyWhy patting it dry, spacing it out and a little oil are all the same instruction — so you can apply it when a page runs out.
• Cooking from frozenUsually cooler and longer than the same food fresh, and never worked out from the fresh figure.
• Reheating leftoversA different question governed by a different rule — steaming hot throughout, and only once.
• Why published timings differIf another chart says something else, this is usually why — and which one to believe.
• Why air fryers dry food out, and what to do about itThe mechanism that makes the outside crisp is the mechanism that makes the inside dry. They are not separable, only manageable.
• Smoke, grease and smells: one problem, three symptomsSmoke, a lingering smell and a machine that seems to have got worse are usually the same fat in the same place, and one of them is an emergency.

If it went wrong

What tends to go wrong with chicken thigh, each with the fastest thing to check first.

• The air fryer is smoking — Usually rendered fat on a hot surface below the basket. Distinguishing that from an electrical smell is the first thing to do.
• Food sticks to the basket — Cold surface, no oil, or a coating that has begun to wear — and one of those three is worth acting on quickly.

Easily confused with

• Chicken breast — A different cooking problem with a different answer.