We have already experimented using an air fryer to cook some delicious grass-fed rump steak, so now we want to use it to cook chicken thighs. Chicken thighs are naturally quite a lean meat, so they will not require too much cooking, because if the air fryer overcooks things, then they can become tough and ruined, so be careful not to overdo them!
Step 1:
As we sell everything frozen, the first thing you need to do is ensure the chicken thighs are fully defrosted. This can be done overnight in a bowl in the fridge or using tepid water in a container if it needs to be done in less than one hour. Whichever method you use, keep the chicken thighs in the packaging until they are defrosted. Then once ready, open them up and place them onto a dish to prepare them.
Step 2:
At this stage, you can season your chicken. We advise using a fantastic rub from the Dorset Spice Shed called “Chicken Rex”. This is a great rub that contains spices such as garlic, ginger, paprika, cumin, and lemon zest, and they all work fantastically well on any chicken. However, you can create your own as there are all sorts of spices that can really add to the flavour of the pasture-raised chicken thighs.
Step 3:
Place the chicken thighs into the air fryer and cook on 180 degrees for 15 minutes and then, after this time, turn them upside down and cook for the same amount of time.
Step 4
How do you know when chicken thighs are cooked safe to eat?
Well, when stabbed with a sharp knife, the juices should run clear, not pink. Try to do this test at the thickest part; otherwise, you may only be confirming that the chicken is done on a small section. If you are using a thermometer, then 73.9 degrees is when it is safe to eat. Again, if you use the probe at the thickest point, ideally near the bone, this will be the last part to cook, so it is the part that needs to be tested.
It is worth knowing that leg meat is darker than chicken breast, so if you normally cook the breast meat, don’t be worried if some of the meat is a dark pink in places.
If you have cooked it for 15 minutes on each side and it is still not cooked, simply do it for another 5 minutes and check again.
Step 5:
Enjoy! Chicken thighs can be enjoyed in a range of dishes. They can just be had with salad or some vegetables for a light meal or maybe made into a tasty chicken wrap.
Why is the leg meat so much darker on Pasture Raised Chicken?
Whilst leg meat is naturally darker than breast meat, there are two reasons why our pasture raised chicken from Redwoods Farm is darker still. Chicken gets darker with age, and these chickens are grown for up to three times longer than regular commercial chickens; you'll also notice this on our premium Organic chicken from Stream Farm.
The second reason is that the more the muscles are used, the darker they become; hence why leg meat is darker than breast meat on any chicken. Pasture-raised chickens get huge areas of fresh pasture to roam around on, so they get a lot of exercise as there is always something new for them to explore or insects to hunt; this makes them far more used than regular free-range chicken, which may simply have a big pen with no stimulation. The flavour is also enhanced by this constant exercise, which tastes stronger and more gamey as a result.
You can check out our other blogs to see how the pasture raised chickens are raised, such as one in the link here
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