Leftover Fried Chicken Is Juicier With This 2-Step Reheating Method

Fried chicken is one of those dishes that, if you're making it at home, requires plenty of patience and precision. You must wait for the chicken to fully brine in the marinade, a process that can take as many as eight hours (and up to 24 if you're using the Raising Cane's method). Then, you'll have to make sure the oil is at the proper temperature; if it's too hot, for example, your chicken will likely burn on the outside before it fully cooks on the inside. With all this work going into making perfectly crispy fried chicken, you'll want the leftovers — that is, if you have any! — to sing just as beautifully in the future as the chicken did when it was fresh. And to do that, you might use the two-step reheating method, which involves your microwave and an air fryer.

Your microwave? Really? It's true, microwaves are usually not the most desirable appliances when it comes to reheating fried chicken, but hear us out. You'll just use yours as a sort of brief preheat to start the warming process and take the chill off the meat. Try zapping it for about a minute on high — any longer, and that crispy crust you worked so hard to achieve can become tough and chewy, exactly the opposite of the light, crunchy exterior you're trying to revive.

Then, move those drumsticks, thighs, or breasts to the air fryer for about five minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit to re-crisp the breading. The microwave step also keeps you from having to air fry the chicken for quite as long, which means less chance that it will burn or dry out in the second step.

Reheating fried chicken is something of a science, but it's not a difficult discipline. You can help the process along if you take the chicken out of the fridge about half an hour before you intend to heat and eat it (just don't forget about it; it's only safe out of the icebox for up to two hours). This allows the chicken to shed even more of that refrigerator chill so that the microwave and the air fryer can do their jobs even more evenly. And be sure to place something underneath the chicken, like parchment paper, in the air fryer to avoid grease dripping to the bottom and causing smoking.

Another way to help the fried chicken heat more evenly is to consider your microwave's science and arrange the larger pieces in a donut shape around a plate, with the smaller pieces on the inside. The chicken on the outside receives more heat in the minute that it gets zapped, but since those pieces are thicker, they can withstand it better.

Then, when it comes to the air fryer step, it's important that you follow general meat reheating best practices and not crowd the basket. Make sure that every piece has enough space for the air to circulate all around it, with no overlapping pieces that could develop soggy spots.