The secret is to take the basket out when you cook chicken. Put the spices or breading on the pieces while the air fryer is heating up. When you put the chicken in, put some pieces of butter on top of them. It will melt on the chicken and coat it. Flip them for 5 minutes at the end.
And? I’ll be honest. Want to reheat a thing, especially fast food, this is amazeballs. Want to cook something so it’s crispy on the outside and hot, in 5-10 minutes? This. From the freezer? 15 minutes. Laughed at ‘em then got one as a present. Love it.
Less insulation yes, but crucially less volume to heat as well. Overall power consumption is typically less than that of a large oven because of the smaller size.
They are really not a good cooking tool imo, and to put it in the most forgiving way, good at only a few limited tasks.
I was given an air fryer against my will, and I'm a great cook that makes everything from scratch. I can say in my experience that it's an occasional time saver, but it's really good at ruining food and making it come out worse than literally any other method of cooking.
In my very unpopular opinion, there is nothing you can do in an air fryer that you cannot do with standard equipment and have it come out much better.
I get the convenience, and I get how life-changing they can be for people who don't want to cook, but I don't think they're good for everybody.