Last modified on:
*We may earn some pocket money through the Amazon affiliate links on this page
When it comes to cooking picky bits in an air fryer, most people agree that it’s completely worth it. But how does cooking chicken mini fillets in the new and portable Ninja Crispi compare to the more traditional oven?
We spent an evening making homemade chicken mini fillets to find out.
Prepping the chicken
For our goujons, we used Aldi’s 400g packet of mini chicken fillets, de-veined, coated in egg, then tossed in flour (containing salt, pepper, chilli cayenne, onion salt, garlic powder, hot paprika, thyme, parsley, oregano).
Once we were finished, we placed them on a sheet of baking parchment to rest.
The mini fillets were split into two sets: one destined for the oven as a control batch, the other for the Ninja Crispi.
Cooking process
The Ninja Crispi recipe booklet didn’t have any timings for mini fillets, only breast, thighs, and frozen nuggets. After looking through the rest of the booklet, we found a full meal that contained mini fillets, so although the recipe was for a curry, we used the instructions provided:
- 15 minutes
- Air Fry mode
As the cooking modes on the Ninja Crispi don’t specify cooking temperatures, we couldn’t match the oven’s temperature exactly. For the oven batch, we set the temperature to 180C and whenever we checked the Crispi, we checked the oven.
After 13 minutes, we checked on both the Crispi and oven batches. For both, it might have been due the flour coating, but the top was looking a bit on the dry side. At this point, we brushed the tops with oil, flipped, and brushed again.
Once all were lightly oiled, we replaced the Crispi lid and put the tray back in the oven and let it cook until the timer rundown. At this point, the oven batch had a softer coating, and as you can see from the picture below, the Crispi mini fillets had a darker, more golden colouring.
After the full 15 minutes had passed, I removed the chicken mini fillets from the oven and took the Crispi lid off of the container.
The finished product
The chicken mini fillets were quite dry. The flavour was great, but the dryness of them couldn’t be ignored. The oven batch were dryer, less crispy, and lighter in colour.
While in this experiment we cooked both batches of chicken fillets for the same time, it’s important to note that the oven had to be preheated. Our oven takes between five and 10 minutes to preheat, so this has to be factored into the overall cooking time, and our final judgement.
Would I cook chicken mini fillets in the Ninja Crispi again?
Yes. But next time, for a shorter time frame. However, if we were cooking for more than two people, the large container may prove a tight fit. In the instance of cooking for a family, it would be better to use the oven, because you’ll not only be cooking goujons: the Crispi wouldn’t be able to fit nuggets for four alongside homemade chips and other sides. But if you are cooking for yourself, for two, or just for picky bits, then the Ninja Crispi would be up for the task.
