Grab some chicken thighs and a sharp pair of kitchen shears. Blot the chicken dry with a paper towel. If the thigh bone isn’t exposed, use the shears to snip down to expose it. Then, starting at one end, carefully cut out the bone, making sure you don’t cut through the meat.
Trim as close to the bone as possible. When you get to the other end, trim around the joint and cartilage and remove the bone. Save these bones for homemade bone broth! Repeat with the remaining thighs.
Flatten the chicken with a meat pounder to ensure uniform cooking.
Sprinkle Diamond Crystal kosher salt on both sides of the chicken thighs. If you want to spice things up, you can sprinkle your favorite seasoning salt (e.g. Magic Mushroom Powder) on the meat side—but avoid sprinkling anything but salt on the skin side. (I don’t recommend putting anything besides salt on the skin because the spices can burn.)
Preheat the air fryer to 400°F for 15 to 18 minutes, depending on the size of the thighs.
When the air fryer is hot, carefully arrange the chicken thighs in a single layer, skin side up, in the the air fryer basket. (If your air fryer does not have a non-stick coating, spray avocado cooking spray before you place the chicken thighs in a single layer, skin side up, in the the air fryer basket.) You can actually smoosh up to five chicken thighs in a single layer in most 6-quart air fryer baskets without leaving any space in between them. They’ll turn out fine—the pieces will shrink as they cook.
The Cracklin’ Chicken is ready when the skin is crispy and the meat is thoroughly cooked (at least 165°F in the thickest part of the thigh using a meat thermometer). If you’re making another batch, pour out the rendered fat before cooking another batch to reduce the amount of smoke.
