AH, chicken wings, the true star of Super Bowl parties everywhere.

No matter which team you’re rooting for, there’s a good chance you’ll want to bring this appetizer to game night and you can save money at the same time.

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The traditional method involves baking (or grilling) your chicken wings in an oven with a variety of spices and sauces.

But there’s been a new player in the kitchen appliance game recently: air fryers.

Many savvy cooks hail the taste and efficiency of the gadget in roasting everything from chicken, fish, shrimp to even vegetables. (Healthier fries, anyone?)

I am a general novice when it comes to the air fryer world, but here at The US Sun, we were interested to see if the difference between air fryer and oven baked chicken wings would actually be that great.

And what’s more, if it would actually save that much more in electricity and energy.

On average, air fryers are said to use about 50 percent less total energy than your oven.

This is in part due to the lower wattage per hour energy requirements, as well as the fact that air fryers generally work faster, reducing cook time and so your energy usage.

But how does the taste stack up? I put it to the test to find out.

In preparation for my chicken wing taste test, I made sure my chicken wings were well seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika.

To make it a simple taste test focused only on the natural taste and crispiness of each wing, I decided to try my chicken wings bare, no sauce added.

AIR FRYER CHICKEN WINGS

• Total time: 14 minutes
• Taste: nine out of 10

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The Gourmia air fryer is so simple to use – I basically just set a temperature to preheat, wait a minute or two, throw my food in and then flip once it’s halfway done.

For these wings, I only needed 14 minutes before I had a pile of mouth watering meat in front of me.

For full disclosure, I have never made chicken wings before in my life.

As a Gen Z elder, I’ve often preferred the no fuss mess of ‘boneless chicken wings’ (aka chicken tenders with some sauce).

But looking at these, I was truly shocked I was the one who made them.

They were the perfect level of crispy, with a delicious aroma that I had thinking I had ordered them from a restaurant – not homemade in my apartment.

The flavor was wonderful, bursting out at the seams of every bite. I completely devoured the plate of wings in front of me.

One of the biggest pros about the air fryer chicken was how little time it took.

Fourteen minutes and I was done, and it’s a relatively no fuss process.

The Gourmia air fryer has an energy rate of roughly 1,500 watts of energy per hour. So taking only 14 minutes, I used around 375 watts.

Based on the electricity cost calculations from Save Energy, cooking with an air fryer sets me back only four cents on electricity.

Altogether, looking at taste, efficiency and presentation, I’d rate my air fryer wings as nine out of 10.

OVEN BAKED WINGS

• Total time: 50 minutes
• Taste: 8 out of 10

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Now came the ultimate test. How would the oven baked wings stack up to their air fryer counterparts?

The oven baked wings immediately lost a point because it took nearly an hour for them to be done.

After experiencing the air fryer’s quick zap, it seemed unnecessary.

But the oven-baked wings came out looking pretty similar.

I hoped the taste would be better after the extra time. It turned out they were too crisp for my personal taste.

Potentially adjusting the cooking time could affect the taste for me, but I did follow the recipe.

Taste-wise, it was still a quality chicken wing.

The key difference I found between the air fryer and the oven is the air fryer wings were juicier and had a smokier flavor, despite using the same seasoning.

All in all, while I was still impressed with the taste of oven wings, they couldn’t beat the air fryer chicken for a few reasons.

I preferred the crispiness of the air fryer wings, and they were far quicker to make.

That quick cooking time also meant I used far less energy, saving money.

I found my oven used an average of 3,500 watts of energy per hour.

Using Save Energy’s calculator again, I discovered my oven baked wings cost 35 cents.

That’s 31 cents more than the air fryer.

That might not sound like much, but if you’re a big wing fan and have them every week, that’s a saving of $16.12 a year.

And if you cook more meals in an air fryer, you can save even more.

Overall, I had to give the oven wings eight out of 10.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Don’t get me wrong. The oven baked wings still make a great appetizer.

Your family and friends are unlikely to judge you just because you don’t have the newest air-frying gadget on game night.

But the air fryer does make the process much easier.

The extra crisp taste and the speed is – in my opinion – worth the $70 price tag of the appliance.

And it will pay for itself in energy saving over time.

We ranked the top air fryers in terms of quality of cooking and ease of use – the winner was actually not the most expensive viral product.

Plus, The US Sun tried four different Instant hot chocolate mixes ranging from Starbucks to Walmart – a beloved brand ended up winning in the end.