It worked perfectly, yielding ultra-crunchy, golden wings that soaked up the sweet and spicy butter sauce I tossed them in when they were done. I also made the same wings in my regular oven using the convection setting, and they were almost as crisp-skinned, although they took longer.

Neither version was as good as regular, deep-fried wings, but they were pretty darn close and good enough to get devoured in minutes.

“People think they can just replace their FryDaddys with air fryers and get healthier versions of the fatty food they love,” he said , referring to the countertop deep fryer. “But air-fried chicken is never going to taste as good as oil-fried.”

Agreed. The Southern-fried chicken legs I made in the air fryer were some of the worst of my experiments — burned yet soggy and thoroughly rubbery. Slightly more successful but still not worth eating were breaded shrimp and calamari, doughnuts and jalapeño poppers, all of which cooked unevenly and failed to brown and crisp to a satisfying degree. Pizza was also a bust.

So I asked Mr. Mims, other than chicken wings and French fries, what were the best things I could make in my air fryer?

“Vegetables!” he said before I’d even finished the question. “Especially the soggy ones.”

“The air fryer fan wicks away excess moisture, almost dehydrating food, so it’s really great for notoriously soggy vegetables like zucchini, summer squash, eggplant and okra,” he continued. “The pieces get dried and crunchy on the outside and tender within.”

I tried his suggestions, tossing the vegetables with a tiny bit of oil and air frying until the pieces were burnished, glistening and tender-crisp. They were all a bit better than if I’d run them under my broiler, and far easier and less messy than frying.