Hello to all fans of air fryer! Today I am offering you 16 air fryer tips and tricks that I have collected over the lifetime of this device. These tips will help you cook easier and tastier, and clean up faster. It doesn’t matter if you’re new to the kitchen or already cooking like a pro – keep these tips on hand so you can always have them at your fingertips.
Tip 1: Give A Space For Your Air Fryer
Air Fryers need enough space for airflow to work efficiently and not overheat. Most manufacturers recommend leaving at least 5 inches of free space on all sides. And never, never place objects on top of the air fryer.
Tip 2: Preheating Food In Air Fryer Is Better Than Using A Microwave
Although your food may explode in the microwave, many continue to heat it up this way. But heating with the fryer will easily make your food crispy and tasty again.
In just a few minutes, you can heat fries or other ‘crispy’ food and bring these delicious crispy potatoes back to life instead of being satisfied with sluggish and wet leftovers.
Tip 3: Preheat The Air Fryer Before Cooking
Few of us read the instructions for kitchen appliances. What for? It’s all clear! In many cookbooks any word about that air fryer needs to be preheated before cooking. Frankly, I’ve never done it myself before. I can’t say that my food wasn’t good, but it took much longer to prepare. But since I started using this simple setting, my food has tasted much better and cooked faster.
If your air fryer doesn’t have a preheating setting, you can simply turn it on at the desired temperature for just 3-4 minutes and then start loading your food.
Tip 4: Let You Air Fryer Dry Itself
This little trick is pretty simple, but it’s really convenient. After washing your air fryer basket, simply return them to the fryer and turn it on for 2 or 3 minutes or use the preheating setting. Easy and absolutely effective!
Tip 5: Check A Food Doneness
Since the actual temperature may vary depending on the brand and model of air fryer, it is important to check your food with the kitchen thermometer and then adjust the cooking time accordingly.
You may find that your air fryer cooks faster, or it may take longer. In this case adjust your cooking timer and continue cooking until ready and crispy.
Tip 6: Use A Cooking Spray (If Necessary)
If your fryer basket is non-stick coated, do not use cooking sprays that contains silicone, lecithin or soya lecithin. These sprays are known to damage the basket, and even chips will be damaged, so check the ingredients of your spray before use. You can use couple drops of usual oil.
Tip 7: Use A Minimum Oil
Using oil or cooking spray helps keep food moist and prevent it from drying out, but don’t overdo it! The air fryer requires a minimum amount – not more than 1 tablespoon). Otherwise, the food will be lame and very wet. You can use a spray bottle to dispense oil.
Tip 8: Shake The Food At Least Once During Cooking
Shaking the basket or actually turning the food over with tongs at least once in half the cooking time will make the cooking process more efficient and even, which means your food will taste even better.
Tip 9: Help Lighter Food Stay Where They Are
Since the fryer fan is powerful, lighter products can be inflated inside the basket. Use toothpicks to keep the stacked food together, such as the top piece of bread on a sandwich. When making tortilla chips, I put a metal trivet on top of the chips to keep them flat.
Tip 10: Adding Water To Air Fryer Prevents Smoke
When cooking greasy food, adding water to the drawer under the basket helps prevent fat and oil drips from smoking. It can be useful while cooking bacon, sausage, and other fatty cuts of meat.
Tip 11: Use A Sling To Remove Hot Items
When cooking inside dishes or pans, make a sling of aluminum foil to take it out of the hot basket. Here’s how to do it:
- Fold a piece of aluminum foil into a rectangle at least 2 inches wide and 18 to 20 inches long.
- Center the frying pan or dish in the center of the foil strip and use a pair of silicone kitchen gloves to hold the ends of the sling to lift the frying pan or dish up and drop them into the fryer basket.
- Pour the ends of the slings into the sides of the fryer basket. When you’re ready to take out, just remove and hold the ends to pull out the pan.
Tip 12: Don’t Overcrowd The Air Fryer Basket
It’s probably the biggest mistake made when using the air fryer. I realize it’s tempting to try and fit all the food inside so you can cook in the same batch. But the air fryer has to circulate air around all sides of your food, so you have to make sure that you give the food enough place for it.
Overfilling will cause food not to be cooked evenly or sufficiently, and you will miss out lovely air fryer cripsness. I’m guessing that’s not what you’re aiming for.
Tip 13: Use The Best Breading Method (In My Own Opinion)
When breading food, hope you want to do it correctly. I think most important is to press the breading firmly against the product with your hands. This will help it to stick to the food correctly and will not blow away during cooking.
Top 14: Use Proper Accesories
Take the air frying to the next level by buying some accessories for this little kitchen wonder. There are many gadgets and tools created especially for fryers, among the most popular items include racks, trivets, baking pans, springform pans (for baking cheesecakes) and ramekins.
In addition, almost any baking dish or cake pan that is oven-safe should be suitable for using in the air fryer. Just make sure it will actually fit inside the air Fryer basket and that it won’t come in contact with the heating element.
Tip 15: Clean The air Fryer After Each Using
To get the most out of your fryer, you must keep it clean, and the best way to do this is to clean it after use, not wait until it has dried up completely. Cleaning tools you’ll need:
- Make sure your fryer is switched off, unplugged and cooled before you clean it.
- Clean the basket. Clean the fryer basket with warm water and soap and a non abrasive sponge.
- Soak it to remove any residue. If any food is stuck, you can soak the basket in a bowl of hot soapy water before washing with a non-abrasive sponge. You can wash the basket in the dishwasher if you like.
- Clean the outside of the fryer. Wipe the outside of the fryer with a damp microfibre cloth. Then, if necessary, wipe the outside of the fryer with warm water, soap and a non-abrasive sponge.
- Remove food from the heating element. Use a soft brush to clean any food that is stuck in the heating element.
- Dry everything. Make sure everything is dry, roast in air or wipe with a clean microfibre cloth. Then put everything back in the fryer.
It’s important. Never put the bit of the fryer’s heating element in water!
Tip 16: Make Sure The Air Fryer Basket Is Cold
The basket gets very hot while cooking. When water meets very hot, thin metal with a coating, the metal will shrink at a different rate than the coating, which may cause the coating come loose the basket. It can also deform your basket. Let the basket cool down before you pour water into it.
