The air fryer is one of our favorite cooking appliances and gets used multiple times a week, every week. Air fryer cooking achieves crispy exteriors with thoroughly cooked interiors – easily, quickly and without making a big mess. Conventional ovens are still necessary for a lot of recipes but for small batches, the air fryer is a great choice.
We’re not the only ones either. The Air fryer has taken over cooking blogs and social media recipes. Since this appliance is so popular and so new, we thought that many home chefs would benefit from some helpful air fryer cooking tips. Air fryers can be different so we would recommend you look into your exact model and brand.
1. Preheat the air fryer
Just like the conventional oven, preheating your air fryer will improve the quality of your cook. This helps cook the food more evenly and if you are following a timed recipe, will also make sure the food has been thoroughly cooked. Since otherwise the time it takes to get up to temp will not be effectively cooking.
2. Check if your food is thoroughly cooked
Air fryers cook at different temperatures and with a different method so even if you’re following a recipe, check to see if the food is done. The same rules apply to air fryers as to the conventional oven. Check internal temperatures or cut the food in half to be sure. Different models and brands also cook differently so even an air fryer recipe may have some variation in it.
3. Air fryers run hot
Air fryers typically cook at higher temperatures than a conventional oven, up to 25°F (15°C). We recommend that you adjust your temperatures when following a recipe meant for an oven or risk over cooking your food.
4. Don’t crowd the basket
This is the toughest one for me. I always want to fit just a little more into the basket but it’s not a good idea. The food needs to have space around it so that the hot air of the “air fryer” can envelop it. If you overcrowd your air fryer you risk an even cook, food that isn’t cooked thoroughly or just unpleasant textures (no crisp on your nuggets)
5. Go light on the oil
Air fryers need less oil so use a light coating of oil sprayed on the food. This helps with getting a crispy texture. Test different amounts for different foods to find what works best for you but remember you can always add oil. Also consider getting a spray bottle that you can fill with oil rather than using store bought aerosol oils.
6. Easily stick-able foods
Parchment paper and non-stick spray can be life savers, or at least food savers, when working with foods that tend to stick to the cooking surface. Delicate foods like fish can easily get torn up when trying to get it off of the basket bottom. Think ahead and save yourself a lot of headache.
7. Flip halfway
Just like with the overcrowding of the food tip, making sure that every part of the food has good circulation around it is key for an even cook. This means that halfway through giving the basked a good shake or flip will help with getting the bottoms as evenly cooked as the top. This is a key air fryer cooking tip for making better food.
8. Preheat individual ingredients
The air fryer is amazing but it’s not magical. Some frozen foods, doughs, and other foods need a bit of thawing or preheating before they are air fried.
9. Clean the air fryer
Air fryers are small, are used often, and have oily air circulating. This means it’s much more important to clean the appliance regularly and properly. Look your brand up online or follow the instructions provided when you unboxed it. Air fryers do not clean themselves.
10. Experiment
Air fryers are versatile cooking appliances. They can open up a lot of options and they’re so easy and quick that it’s not a big endeavor to test. The air fryer also cooks differently than conventional ovens and microwaves so you may find some amazing combinations of flavors and textures that you couldn’t achieve before.
With these air fryer cooking tips you are all set to make the best air fryer food. We recommend that you start here with some of our favorite air fryer recipes.
