Whether air-frying is a daily go-to convenience or something new you’d like to try, these 9 do’s and don’ts will help make sure that air-fried food is crunchy on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside!
Do:
Always clean your air-fryer after each use. Click here to read our handy guide to air-fryer cleaning.
Shake the basket occasionally while air-frying – not only does this make sure that the food cooks evenly; it helps you to keep an eye on the cooking process, which is important when cooking at a high heat.
Use an air-fryer to bake and roast. You can easily adjust the temperature and time to suit both baking and roasting. Try these air-fried brown sugar cookies for a sweet crisp treat you’ll adore!
Ditch your microwave when it comes to reheating food. For wonderfully warm and crisp leftovers, you can reheat most things in an air-fryer – especially last night’s pizza!
READ: Reheating leftovers in the air-fryer is the GOAT
Add oil! The beauty of an air-fryer is that you can use less oil, but it is still important to add some oil. Oil is a great medium for transferring heat, which means your food will be crisper and perfectly browned.
If you’re cooking something with a very high fat content, add some water to the bottom cavity of the air-fryer, below the basket. As the fat drips off the food into the bottom cavity, it will fall into the water instead of hitting the hot metal. This will help to reduce smoke and make cleaning easier.
Don’t:
Overcrowd the basket. As tempting as this may be, food may not cook properly because the air flow will be obstructed, and the result won’t be crisp and golden! It is best to air-fry things in smaller batches to ensure the best results.
Attempt to air-fry anything with a wet batter. A wet batter will drip off the food before it has a chance to crisp up and will make an unnecessary mess that you will have to clean up! Make sure the food is crumbed or coated in flour or cornflour and spritzed with a bit of oil if you’re looking for a crisp coating.
Air-fry foods that are light in weight. Lightweight produce and foods tend to fly around in the air-fryer. So, something like baby spinach or poppadoms will end up getting stuck to the heated coil and burning instead of cooking evenly in the air-fryer.