11 things you should never put in an air fryer (Image: Getty)
Air fryers have become an essential kitchen gadget — small, quick, and promising a golden crisp finish with less oil. But just because you can air fry something, whether a quick snack or a healthy evening meal, doesn’t mean you should. Some foods, it turns out, can lead to disaster if cooked in the device.
Phil Turtle, a leading fire and safety expert at Landlord Licensing & Defence, commented: “Not considering basic safety measures – like checking that oil is not dripping into the [air fryer] mechanism, is putting lives and livelihoods at risk.” Property Wire reports that air fryer-related fires have increased 57% in one year (146 incidents in the year to March 2024), and nearly one in five households report fire-related issues such as smoke, overheating, even full-blown flames. According to experts, some of the nation’s favourite dishes, like fish and chips, could be to blame.
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Wet batters are problematic for use in an air fryer (Image: Getty)
1. Fish and chips
Air fryers are often deemed the healthy way to cook deep-fried favourites such as fish and chips, fried chicken, and tempura prawns. However, the wet batter is problematic for countertop appliances.
Liquid batter, which often includes a simple mix of flour, a liquid like cold beer or sparkling water, and a leavening agent such as baking powder, won’t set properly and drips through the basket. This scorches on the heat source and creates a nightmare mess, or worse, a fire hazard.
Kate Merker from Good Housekeeping warns that wet batters just don’t crisp right in an air fryer, so it’s best to stick to breadcrumbs or a good old-fashioned pan and oil.
2. Stews and casseroles
According to Good Food, your favourite chilli con carne and spaghetti bolognese recipes are best left to the hob. Hot oil in saucy recipes, including stews and casseroles, can slosh around, splatter, and potentially trigger a safety incident.
Save these winter warmers for the slow cooker or hob — even if you’ve stocked up on air-fryer friendly silicone dishes.
Some foods don’t cook well in an air fryer while others are down right dangerous (Image: Getty)
3. Popcorn
Most air fryers can’t reach the necessary temperature for popping popcorn kernels. The kernels risk lodging in the heat element, leading to electrical shorts or even fire.
4. Leafy greens
Spinach, kale, and cavolo nero should be left out of air fryer meals or cooked separately for safety reasons. The lightweight and flimsy leaves can fly around inside, burning on the heating element and potentially sparking a dangerous moment.
Good Housekeeping’s Nicole Papantoniou notes that they are just too airy for rapid circulation.
5. Pasta and rice
Uncooked pasta and rice are unsuitable for air frying because they lack an important ingredient: boiling water. No amount of hot air will substitute water when cooking your favourite packaged carbohydrates. While pasta bakes that grill on top might be okay, raw grains are not designed for air frying.
6. Hard-boiled eggs
Though this is technically possible, as are air-fried ‘poached’ eggs, fried eggs, and omelettes, the hard-boiled kind are likely to end up rubbery and chewy. Stick to classic methods like stove-top boiling instead.
7. Oil
Cosori, the manufacturer of Amazon’s top-selling air fryer, advises never using more than two tablespoons of oil, regardless of what you’re cooking. The general rule is to avoid excessive oil.
Keep in mind that olive oil is not suitable for air fryers due to its low smoke point. Instead, choose oils with higher smoke points, like canola, vegetable, peanut, avocado, or grapeseed oil.
Overly fatty foods like sausages can be problematic if you don’t often clean your air fryer (Image: Getty)
8. Toast
A simple slice of toast seems easy enough to make in an air fryer, but bread, especially the pre-sliced supermarket kind, has a tendency to fly around. What’s more, it can cook unevenly or burn if you’re not careful.
That said, air fryer ovens are well-suited to cooking toast in as the shelf format is less likely to cause things to fly around.
9. Cheese
You can’t beat melted cheese on certain dishes, but it tends to drip through the basket, burn, and stick to the air fryer racks. Even if you’re willing to ramp up your air fryer cleaning duties, there’s a chance the cheese will cause smoke or sparks in large quantities.
10. Meat on the bone
You’re unlikely to be able to get a Tomahawk steak into your average air fryer basket, and it’s not worth trying with anything similar, says the food experts at Real Simple. These take too long to cook evenly in air fryers, and you’ll end up with overcooked outsides and undercooked cores.
Some experts say that whole chickens should be avoided if you’re considering an air fryer meal, as they could take longer to cook than you think.
11. Liners
Using liners is a good way to get around some of these controversial air fryer foods, but wax paper or paper towels should be avoided at all costs.
The YouTube content creator ‘Fabulessly Frugal’ warns that these items will burn, but aluminium foil is okay as long as it doesn’t obstruct the airflow.