Air fryers are now part and parcel of kitchens up and down the country, but there’s still an element of uncertainty as to what these appliances can and can’t do.
As Ideal Home’s Kitchen Appliances Editor, people often ask me about the limitations of accessories such as air fryer liners, baskets and trays, as well as the eternal question ‘Can you put tin foil in an air fryer?’.
After testing dozens of the best air fryers for a living, I have an easy piece of advice to impart to anyone unsure of how to manage their appliance: If you treat your air fryer just like your built-in oven, you can’t go too far wrong. And that applies to using tin foil in it too.
Can you put foil in an air fryer?
If you feel comfortable using foil in your normal oven, it’s likely going to be absolutely fine to use it in your air fryer too. That’s because your air fryer is just a mini version of your oven, which uses a fan to circulate hot air.
The only difference between your air fryer and oven is that crucial high-powered fan element. The fan can spell trouble if you insert things like foil or baking paper into your air fryer with nothing to weigh it down, as the air current inside can blow it straight into your heat element. That’s obviously a fire hazard and should be avoided.
The same goes for a paper air fryer liner or anything similarly flimsy. This has been Ideal Home’s top air fryer liner placement tip for a long while, and we stick by it.
The safe usage would be to preheat your oven and then pop tin foil in with bacon on top, for example.
The experts agree.
‘Air fryers work in the same way a fan oven does,’ says Margie Nomura, professional chef and host of foodie podcast Desert Island Dishes. ‘Therefore, it is normally safe to put foil trays in an air fryer.’
Margie has her own reservations with foil, however. She continues ‘There are certain models that do warn against using foil, possibly due to the foil stopping correct air flow, which can lead to a cooking disaster.’
That’s something to bear in mind, so if take a look at the design of your air fryer or the manual and decide whether using foil would be suitable.
Maggie says ‘If your specific air fryer allows for foil, it can be a really easy way to avoid excess mess and cleaning up. Foil stops food falling into the bottom of the fryer and you can cook more viscous products like eggs and cake batter without losing half of it through the slots.’
If you use the ‘air fryer = mini oven’ rule, there are other things to keep in mind too.
Arun Shah, kitchen appliance expert at the appliance marketplace Kogan, explains ‘It’s important to be aware that most common kitchen items like aluminium foil and baking sheets are suitable to use in most air fryers’.
‘However, you should avoid using items such as plastic or non-heat resistant silicone liners, porcelain bowls or plates, wax papers and paper towels.’
Those are the same sort of things you’d want to avoid using in your oven too, so the rule holds true.
To conclude, using foil and foil trays in your air fryer is likely a safe bet, but it’s worth check that your particular air fryer allows for it and remembering that you should not use these materials in your air fryer without something to weigh them down.
With those tips, you can use foil to make your air fryer even more convenient.
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