Common Air Fryer Mistakes

There are air fryer mistakes you could be making. Here are some ways you might be using your air fryer wrong and some delicious air fryer recipes to make things right! See which of these Common Air Fryer Mistakes you might be making.

COMMON AIR FRYER MISTAKES

We all know that the Air Fryer is a fantastic kitchen appliance. In our fast paced world, there is something very satisfying about cooking up dinner without ever turning on the stove!

Today the popularity of the air fryer is sky rocketing. You can find so many resources on the web about air fryers.

The air fryer is amazing for saving time, making food crispy, and using less oil, but be careful! There are air fryer mistakes you could be making. Here are some ways you might be using your air fryer wrong.

Mistakes When Buying an Air Fryer

#1: Air Fryer Mistake - Buying the Wrong Size Air Fryer.

These appliances come in different sizes for a reason! If you plan to be cooking for 1 or 2 people, get a smaller one. If you’d like to cook meals for a larger family, get a larger one.

There’s nothing more irritating that finding out that your air fryer can’t cook the right amount of food and having to do more than one batch to get everything cooked.

For 1-3 people, I would suggest an air fryer no larger than 4 quarts. For a larger family, get something 5 quarts or more. Generally, we advise that you go up one size more than you think!

#2: Air Fryer Mistake - Buying a Low Quality Air Fryer.

Like everything else you buy, you get what you pay for. Stick with brands that have a good track record for making quality small appliances, and check the reviews on Amazon to find out how the machines really work for other customers.

The reviews on amazon are very helpful. In our facebook group, our members share the good, bad and amazing about different air fryer brands! You can search up almost every brand in there to get an opinion!

Mistakes While Cooking with Your Air Fryer

#3: Air Fryer Mistake - Not Using Oil

It’s right that you can fry food using less oil than deep frying, but generally many foods still do need a little oil when using your air fryer.

Spray or lightly coat your food with oil before putting it in your air fryer, especially for breaded things. Your fries and veggies will come out crispy and delicious!

#4: Air Fryer Mistake - Using the right oil in your air fryer

The coating on air fryer baskets and trays can be fickle. Typically air fryer manuals tell you not to use a propellant oil spray.

(Especially Pam) This type of oil can often cause the basket or try to chip over time.

It's a tough call, finding a pump oil container that works consistently well is tough. There are plenty of options on amazon but in our air fryer facebook group (over 500K) we often see those don't hold up and work well.

You can put your oil onto a cloth of paper towel and rub the basket with it. That is one alternative.

Make sure you are using an oil with a high smoke point. I use avocado oil because it has a higher smoke point. My bottle says 500F, it does seem a bit high but you won't be cooking anything that HOT in your air fryer so you should be covered!

#5: Air Fryer Mistake - Overfilling Your Air Fryer

The air fryer works by circulating hot air around your food. If you put too much food in the basket, there will be food that won’t get the benefit of that hot air, and your food will not cook evenly.

Follow the instructions for how much food to put in your air fryer basket, and use your judgement. Make sure there is room for the food to move around.

The only exception to this rule is I've found that I can stack frozen chicken wings in the air fryer. They cook down and don't stick together while air frying.

Basically, every single picture on every single air fryer box shows the food stacked way up to the top. Don't do this, it simply won't cook it all! Yes, those pictures are misleading.

#6: Air Fryer Mistake - Not Checking on Your Food.

You can’t see inside of most air fryers, so it’s important to check on things as they cook, especially if you’re cooking something you haven’t cooked in the air fryer before.

I like to open my air fryer at the halfway point of any recipe cooking time to check, shake, and sometimes flip over my food.

#7: Air Fryer Mistake - Not using a meat thermometer when air frying

A meat thermometer is going to give you the most accurate view of whether your food is done or not. With the varying models of air fryer (that all cook differently) and the wide range of recipes out there, use a thermometer when cooking meat in an air fryer!

#8: Air Fryer Mistake - Cooking the Wrong Things

There are some things that you just shouldn’t try to do in the air fryer. One is battered items. You cannot air fry battered things the same way you would deep fry them. The batter will just drip all over and make a mess.

This can be confusing, I am talking about a straight liquid type of batter that would typically change to a solid once it hits the HOT oil in a deep fryer. That doesn’t work well in the air fryer.

BUT you can make things like air fried pickles or air fryer oreos . The Oreos use a crescent roll as crust but you make the pickle by dredging them through a liquid and coating the outside with a solid like breadcrumbs to help hold everything together 🙂

The other thing you shouldn’t try in the air fryer is foods that are delicate or without some weight to them. (Think: Leafy greens, uncooked grains) The air fryer pushes air around, so anything that might get picked up by that air will hit the heating element and burn.

green air fryer with words common air fryer mistakes

Air Fryer Safety and Care Mistakes

#9: Air Fryer Mistake - Do not set your air fryer on your stove

Air Fryers get hot! It’s important to make sure that wherever you place the appliance, it isn’t touching anything that could melt or burn.

It’s also very important to use tongs and potholders when handling the air fryer parts and the food inside of it.

#10: Air Fryer Mistake - Not Washing Your Air Fryer After Every Use.

You might think that you can leave your air fryer on the counter, and not wash it unless it’s really dirty.

I disagree! The air fryer will hold onto smells from food you’ve cooked before, and it’s more likely to burn if excess crumbs are left behind.

#11: Air Fryer Mistake - Putting your air fryer in the dishwasher

This is a mistake that is brand specific. Before you toss your air fryer baskets, trays or drip pans into the dishwasher, check the manual. Not all air fryer baskets are dish washer safe.

Some air fryers have dishwasher safe pieces and some do not. Double check with your manual!

If there is white smoke coming out of your air fryer, you need to clean the air fryer basket, tray or pan. It is often times a build up from fatty foods.

Wash the air fryer parts by hand in warm, soapy water after each use.

#12: Air Fryer Mistake - Not using your air fryer to reheat food

Your air fryer is for more than cooking food from scratch, it also does a great job of reheating things.
Use your air fryer to reheat your left over pizza. Set it at 350F for a few minutes and it will be "restaurant quality" again!

green back ground with air fryer image and words that say 12 common air fryer mistakes

This post was originally posted our on VegetarianMamma.com website and became very popular. Since then you may find this article posted on other websites who have lifted the content. Much of it is common knowledge but when you see the same thing word for word, you know it was lifted. That is sad but a true face of blogging today 🙁 But please be rest assured that what you find here is our own. We are authentic and real people! And we are excited you are here in our air fryer community!

Comments

Jane

February 14, 2021 at 6:25 pm

Thank you ... Now hopefully I can use my Airfryer right ...
I was afraid of it ...

- Cindy
  
  February 15, 2021 at 12:39 am
  
  You are very welcome! I am happy to have if you have any questions or are looking for an easy starter recpe!
  
Lillian Odonnell

February 19, 2021 at 10:18 pm

The 1 thing I learned was that my counter got hot so I went to Menards and brought a 12x12 cermic tile and put felt pads on it and now it can sit on my counter and no worry about the heat

- Cindy
  
  February 20, 2021 at 1:07 am
  
  That is a great tip on how to protect your countertop! Thank you for sharing!

Air Fryer Mistakes - That YOU could be making