Most air fryers should be safe to place on your countertop without a risk of it burning – so long as your kitchen countertop is made of a heat-resistant material. Liquid is not your friend when it comes to cooking with an air fryer - you should never add more than a splash of water to it when cooking your food. Equally, anything sauce-based or that requires a wet batter will not produce the best results in this countertop appliance and could leave you cleaning up a huge mess. If you want to be really sure though, Jenny explained, “There are some extremely heatproof surfaces available now, such as Neolith and Lapitec, that are manufactured under extreme heat and are therefore suited to hot items being placed on them.” It’s also important that your air fryer doesn’t sit too close to fresh food. Because they emit heat when switched on, this can, over time, spoil said food much faster than it would ordinarily go off.

Best Air Fryers 2023: which air fryers passed our expert

Similarly, an air fryer should only be placed on your kitchen surfaces, as these are the surfaces best placed to handle their heat. Because of this, you should also never put your air fryer on a surface outside of your kitchen; such as coffee table, or dining table for example. And if your kitchen island doesn't have a heat-resistant surface (for instance, if it is made of reclaimed materials), this is also a big no-go. Washing vegetables before you eat or prepare them is best practice to remove any bacteria, like E.Coli or residue of soil or pesticides that may be present, according to the Food Standard's Agency. While it isn't necessary to wash meat products, and in fact the agency doesn't recommend it, many people still do it, and there can also be moisture present on the meat before cooking from condensation that gathers. Although air fryers have been around for more than a decade, Google Trends data shows interest climbed vertiginously in 2020, with little sign of slowing. Sales at John Lewis were up 400% in 2021. In January, the New York Times devoted 1,800 words to exploring how the air fryer “crisped its way into America’s heart”, while the Telegraph called it “the must-have kitchen gadget you didn’t know you needed”. And as Clare mentioned – whether you opt for a heat-safe mat or not – you should always ensure that your air fryer is placed on a completely flat surface, to avoid any unfortunate accidents. Where should air fryers not be placed? As mentioned, air fryers should also never be placed in an area with little ventilation, or close to walls, whilst in operation.Jenny Tschiesche, chef, nutritionist and author of the Air Fryer Cookbook explained, “You will want to consider how easily you can open and close the drawer or door of your air fryer when in use. Having some counter space at the front of the air fryer is a big consideration, for pulling out the tray. In other words, because they can’t accommodate as much food as a full-size oven, you may need to put them on twice – once for fish fingers and again for chips, say – and so you might not be saving much money. He calculates that it would cost me 9p to cook a baked potato in the air fryer and 16p to do so in the oven. For maximum energy efficiency, he recommends microwaving the potato first (about 0.26p) and then finishing it in the air fryer, to crisp the skin. So the next time you find yourself wondering, where should you place an air fryer in your kitchen? Bear in mind these three essential points. Your air fryer should always be: Many people absolutely swear by air fryers, but to the uninitiated, they can be somewhat confusing. Are they basically just smaller ovens and if not, how do they even work? Do they really cost less to run than an a conventional oven, and what can you even cook in them?

air fryer: How do air fryers work and what do you What is an air fryer: How do air fryers work and what do you

The award-winning food writer Melissa Thompson says she often uses the air fryer to reheat things. Unlike a deep-fat fryer, however, it is not capable “of sealing something, cooking the interior and then crisping up the exterior”, she adds. “For me, they’re similar to a Thermomix [a fancy multifunction food processor much beloved of chefs] – you need to start out with one before you buy other gadgets, otherwise you’re just doubling up.” Jenny explained, “How likely you are to burn your kitchen surfaces also depends on the model and make of the air fryer. Some have better insulation than others [the better the insulation, the lesser the chance of it burning your countertop]. One of the most important considerations when planning where to put an air fryer should be practicality – ensuring that once you know how to use an air fryer, you can do so easily and without obstruction.This is such a necessary step because water when heated up creates steam, which will stop your food from getting browned and producing that delicious crunchiness that you're looking for from your air fryer. Water in general is dangerous in an air fryer because it can damage the appliance according to cookeryspace.com. Given that air fryers release a lot of heat, it’s a wise idea to keep them away from your kitchen walls when in use. Jenny explained, “Most air fryers have a vent that emits hot air, so you need to position your air fryer in a place with sufficient space around it when in use. But, the chances of this happening also depends on which air fryer you actually have, and how it works.

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As Jenny mentioned, you’ll also want to keep it far enough away from your wall during use – though we’ve got more information on that below. How far away from the wall should an air fryer be when in use? Best of all, the short cooking times mean I don’t feel guilty putting the Ninja to work for small amounts of food. Most air fryers run at a considerably lower wattage than the average oven. But when I ask Dr Christian Reynolds, a senior lecturer at the Centre for Food Policy at City, University of London, if they are a good bet for those of us trying to save energy (ie just about everyone), he says the situation is nuanced: “It depends how many people you’re feeding. They can be more energy-efficient for individuals, but it very much depends on your lifestyle.” One expert - Dan Zuccarello, the executive editor at America's Food Kitchen - was reported in Insider as explaining that it's absolutely crucial to ensure that the entire surface of your food is dry before putting it in your air fryer to cook. The good news is that there is an incredibly easy fix to this, all you need to do, the expert recommends, is simply pat your food products dry with kitchen roll before you season them and pop them in the appliance to be cooked.So will an air fryer burn your countertop? Probably not, but some are more at risk of this happening than others. “Most kitchen worktop materials have a limit in terms of heat resistance,” Jenny said. “Some surfaces are more susceptible to damage from hot items being placed on them. Because of the intense heat an air fryer can produce, while it may sound obvious, there are some surfaces that your air fryer should never go on. Clare says, “Do not place your air fryer on any material like any carpet or a tea towel.” This is due to the potential fire hazards of placing something so hot on a flammable material.