These cookbooks are great to use when just starting to use you’re just starting out with your air fryer and need some inspiration. Reheated food: Air fryers are fantastic for reheating food. They won’t make once-crispy things mushy like a microwave will. Use them to revive leftovers or last night’s takeaway! Busy parents are often keen for ways to shave precious time off their daily routines, whether that's using a slow cooker for efficient, effortless food prep, or using a gadget like an air fryer to actually reduce the overall cooking time needed for meals. We're certainly all on board with anything that makes family life easier, and Mumsnet users rave about the time and money-saving qualities of an air fryer.

Here's a handy step-by-step guide to cooking food with a basket air fryer. How to use it will differ from meal to meal and between models (it will be slightly different for air fryer ovens too), so you should always consult the instructions before starting, but these are generally the steps involved in air frying. So easy to clean. I love mine and I really thought people were getting way overexcited about them.” Shannith Not cleaning properly after use: Cleaning your air fryer thoroughly will help you preserve its life. If you don’t clean it, food can build up in the basket and become difficult to remove.

Not preheating: Like with any cooking appliance, heating your air fryer before you add food means it will cook as soon as it's put inside. If you put your food inside as the fryer is heating up, it will get soggy.

Plus, if versatility is at the top of your priorities, some multi-cookers have a built-in air fryer, along with other functions like a pressure cooker, rice cooker, steamer, amongst others to free up even more space in your kitchen. Do you put oil in an air fryer?

The best foods to cook in an air fryer

Add a slice of bread: A well-placed slice of bread in the bottom of your air fryer can be helpful for collecting any excess grease, making the post-meal clean up easier. Go easy on the oil: Too much oil can result in overly greasy food and may cause the air fryer to get too smoke, so go easy on the oil, particularly if the food you're cooking is already quite fatty. Spray with oil during the cooking process: This helps to ensure a nice even crisp. However, you don’t need to do this for greasy meats like bacon or sausages. Knowing how to use an air fryer also involves knowing how to take care of it. To keep it functioning well you should regularly clean it.

Use in a well ventilated space: Leave plenty of space around the air fryer for ventilation. Do not use right next to a wall. Preheat: Remember to preheat your air fryer before putting the food in. It should heat up much faster than a standard oven.

How to clean your air fryer

Without further ado, here are the recipe booklets available at the time of writing. I will be updating this post as I find more of these online. I do the legwork so you don’t have to! Cosori Free Air Fryer Recipe Booklet All potato-based products (apart from mash): Your air fryer will easily outperform your oven on crispiness and cooking speed. Using foods that don’t weigh enough: It may sound silly, but when using circulating air to cook food, you need to ensure what’s inside weighs enough that the fan won’t blow it around. Things like kale and bread might be too light to cook in your air fryer. I’m seriously thinking about ways to cut down expenditure. So far [I am] using the air fryer more as it's much more energy efficient than a gas oven.” Appalonia Just to point out that I am not the owner of these recipe books, I simply want to provide a resource to link out to the available free air fryer cookbooks. Think of it of a directory of sorts 🙂

Preheat the air fryer and select the program you want to use: It’s important to let your air fryer reach its designated temperature and let it preheat for about five minutes before you put the food in. Next, clean the interior. Use a damp cloth to wipe down the interior and remove any grease or food particles. For more thorough cleaning, you can remove the tray and wash it in the dishwasher (if it is dishwasher safe) or by hand. If there are any hard-to-reach areas, use a cotton swab or toothbrush to clean them. Whether you just opened your air fryer box or are a beginner cook in general, this list of recipes is exactly what you need. Multi-functional air fryer ovens: More advanced than conventional air fryers, they offer a wider range of cooking options. Multi-functional air fryers are larger, and have additional features such as baking, grilling and roasting. These are better suited for more spacious kitchens. Chips: If any food is synonymous with air frying, it's crispy chips. “We did oven chips in it last night and they were lovely so we will definitely do other freezer things.” Cuwins

Just make sure you put the oil directly onto the food, and give it a good shake regularly for an even satisfying crisp. Air fryer tips for beginners: what to know before your first use Preheat your air fryer to start with a hot air fryer for crisp cooking (learn more about why you need to preheat your air fryer here).