Firstly, if you’ve just finished using your air fryer, be sure to allow it to cool completely before starting your clean. Pre-fried frozen foods: In general, portion-sized frozen foods or ones in bite-size pieces heat up and get appealingly crisp in an air fryer in no time. They could re-name this thing the College Kid/Single Dude Dinner Machine. As above, make sure your unit is cooled, switched off and unplugged at the wall before you begin cleaning. More rarely, you’ll want to clean the interior and coil of your unit, as internal build-ups can impact the performance of your air fryer and potentially shorten its lifespan. Most manufacturers recommend cleaning an air fryer’s heating element and non-removable parts roughly once a month.

Always have the grate in the basket. This allows hot air to circulate around the food, and also keeps the food from sitting in excess oil. Once you’ve finished brushing and wiping, leaving your air fryer upside down to dry will encourage water to drip out of the machine and generally improve airflow.It’s hands-on. Even browning requires you to remove the basket or tray and shuffle the food around every few minutes. Once again, to be as gentle with these delicate internal parts, your best bet is to start off with a soft sponge or cloth and plain warm water. Avoid overfilling your air fryer, as this will not only leave you with soggy food but may also lead to crumbs and grease getting into the internal structure of your appliance. Generally speaking, you should try to give your air fryer basket – and any grill or plate peripherals – a soapy wash after every use. Small crumbs, grease and general grime can be hard to spot in your basket, with air fryers often being dark in colour. Though your basket or plate may look clean after a simple cook, multiple uses can cause dirt to bake on or burn, making future cleans more difficult and potentially affecting the flavour of your food.

The heating element, or heating coil, can often be difficult to reach – we’ve found that with many models it can be helpful to turn your air fryer upside down, so as to reach inside more easily.If you did your kitchen layout planning prior to accommodating an air fryer, then you may be slightly low on countertop real estate, especially if you've opted for one of the best dual-zone air fryers that typically are always larger in capacity.

Once your air fryer has cooled, turn the unit off at the wall and take out all the removable parts and separable components. It's fine to pull out the basket for a peek. You can do this at any point into the cooking process. No need to shut off the machine, as it shuts itself off when the basket is out. If your air fryer has a crumb tray or grease trap, dispose of its contents and clean this as well before cleaning the interior. Potatoes: Any time you’d put a potato (or cut-up potatoes) in a regular oven, your air fryer will easily outperform the oven.Vegetables you’d roast or grill: cubed winter or summer squash, root vegetables, broccoli or cauliflower florets, Brussels sprouts. These are fantastic in the air fryer! If you've invested in your kitchen worktop, then the last thing you want is to ruin them. Our Deputy Digital Editor, Rebecca Knight, commented on how hot the tiles behind her air fryer became one evening, to which she considered the use of a heat-resistant mat.

verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ Food cooks fast, faster than you’re used to! It’s one of the best attributes of the air fryer. Your air fryer’s manual likely has a handy table of cooking times and temperatures for common foods. The less food in the basket, the shorter the cook time will be; the more food, the longer it will be. If you’re dealing with tougher, baked on grease or stubborn dirt, try upgrading to a soft bristled brush – an old, worn toothbrush can work well in a pinch – and warm water with a few drops of washing-up liquid in it.

How air fryers work