20 Air Fryer Cooking Tips and Tricks

With throngs turning to their air fryer to knock out easy, healthy, and delicious meals, there are some key mistakes to avoid.

Cathy Yoder, the “Queen of Air Fryers” with nearly 730,000 social media followers and 35,000 copies sold of her air fryer cookbook, “Easy Air Fryer Recipe Book: Best Airfryer Cookbook Recipes for Beginners to Advanced,” notes that, “The air fryer is a kitchen marvel that has taken the culinary world by storm. With its innovative technology, you can enjoy crispy, delicious meals with significantly less oil than frying and bake faster than in the oven.”

Even so, there are nuances to be mindful of when cooking with this apt appliance. So below, Yoder offers numerous tips and tricks to ensure your air fryer feast is a success.

BEFORE YOU AIR FRY

• Double check that your air fryer is clean and empty.
• Never preheat the air fryer with parchment paper inside. It will blow up into the heating element and start to burn. When you do use parchment paper (I like to use it for those times I’m cooking extra messy foods), just be sure the food holds the parchment paper down so it doesn’t fly up into the burner. You can also set a small wire rack on top of the food (see AirFryerTools.com for links to items like this).
• Line underneath the air fryer basket with foil for quick and easy clean up.
• Parboil root vegetables before cooking them in the air fryer. Then, use the air fryer to finish roasting the vegetables to save time.
• Get creative with your seasonings on your proteins. Wet marinades and dry rubs work great in the air fryer!

WHILE YOU ARE AIR FRYING

• Start small. Testing your air fryer by cooking less expensive foods at first. That way, if you mess up a batch, you don’t break the bank! A few of my favorite foods to start with are frozen hamburger patties, chicken wings, and frozen broccoli.
• The air fryer is small and compact, which makes checking on the progress of your food a lot easier. Open it, and make adjustments as needed. Most air fryers will pause when you open them. If not, look for a pause button.
• Use an instant read food thermometer. Sometimes, it will be enough to look at your food and know if it is done or not. However, for most foods, you will need to use a thermometer to gauge whether your food has finished cooking. Get my favorite instant read meat thermometer at AirFryerTools.com.
• Never ever set your air fryer on the stove. If your stove accidentally gets turned on, and your air fryer is also on your stove, not only is your air fryer toast, but so is your stove! Just don’t do it!
• Use a reusable oil sprayer. Most commercial oil sprays you buy at the store are full of chemicals that will ruin your basket. Instead, use a spray bottle, and fill it with your own healthy oil that has a high smoke point! In the long run, it saves money! I always use avocado oil, and you’ll find my favorite oil sprayer at AirFryerTools.com.
• Use water or bread to keep the air fryer from smoking. If you’re cooking fatty foods such as bacon or sausage, put either a 1/4 cup of water or a slice of bread in the base of the air fryer to absorb grease.
• Use a wire rack to keep foods from flying around in the air fryer basket (see AirFryerTools. com).
• Let cheese melt in a hot air fryer. Viewer Sandy shared this great tip for adding melted cheese to a burger: when the burger is done cooking, add the cheese, then close the air fryer door. Let it sit for about a minute or so. Not only does it melt perfectly, but it never slides off!
• Make a foil sling for foods that are hard to take out of the air fryer basket. Just make sure you leave room along the sides for air flow! Simply make a large rectangle with handles that you set delicate foods on. That way you can just lift the foil (and the food) out of the air fryer with ease.
• Reheat leftovers in the air fryer, such as fries, pizza, breaded foods, tortilla chips, steak, and chicken. For best results, let the food sit out, covered, for 15 or so minutes. Then, preheat the air fryer at 400°F/200°C for 5 minutes. Next, place the food inside, and air fry at 370°F/185°C in 3-minute increments. Rotate and cook longer as needed.

AFTER USING YOUR AIR FRYER

• Clean your air fryer after each meal. Wipe down the top and bottom, and clean the basket. NEVER use abrasives to clean your air fryer. That will wear your basket down quickly.
• Once the air fryer has cooled down and you’ve wiped out the majority of grease and food chunks, spray the basket with Dawn Powerwash without adding water. Let it sit for 10 minutes or so, wipe it out, and then wash it with hot water.
• Wipe down the cooled heating element with a damp paper towel. This will help prevent build-up of food splatters and grease.
• Use the air fryer to dry the basket. Pop the wet basket into the air fryer, and run it for a few minutes to dry it. Let the air fryer cool completely before putting it away.
• Contact your air fryer manufacturer before buying a new air fryer. If you feel like your basket has passed the point of no return, see if your manufacturer sells just the basket replacement!

When asked about her cooking journey, Yoder shared, “I don’t like to cook. But as a busy mom, I needed a way to put food on the table fast several times a day.”

That’s when the air fryer captivated her heart, mind, and palate. Yoder began documenting her experiments with the appliance, discovering that she could make simple, delicious, and mostly nutritious meals in minutes. Her relatable videos struck a chord with viewers during the pandemic, and since then, she’s continued to share countless recipes, tips, and helpful tools for using an air fryer to its fullest.

To help home chefs elevate their air fryer, Yoder also offers a curated selection of budget-friendly tools and resources on Amazon and through her online store, Pine & Pepper – the eComm arm of her Empowered Cooks multimedia platform that provides an array of video instruction and other resources specific to the joy of air fryer cooking.