Air fryers are now so popular, their sales are even being used by economists when trying to work out inflation. Not only do they promise faster cooking, lighter results, and an easier way to make meals without drowning everything in oil, but they’re affordable and compact. The best air fryers today even blur the line between fryer, mini oven, being able to handle roasting, baking, reheating and more from your countertop.
Yet while there are plenty of foods, including a host of surprising foods you can cook in an air fryer, they’re far from magic. Push them too far and you’ll end up with uneven (and even raw or dangerous) cooking, disgusting textures, or smoky, messy disasters.
As an occasionally overzealous air fryer user myself, I’ve learned there are some things you shouldn’t do when using an air fryer. I’ve also learned that there are things you shouldn’t even be cooking in one – no matter how many “hacks” those so-called TikTok influencers post to convince us otherwise.
To save both your dinner and your appliance, here are five foods that don’t belong in your air fryer basket.
1. Frozen leftovers
Plenty of air fryers now come with a dedicated ‘frozen’ button, and they’re great for fries, nuggets, or breaded snacks straight from the freezer, working in the same way a regular oven would. But that doesn’t mean all frozen food belongs in the basket. Dense blocks such as leftover lasagna, casseroles, or family-sized pies can be a problem.
Unless you get the timings and temperatures just right, the hot air quickly browns and hardens the outside while the middle remains cold, leaving you with a burned crust and an undercooked, potentially dangerous core. Even with smaller frozen foods, you need to be careful.
Watch for excess ice crystals – they’ll create steam and make things soggy – and avoid overfilling the basket, since overcrowding stops hot air from circulating and defrosting/cooking the food evenly. If your fryer has a frozen setting, use it for thin, single-layer foods, and always shake or turn halfway through for even results. For anything large or dense, stick to your oven: it’ll save you from disappointment and potential food safety risks.
2. Pasta
Pasta is one of those ingredients that, like rice, just isn’t that well suited to the air fryer on its own. It needs water to cook properly, and dropping raw pasta straight into the basket will only give you brittle, half-cooked shards.
If you boil it in a pan first it fares a little better, but even then tossing it into the air fryer without sauce or some form of liquid usually leads to dried-out, crunchy edges. It is technically possible to boil it in water in the air fryer basket but it’s rarely quick, often hard to control and always dangerous moving a basket full of sloshing boiling water around.
That’s not to say pasta and the air fryer can never mix, you just need to be clever about it. Leftover mac and cheese in a ramekin, topped with breadcrumbs will work. As will a bolognese or other saucy pasta dish. But if your plan is to skip the pot of boiling water altogether, the air fryer won’t save you.
3. Whole roast chicken
Again, an air fryer uses hot air to cook things, and putting a whole chicken to roast in there means that there’s considerably less space for that air to properly circulate and cook things evenly. That’s even if you’ve got one of the bigger models.
More to that point, the part of the chicken that’s closest to the heat source will also likely end up cooking faster than the bottom, which means you’ll end up with a burned top and a bottom that still needs a bit more time to cook. Or worse, a soggy one! If you want the ability to cook roast chicken in an air fryer, you might want to invest in an air fryer oven like the Ninja DT201 Foodi 10-in-1 XL Pro or the Corsori Air Fryer Toaster Oven.
4. Burger
Ok, it’s one thing if you like your burgers well-done – although, also, why?! However, if you want perfectly cooked medium-rare burgers, which is how beef should be cooked and consumed so that it’s still beautifully juicy and flavorful, you might want to skip cooking burger patties in an air fryer.
Keeping a burger patty at medium-rare means that you’ll have to cook it for less time, which means that it might not be enough time for the outside to brown and have a bit of that charring. If you do cook it long enough for the outside to brown, that inside is going to be well-done and dry.
5. Popcorn
Popcorn kernels need between 400 and 460 degrees to pop, and most air fryers don’t get that high, unfortunately. But, if you happen to have one that does reach 400F, like mine does, you might also risk starting a fire.
Popcorn does what it’s supposed to do, which is to pop, which means some of them could accidentally get lodged within the heating element at the top, whether because a piece jumped high enough to get stuck there or there wasn’t enough space to accommodate all the popped kernels in the basket. That’s a potential fire hazard, especially if that piece is still lodged in there while you’re cooking another dish.
Of course there are plenty of tasty meals you can cook beautifully in an air fryer, so why not check out our guides to making french fries in an air fryer, french toast in an air fryer and even fudgy brownies in an air fryer. We can also help teach you the 9 things you need to know about your new air fryer and 6 common air fryer mistakes to avoid.
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