Air Fryer Safety Tips- Do’s & Dont’s : Mistakes to Avoid
While air frying is a great way to cook healthy wholesome foods, re-heat foods or cook a quick dinner, it helps to learn what not to do. Here’s our air fryer safety tips list and suggestions for safe air frying and Do’s and Dont’s.
Air Fryer Safety Tips: Do’s and Dont’s
- DO read the manual that came with your air fryer. There’s valuable information about safety and how to use it property. There might even be a hotline number and social media accounts listed on those manuals for you to ask for help. We have our safety tips below based on our own experiences, but make sure to rely on your manual and the professionals that made your air fryer.
- Don’t leave your air fryer plugged-in when not in use. Repeat: UN-PLUG your air fryer when it’s not being used. It’s a safe habit to practice because you never know if a button was accidentally bumped on your air fryer when you didn’t mean to.
- Don’t burn yourself or your countertops. There are internal and external components of the air fryer which get super hot during cooking. It’s easy to burn yourself so make sure to not touch any of those hot elements with your bare hands. Do use a silicone glove or oven safe mitts. Use a silicone trivet or heat safe board/mat to place hot air fryer baskets and lids on.
- Don’t cook in a non-ventilated area or a small closed off corner. Place your air fryer near vent hoods and turn vent hoods on. Pull the air fryer away from the the wall and open windows if necessary.
- Don’t let the air fryer hot air ventilation openings blow into electrical outlets. You need to leave space around the air fryer for the vent to circulate. This is safe air frying.
- Don’t put the air fryer on the stove. You’ll might accidentally turn on the stove and melt your air fryer and cause a fire.
- Don’t use use perforated parchment paper at high heat without having food over it. If you don’t have enough food weighing down the parchment paper, it will fly around when the hot air circulates and cover the food. This will make the food cook unevenly. Also, the parchment might burn if it’s flying around and hitting the hot heating element.
- Don’t use cooking sprays with propellants, aerosol sprays or chemical based non-stick sprays. They might start to break down the coating on many non-stick baskets & trays. Do invest a few dollars in a quality oil spray or pump and use a quality high flash point oil. We discuss all this here on: Best Oil and Sprays for Air Fryers.
- Don’t use wet batters or wet coatings. The coating will splatter everywhere from the circulating fan. Do use a bread crumb crust by dredging food in flour, raw beaten egg, then bread crumbs. Then liberally spray oil on the bread crumbs so that they are weighed down on the food, keeping it from flying around. If dry bread crumbs hit the heating element this can cause smoking. You must use a decent spray of oil and coat all the dry breading spots so it can cook crispy. Otherwise it often cooks dry and hard. Here’s more info about smoking air fryers.
- Don’t over-crowd the air fryer basket. The food won’t cook evenly and the air doesn’t get a chance to circulate properly. Do try to keep the food in a single layer during air frying.
- Don’t forget to check on the food so it doesn’t burn. Not all air fryers cook the same. Some cook hotter, some cook slower, some have super powerful fans, others just a moderate fan strength. Do use a timer to remind you to flip, shake or check on the food.
- Don’t season the food with salt while it’s in the air fryer. Dry salt laying on non-stick interiors may cause the basket coating to break down and peel. Do season the food first in a bowl or cutting board, then add it to the air fryer. Or season after cooking.
- Do use accessories and inserts that are made for your air fryer. These are convenient items are fit the air fryer and maximize cooking space.
- Don’t clean the racks or air fryer basket with harsh metal scouring pads. For safe cleaning, soak the dirty racks and baskets in hot soapy water for about 20 minutes. The crusted food should wipe off easily.
- Again, read your air fryer manufacturers manual!
- Did we miss anything? Please let us know in the comments below so we can all learn from one another. Thank you!
Read the rest of our Air Frying 101 Guides Here.
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35 Comments on “Air Fryer Safety Tips- Do’s & Dont’s : Mistakes to Avoid”
If I have an electrical power strip for my air fryer plug, is it safe to leave plugged in then??
Hi Linda, we always like to have our air fryer un-plugged when not in use. We personally don’t ever leave our air fryers plugged in. But if you’re still curious, we suggest you reach out to the manufacturer of your air fryer.
My Air fryer says do not use outdoors. Why not?
Hi Richard, every manufacturer has their suggestions. You should reach out to them and ask why. Maybe see if they have a facebook page, twitter or instagram account and ask them there.
Hello,
I have an insert for my Instant Pot which isn’t non-stick.  It fits in my air fryer but is it okay to use since it’s not non-stick?  I don’t really want to purchase one unless absolutely necessary.
Thanks
Hi Christina, what insert are you referring to? We’re not familiar with Instant Pot accessories, so if you have a specific name for it we can google it and try to understand this insert. Then we can let you know if it’ll work in the air fryer.
Hi can you use any silicone mats without any holes in them on the trays and then put the food on top of the silicone mat and then air fry. Â Thank-youÂ
Hi Leona, yes you can do that but the bottom sides of the food won’t be as crispy because there’s no holes for air circulation. Also, you might have to adjust the timing on the food because it might take longer to cook on the no-hole silicon mats.
The coating  is starting to wear off on the bottom  insert of my air fryer Teflon is coming away you can see silver . Can I order a new one or should I just get a new air fryer
Hi K, if the manufacturer of your air fryer is willing to replace your insert or at least give you a discount on a new one, that’s way cheaper than buying a new air fryer. Have you tried contacting them?
Hiya
I need to ask
I am helping my son move house and long story short
I placed his new(ish) air fryer on its side and oil seems to have come out from bottom,
spotless inside so I don’t know where oil came from
dare not put it on,
thank you,
is it buggerd,
Hi Karen, it’s best to reach out to your manufacturer of your air fryer and tell them of this issue. Perhaps it’s a defect or maybe they can help solve the issue.
Is it dangerous to leave the air fryer on (any temperature) with nothing inside?
Hi Gary, most air fryer manufacturers have suggestions on pre-heating the units for about 5 minutes for air frying food. But it’s best to reach out to your specific manufacturer and ask about any safety concerns for your model.
can chicken be placed on its sides to fit more in basket
Hi Karen, it’s best to place the chicken flat in the basket so the chicken can cook all the way through evenly without drying out the edges too much. Often times food needs to cook in about 2 baskets, especially if you have a small air fryer basket. Hope this helps!
i have a hot air fryer and oven…i’m wondering how i can avoid meat splatter, by putting something on the top of my meat that i want to cook