Air fryers are famously easy to use; the results speak for themselves. It’s no wonder these mighty countertop convection ovens have captured the hearts of health-conscious home cooks and speedy meal makers alike.
As easy as most air fryers are to operate, there are still pitfalls to consider when firing up your superconvection machine. For newbies, crowding the basket, over- or under-oiling, and not cleaning the air fryer properly between uses can lead to inferior baked potatoes, chicken wings, French fries and fish.
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Air fryers also cook fast. While that’s one of its superpowers, it can lead to overcooked food if the basket isn’t monitored carefully. That’s one reason Ninja’s new glass-bowl air fryer is our current top pick.
To help limit air fryer blunders, I consulted “air fryer queen” Cathy Yoder of Empowered Cooks for her take on the most common mistakes you may be making with your air fryer.
1. Underestimating your air fryer
An air fryer can burn food in a hurry if you don’t watch it.
An air fryer’s undeniable superpower is its ability to make frozen fried food taste and feel like it’s been deep-fried. However, getting stuck in an air fryer rut is mistake No. 1 when using your air fryer.
“People get fixated on maybe two things like chicken nuggets and french fries,” says Yoder. “Just thinking beyond frying, if you can grill it or bake it, in most cases, you can use your air fryer for it.”
2. Wasting time preheating
This is a hot take, as many air fryer recipes call for preheating. This may just mean running it empty for a few minutes to get its nonstick surface hot, or some models even have a preheat setting built in that can take up to five minutes. However, Yoder tested several recipes using the same air fryer, preheated and not, and found that preheating didn’t offer significantly different results.
“It maybe made a difference of two minutes,” she says. “I preheat if something has a very short cooking time.”
Because air frying is meant to be a time saver, minutes matter. Many air fryers with a preheat setting typically don’t have a built-in temperature monitor so if you accidentally open the basket during the preheat cycle, it will start all over again from the beginning, which is a waste of time. (I have experienced this firsthand. It is indeed very annoying.) Opening the basket after preheating lets all the hot air out anyway.
3. Using nonstick cooking spray
Air fryers are meant to reduce the need for oil, resulting in healthier dishes, but the temptation to use some nonstick cooking spray — even though the interior of most air fryers has a nonstick coating — is real. But it’s a bad idea: “It is said that some of those propellants in cooking sprays could damage the coating in the air fryer,” says Yoder. And what’s more: “Go look at the ingredients in there. You don’t want to ingest that.”
For items such as raw veggies that could use a little help from oil, for a highly convenient option akin to cooking spray, Yoder recommends just buying a spray pump and filling it yourself.
Read more: 7 Must-Try Air Fryer Accessories to Elevate Your Cooking Experience
4. Using too much oil
Just a spritz of cooking oil is all most air fryer foods require.
Certain vegetables that don’t contain fat may need a little support for their spin in the air fryer, but “in most cases, it’s not needed,” says Yoder. Most meats release enough of their own fat during the cooking process: chicken skin will get crispy in the air fryer from the fat of the meat alone. Oil can be employed in certain specific preparations but should be used sparingly.
“It’s handy if you have a rub or spices on the surface to help them adhere,” says Yoder, “and if you’re adding a breading, you’ve gotta have it on there so the flour doesn’t dry out. But all the frozen things are chock-full of fats, so you don’t need to add any more.”
5. Using not enough oil or the wrong kind
Patchy spots of dried flour, incinerated broccoli florets and dehydrated potatoes can all be victims of insufficient oil in the air fryer. When it is called for, you must consider what oil to use. Olive oil is the grab-and-go for most of us, but “it has a lower smoke point,” says Yoder, which can result in burnt flavors if you’re air frying for a longer time at the top of its temperature range. “I just recommend avocado oil. It has a nice high smoke point and it’s healthy.”
6. Overcrowding the basket
Don’t pile sprouts and other foods on top of each other or they won’t cook evenly.
Air fryers rely on air circulation.
“It’s essentially just a mini convection oven,” Yoder says. “For crispy things you want air to be able to get around all of them.” For that ideal, crispy, fried-like outcome, air needs access to every surface, which means adequate space between pieces, and often a single layer. “In the marketing pictures you’ll see an air fryer basket with mounds of fries coming out,” says Yoder, which speaks to the generous capacity of specific models but doesn’t reveal their best use.
Those recipes with a roasted rather than fried vibe can take a little more crowding but you’re still not filling to the brim. If the food actually touches the cooking mechanism that hovers above the basket, then you’ve potentially got a hygiene problem, so stick to a single layer in most cases.
Read more: 7 Essential Tips for Using Your Air Fryer
7. Not shaking or rotating the food
Make sure to cook your food on both sides for ideal crispiness.
It’s tempting to adopt a “set it and forget it” mindset when cooking with an air fryer, but the best outcomes rely on the slightest bit of participation.
“Shaking or rotating helps with even cooking,” says Yoder, especially if you are packing the air fryer with more than a single layer. Your fries, tots and poppers will better resemble actual bar food if you take a moment in the middle of the cycle to give them a little shake, and your chicken parts will have appealing browning all over with a flip to the opposite side.
8. Starting with wet food
An air fryer isn’t the same as a slow cooker, and its air-circulating mechanism works best on food that isn’t wet, so if you’re rinsing anything destined for the air fryer, whether vegetables or proteins, you’ll want to dry those first.
“If it’s wet, you’re going to be steaming the exterior where we want to char,” says Yoder, counterproductive to the whole air fryer ethos.
9. Not cleaning it properly
Clean the coils above your air fryer cooking basket for a safer kitchen and better tasting food.
Because of their largely nonstick nature, air fryers are generally easy to clean, and many have baskets that can be put directly in the dishwasher. However, it’s possible that your air fryer isn’t as clean as you think it is, even if you’ve been diligently scrubbing the residue from the basket.
“Not wiping down the heating unit inside the air fryer is a common mistake,” says Yoder. Think about it — there’s cooking inside that drawer, including the kind of splatter similar to when doing a stovetop sauté. And if you’re committing the overcrowding mistake, your food may be coming in contact with the heating unit and whatever splatter is lingering there.
“It can be scary,” says Yoder, but it’s not hard to correct. After letting your air fryer cool, use a cloth or damp paper towel to keep the gunk from collecting.”
