For us, it is exhausting to think about life earlier than air fryers. There’s by no means been a neater or sooner strategy to cook dinner a fast batch of bacon, fries or rooster thighs with out turning the kitchen right into a grease pit. If you are a brand new air fryer proprietor, working one is not troublesome. In truth, the convenience of use is one among its largest appeals, however there are smooth guidelines to utilizing an air fryer that’ll make life together with your favourite new small equipment much more rewarding.
If you are simply getting began in your air fryer journey, listed here are a number of ideas, methods and equipment that each budding air fryer aficionado ought to learn about.
If you are simply getting began in your air fryer journey, listed here are a number of ideas, methods and equipment that each budding air fryer aficionado ought to learn about.
1. Buy an air fryer that is the appropriate dimension
If you have not bought an air fryer but, the primary choice to make is arguably crucial: what dimension to get. Air fryers are sometimes measured in quarts, the smallest being round 2.75 and the biggest about 8.
A 4- or 5-quart air fryer is about proper for many households.
Because of the wide selection of sizes, earlier than shopping for, test the air fryer’s measurements and be sure you have the counter house and wall retailers to accommodate it.
2. Invest in air fryer equipment
When you are cooking french fries within the air fryer, it will do its finest work if every bit of potato is a uniform dimension. Cutting by hand will be difficult, so my recommendation is to purchase a cutter that’ll aid you out. It’s one of many quickest, easiest-to-use instruments you possibly can add to your kitchen.
Plus, further air fryer equipment, corresponding to tongs, meat thermometers and olive oil sprayers, can elevate your air frying expertise.
A meat thermometer is a helpful, and comparatively reasonably priced, addition to your assortment of kitchen devices.
3. Don’t neglect to shake and flip
For making fries or one thing comparable (tater tots, rooster fingers, brussels sprouts, and so forth), you will wish to give the basket a very good shake not less than as soon as through the cooking course of. This will transfer the meals round and guarantee nothing sticks to your air fryer.
If you are cooking one thing like rooster wings, ensure to flip them midway via the method so that they find yourself completely crispy on all sides.
4. Don’t overload or layer
Remember, your air fryer is basically slightly oven. If you had been cooking, to illustrate, rooster breasts in a daily oven, you would not stack them on high of each other, would you? No, so it is the identical deal right here. You’ll wish to unfold them out as finest you possibly can, and do not overload the basket. And by no means, ever layer your rooster wings, tenders or something of the kind.
If you need extra room in your air fryer, you should purchase steel racks that may give you double the quantity of cooking house.
Don’t pile sprouts and different meals within the basket, or they will not cook dinner evenly.
Overloading the air fryer will trigger your meals to warmth erratically, pulling down the standard of your eats. If you are cooking plenty of meals, doing it in batches is finest to make sure high quality.
5. Adapt oven recipes
If you wish to make an previous favourite in your air fryer, there’s a straightforward strategy to adapt almost each oven recipe for air fryer use.
Typically, you’d decrease the cooking temperature by about 25 levels Fahrenheit. If the oven recipe says 350 levels Fahrenheit (176 Celsius), the fryer will get set to 325 levels (160 Celsius). Similarly, you will want about 20% much less cooking time, although this may definitely range, relying on the sort of meals, the cooking temperature and so forth.
If you need assistance with the mathematics, this air fryer calculator is right here to assist. It’ll convert customary cook dinner instances and temperatures.
6. Don’t neglect to wash this a part of your air fryer
Though the air fryer can sometimes appear to be magic, there’s one process it might probably’t deal with: cleansing itself. Unfortunately, that step is solely on you, however we have rounded up our finest air fryer cleansing ideas that can assist you out, together with details about the way to clear some of the forgotten areas of your air fryer.
Clean the coils above your air fryer cooking basket for a safer kitchen and higher tasting meals.
7. Go straightforward on the oil however do not utterly ignore it
One large promoting level for air fryers is that meals cooked in them requires much less oil that different strategies. That’s excellent news however it doesn’t suggest you will not want any oil. I discover that sure meals corresponding to rooster, greens and fish profit from a delicate mist of olive oil, however watch out to not soak meals in oil for the reason that superconvection warmth has a approach of supercharging no matter fats and oil is within the basket.
An cheap oil sprayer will come in useful when making air fryer fried rooster.
The finest strategy to unfold a lightweight and even coating is with an affordable $10 oil sprayer like this or this.
8. Think outdoors the field
Yes, french fries and rooster wings are a few of our favourite air fryer staples, however you can also make many different meals as properly.
CNET has a rundown of among the finest air fryer meals, and if you’d like particular recipes, we’ve these too. Below, I’ve gathered seven nice recipes you will positively wish to attempt:
Are you bought on the air fryer magic however nonetheless do not know which fryer to purchase? Here are the very best air fryers of 2025, ranked by CNET’s resident professional, that can assist you resolve.
