You’ve been using your air fryer wrong as experts share common cooking mistake

Air frying has become a popular cooking method worldwide, offering a healthier alternative to traditional frying and helping to save on energy costs. However, one common cooking mistake could potentially ruin your meal.

Using foil to wrap food can be beneficial in an oven or under a grill, as it helps to cook the food evenly and prevents it from drying out. It can also help to retain moisture and prevent over-browning or burning.

But when it comes to air frying, using foil to wrap food may not be the best idea, reports the Express. An air fryer consists of a cooking chamber, a heating element, and a fan.

The heating element produces heat, while the fan circulates this hot air around the cooking chamber, ensuring that the food is cooked thoroughly and evenly. However, experts at CPD Online College advise against wrapping food in foil when using an air fryer.

This is because the foil can obstruct the airflow from the heating element, preventing the food from cooking properly. As a result, you could end up with undercooked or unevenly cooked food.

KitchenAid also warns against lining an air fryer with foil, despite the potential benefit of easier clean-up. The brand further advises against using baking parchment in air fryers, as it too can hinder the airflow.

They elaborated, “If you are using a range with air fry capabilities, you can use parchment paper or foil to line a baking sheet on the lower rack to catch any spills. Just make sure to leave space between the air fry basket and the parchment paper-lined sheet for best results.”

Philips also issued a caution, noting that if baking paper or foil is used without food on it, there’s a risk of the material being pulled into the heating element and beginning to burn. In 2019, researchers uncovered that certain foods like fish and tomatoes might dissolve aluminium from foil, which could then be ingested with the meal.

Nevertheless, if you’re considering the use of foil in air fryers, Saga has put forth several points to keep in mind, these include:

• Don’t use a lot – The air does need to flow through the basket and if you cover all the holes, you’ll not get the benefits of air frying. Ideally, cut the foil to the correct size of the basket.
• Don’t enclose the food totally with tin foil – Instead of creating a deliciously crispy meal, you’ll end up with a soggy mess.
• Weigh down the tin foil with the food – The air in the basket could make the foil move around and it may even get sucked into the heater and burn. For this reason, never put foil in during the pre-heat stage.

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