Over the tenure of a few years, air fryers have gained massive popularity in kitchen appliances. With an air fryer, you can bake, fry, roast, grill, etc., a wide variety of food. It is so famous because it provides so many health-related benefits and is a much healthier option to deep-frying your food. They use almost no oil while cooking, thus decreasing your cholesterol levels. Now the question arises that whether you should put aluminium foil in an air fryer oven?
In simple words, the answer is yes. It reduces the effort in the clean-up process afterwards as the excessive oil drips directly onto the foil. It would be best to put a small section of aluminium foil at the bottom of the cooking basket while ensuring that it doesn’t cover your meal. Also, remember to use as little foil as you can so there’s a steady airflow. It’s because the air fryer works on smooth air circulation through its holes, and if you cover them, it will affect the performance of your appliance.
Let’s dig deeper into the questions that might appear in your mind regarding air fryers and aluminium foils.
How does an Air Fryer work?
An air fryer is basically a countertop convection oven that claims to provide the same results as deep-frying your food but with the minimum amount of oil. The main difference between an air fryer and a regular oven is that it has a built-in fan that blows heat around the food. In contrast, the traditional oven circulates an even heat throughout the cooking area. The food is placed inside the air fryer’s basket, and a steady hot air circulates the food, resulting in crispier and healthier food.
Now if you’re new to using this appliance, here’s a quick guide that shows how to use it:
- Put the food in the fryer basket
Initially, you need to put the right amount of food depending upon the air fryer’s capacity. Generally, these baskets can accommodate two to ten quarts. Then, to make your food crispier, add one or two teaspoons of olive or coconut oil.
- Adjust the temperature and set the timer
Air fryers generally have a temperature range of 350 degrees F to 400 degrees F and a timer of about 5 to 25 minutes. You can set them both according to your food’s requirement, making sure that you don’t over or under-cook your food.
- Cooking the food
To make sure that your food cooks evenly and add a bit more crispiness to it, your might want to turn the food amid the cooking session. Once you’re done with your cooking, always remember to clean it thoroughly, so the residue doesn’t stick to it permanently.
How to put Aluminium Foil in an Air Fryer?
The manufacturers don’t always state how you can use this appliance. Hence, follow these simple steps on how you can put aluminium foil in your air fryer effectively:
- The first and most crucial step is to make sure that you use the foil when you have put some food on top of it. If you place nothing to weigh it down, the heating unit can suck the foil, and it can cause a fire inside the air fryer.
- Remember that you can only put foil at the bottom of the fryer’s basket.
- Don’t put the foil at the pan’s bottom where the food particles might accumulate. Instead, it would be best to limit the foil to the basket only.
- Don’t cover the entire bottom of the basket with the foil, as you should leave some space to ensure even hot air circulation around the food.
- The foil should remain inside the basket and shouldn’t stick out from any direction.
Where do you put Aluminium Foil in Air Fryer?
Always place the aluminium foil at the bottom of the air fryer. Avoid putting it at the pan’s base where the food debris fall. Your air fryer has some holes in it, which ensure a steady airflow throughout the cooking area. If you somehow block these holes by the aluminium flow, the air fryer won’t work as effectively, and you won’t get the ideal cooking outcomes you’re opting for. Additionally, don’t cover the bottom of the basket from edge to edge. You need to squander some space, so the hot air moves freely all over and around the food.
What can you not put in an Air Fryer?
When you’re using an air fryer in your kitchen, there are certain foods that you should avoid cooking in it. Here’s a few of them:
- Avoid foods having wet batter as coating
You might want to avoid foods having a wet batter outside of them, such as corndogs in an air fryer. This is because the batter will go all over the fryer if it hasn’t been set with a proper oil bath. Also, it won’t be crispy, and the batter might get off the food and burn to the fryer’s bottom.
- Broccoli gets dry and raw veggies get soggy
As air fryers don’t use oil, they can most likely dry most of your food, especially broccoli. If you put this vegetable inside the air fryer without using any oil, there won’t be anything left of it. Additionally, raw veggies tend to get soggy and lose their flavour when you put them in an air fryer.
- Don’t put whole chickens or roasts
When it comes to putting whole chickens or entire roasts inside the air fryer, you just simply can’t. First, the baskets have a limited capacity than a traditional oven, so a whole chicken might not fit inside it. Second, even if you somehow manage to fit it in, the side closest to the heat will most likely get dried and even burn before the whole chicken cooks thoroughly.
- Cheese will be a mess in your air fryer
Similar to the wet batter, grilling cheese inside an air fryer would result in a total mess. As we know, that air fryer isn’t actually a fryer, so you won’t get the crispy outer cheese crust that you might get when deep-frying the cheese.
- You can’t have perfect medium-rare burgers
Who doesn’t want to relish the classic medium-rare hamburger? But you can only get them perfectly seared in a grill and not in an air fryer. A medium-rare burger needs a heat of 130 degrees F to get cooked to perfection. But an air fryer quickly cooks the patty’s inside while the outside won’t have enough time to brown.
What foods should you avoid when using aluminum foil in your Air Fryer?
Now when you’re using aluminium foil with your fryer, you should avoid cooking acidic foods such as:
- Citrus Fruits
- Tomatoes
- Peppers
- Marinades containing fruit juices
- Tomato juice marinade
- Vinegar or lemon juice containing marinades
When the heat reacts with the acid inside these foods, the reaction can cause the foil to decompose. Also, it can leave small debris of black particles on the surface of your air fryer or even above your food.
Should you put Foil in an Air Fryer?
If you want to be safe from the hassle of the cleaning process after the cooking session, then you should use foil in your air fryer. At the same time, some experts have claimed that this foil can have harmful effects on your health. But as long as you effectively use the foil, it’s safe to use it. Just remember to avoid all the acidic foods as they can decompose the foil. Also, ensure that you don’t put the foil inside the basket without any food over it, as the heating elements might suck the foil and cause a fire.
