If you know me, you know I love my air fryer. I have several air fryers + I love them all equally. I air fry something every day. No joke. One or more air fryers get used in my kitchen on a daily basis. But I am a kitchen gadget kind of girl. Bring on the kitchen gadgets, a girl can never have too many air fryers. I am also a realist and I understand that some of you reading this do not have the same love of the air fryer. Why not?! I know why not! Air fryer mistakes are so common! My tips this week go through the 10 most common air fryer mistakes + how you can avoid them!
Tara’s Tuesday Tips:
The 10 Most Common Air Fryer Mistakes
There is no denying that the air fryer has taken over Pinterest and has transformed recipes of all kinds. My home is no different! If you love your air fryer as much as I do or if you haven’t gotten on the air fryer train yet, these tips are for you! If you are really new to the air fryer, start here first: Air Fryer 101.
1. Overcrowding the basket
Without a doubt, this will ruin your food! Air fryers work by the air circulating around the unit and all around your food. So, if your food is crowded in piles that never get touched by that air, some will burn while others won’t cook.
2. Not shaking the basket while cooking
This follows the same principle as overcrowding. You want to create an environment where each piece of food gets touched by the circulating air. Your food pieces can lay on top of each other but at some point during the cooking process you need to shake them up and change their positioning.
3. You don’t allow time for preheating
The number one reason for soggy food coming out of an air fryer? Placing the food in before preheating + then it has time to stay moist in the basket before getting some heat. Most models beep pretty loud when they reach the cooking temperature, no mistaking it!
4. Using a low smoke-point oil
As you know, I’m not a huge oil fan. I’m especially not a fan of choosing the wrong oil! For this situation, choose avocado oil as it has a smoke point around 520 degrees meaning it will not burn or smoke until it reaches more than 520 degrees. As opposed to coconut oil with a smoke point of 350 degrees. I don’t know about you but I typically air fry at temperatures above 350 degrees.
5. You aren’t cleaning it well enough
First of all, that’s gross. Secondly, your food will taste better + the life of your gadget will be extended if you take care of it better. Simply let it cool down, remove the basket and any other removable parts + clean them with mild soap and water. Make sure they are thoroughly dried before replacing + storing.
6. Placing foods too small or too light in the basket
Again, air fryers work by air whirling around inside. If your food is too small, it will fall through the cracks in the bottom. If too light, it will fly around + into the heating mechanism and burn. I have a metal ring that I place on top of light items so that they can’t fly around inside.
7. The air fryer size does not match your cooking needs
Too big or too small! If you live alone, you might not need the XXL as it will take too long to preheat for your single serving foods. However, if you are like me + cook anything and everything in there, you might need a full oven size or the XXXL version. Trust me, I had buyer’s remorse after needing to cook everything in batches so as to not overcrowd the basket. Do your homework + find the one that is appropriately sized for your cooking needs.
8. Not being brave
Seriously?!?! Put a small portion in, press some buttons and give it a whirl! You have no idea how many times I have heard someone say that they are afraid of trying to cook something in an air fryer! Be brave! Wash + dry your favorite vegetable, give it a light spray or drizzle of avocado oil, sprinkle with some seasonings + toss it in there! Nothing to be afraid of!
9. Using the wrong amount of oil
It’s not a deep fryer! Don’t drown your food in oil and expect magic crispiness. I get it, if you are used to a deep fryer or a pot of oil to fry something, this is weird for you. Go through my air fryer recipes, do what I say with the oil. Trust me, I have experimented with these. Too much oil can cause a smoky or soggy mess. Sometimes no oil is what you need!
10. Not taking it out of the box
Yep, I know who you are! That beautiful kitchen gadget just sitting in the box since you got it! Bust it out and use it. This is the biggest mistake you are making with your air fryer, not using it at all! I promise you will love it for more than just French fries, try it!
Let’s Cook!
Now that you are an air fryer expert + you know all of the most common air fryer mistakes, you will never do any of the 10 on the list, right? Great! Let’s get cooking!
Click this link 👇🏻 + you will go straight to the section of this blog with all of my air fryer recipes!
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⭐Did you love learning all of the air fryer mistakes you could make? Have more to share? Leave a comment below!
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