While you can make almost anything in an air fryer, certain foods won’t come out the same. The circulating hot air is indeed perfect for reheating, melting, and making quick work of crispy exteriors; some foods could potentially make a massive mess in your air fryer.
We’ve put together a list of the culprits so you don’t have a major disaster in your hands at dinner.
10 Foods you should never air fry
I’d love to say that air fryers are perfect for cooking almost everything, but some foods and dishes are meant to be cooked on the stovetop and in the oven. Stay away from the following, and you won’t have any major air fryer messes to clean up.
1. Battered foods
Any batter for coating foods meant to be shallow or deep fried simply won’t be cooked the same in an air fryer. The batter will run off the food and drip into the bottom of the air fryer basket. And while you might think the hot circulating air is enough, it will really only move the batter around and half-cook – leaving the interior wet, soggy and most probably raw. Stick to using oil with battered foods – nothing beats it.
2. Leafy greens
Keep to the stovetop when it comes to spinach, kale, and other leafy greens. They need at least a little moisture to help them become soft when cooking. When they’re cooked with just hot circulating air, they become dried out and change from a vibrant green to a sad, bruised green or black colour – not very appetising. And who would miss out on the chance to make creamed spinach?
3. Rice and other grains
Popping cooked rice and other grains into the air fryer to reheat or become a little crispy is fantastic; however, trying to cook rice from the start in an air fryer can potentially become dangerous (the grains can easily burn and start smoking you out). Without the needed moisture, raw grains can result in a hard and golden mess that’s only good for chucking out.
4. Poppadums and prawn crackers
Poppadums and prawn crackers need to be shallow or deep-fried. The hot oil helps to puff them up, and circulating hot air with a few sprits of oil simply won’t do. All you’ll be left with is a burnt mess and wasted food.
5. Pancakes, flapjacks and crumpets
Similar to battered foods, pancakes, flapjacks and crumpets don’t fare the same when cooked in an air fryer. They may become stodgy, explode, or be ones where you can taste raw flour and baking powder. These foods need a low and constant heat from the bottom for the raising agents to do their work properly – making bubbles and helping the batter rise.
6. Eggs
Much the same as the microwave, eggs can potentially burst when popped into an air fryer. And if you manage to pierce the shell before cooking (I always end up cracking my eggs open and it’s a mess), the eggs become too hot, and the result is a rubbery, bland egg bullet. Stick to the microwave (if you’ve mastered it), or the stovetop.
7. Dry rubs
Any foods coated in dry rubs should be cooked in the oven or, preferably, on the grill. When placed in the air fryer, the lack of moisture will mean that the circulating hot air can blow the rub around, simultaneously burning it. If you’d like to use a rub and the air fryer, make sure to use a good amount of oil to keep the rub stuck to the food, and to add some moisture to prevent overcooking or burning it.
8. Pasta
While you might pop a lasagne or other pasta bake in the air fryer to get a crisp, golden top layer, it won’t end up the same if you try cooking the dish from the start in the air fryer. Similar to rice and other uncooked grains, attempting to cook pasta from scratch in the air fryer will result in pasta chips (that could chip a tooth). If you’re using stuffed fresh pasta, then that’s a different story. There is enough moisture to cook the pasta and filling through, while crisping the exterior – resulting in a nice, crispy, and melted pasta snack.
9. Crumbles
It is so tempting to want to bake a quick apple crumble in the air fryer. And while the topping will crisp and become golden, half of it might blow around, and the other half may still be raw. Not to mention the filling: that won’t have cooked through at all. Crumbles just need to be baked in an oven.
10. Any saucy dishes
Bolognese, alfredo, chilli con carne, or any other dishes that are very saucy won’t end the way you might have envisioned. The sauce may heat up, but it will immediately splatter and burn as it comes to temperature, leaving the other ingredients lukewarm and half-cooked (or not at all).
