Questions for those that use an Air Fryer

[joserobles]

I got an air fryer around thanksgiving when things were on sale and have used it a few times to do wings and even reheat leftovers. Last night I did some chicken thighs and they came out good. I'm liking it so far. The only thing I am not liking is the cleaning afterwards. I know when you cook you are going to use pots and pans and that is part of the deal. I get it. I am renting a place that does not have a dish washer, so I wash everything by hand. The questions I have are regarding liners.

Do you use any type of liners in the air fryer?
If so, do you use a silicone type or paper?
Do you notice a difference in the flavor of the food?

[pingbling23]

Ours has holes on the bottom of the removable tray. A liner would prevent the machine from heating the way it was designed. It takes a couple minutes to clean. We use the air fryer all the time. Mostly for snacks but absolutely love doing dry rub chicken in it. We still haven’t cooked steak but want to try it.

[hxcmilkshake]

At first I thought fries tasted different, but now it's great. Mine has holes too and you can remove the basket and throw it in the dishwasher.

I like doing bacon in it.

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[pingbling23]

Originally Posted by hxcmilkshake

At first I thought fries tasted different, but now it's great. Mine has holes too and you can remove the basket and throw it in the dishwasher.

I like doing bacon in it.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

Ours never had any off putting smells (XL we bought at sams club) but my brother has one he refuses to use because of the smell. He’s ran it and washed it multiple times but can’t get rid of the smell. It’s like a metallic electric type smell.

[LVDan]

No liner. I just wipe it out w a paper towel before each use and give it an honest cleaning every couple weeks depending on how much we’ve used it.
Not a gadget guy at all but I’m fully converted. Not only is it great and faster for virtually all frozen “fried” foods it’s also great for leftover pizza. I’m planning on trying some asparagus and maybe Brussels sprouts soon.
I’ve been experimenting with some different temps on turning fresh potatoes into fries with some great results too.
For fried food junkies like me it’s just under the smartphone in ranking modern technological revelations.

[hxcmilkshake]

Originally Posted by pingbling23

Ours never had any off putting smells (XL we bought at sams club) but my brother has one he refuses to use because of the smell. He’s ran it and washed it multiple times but can’t get rid of the smell. It’s like a metallic electric type smell.

Yeah thats what I had. I just used it a bunch of times without washing it, just crumb removal. Its good now and I didn't poison myself.

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[pingbling23]

Originally Posted by LVDan

No liner. I just wipe it out w a paper towel before each use and give it an honest cleaning every couple weeks depending on how much we’ve used it.
Not a gadget guy at all but I’m fully converted. Not only is it great and faster for virtually all frozen “fried” foods it’s also great for leftover pizza. I’m planning on trying some asparagus and maybe Brussels sprouts soon.
I’ve been experimenting with some different temps on turning fresh potatoes into fries with some great results too.
For fried food junkies like me it’s just under the smartphone in ranking modern technological revelations.

Vegetables are great. I think I like a traditional oven for Brussels sprouts though, they come out a little too crispy in the air fryer. Leftovers are great, wings being one of my favorite to reheat. I would have never eaten them out of a microwave.

[sonnyday]

We used ours for a few months, but now it just collects dust in the back of a cabinet. Veggies taste better grilled or blanched. It's good for Chicken Wings, but we do not eat many chicken wings. Fries are better in the oven. We had high hopes for it, just did not meet our expectations. And yes a pain to clean.

[joserobles]

Originally Posted by pingbling23

Ours has holes on the bottom of the removable tray. A liner would prevent the machine from heating the way it was designed. It takes a couple minutes to clean. We use the air fryer all the time. Mostly for snacks but absolutely love doing dry rub chicken in it. We still haven’t cooked steak but want to try it.

Originally Posted by hxcmilkshake

At first I thought fries tasted different, but now it's great. Mine has holes too and you can remove the basket and throw it in the dishwasher.

I like doing bacon in it.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

I have to try bacon!!!!

My has holes in the basket as well. I assume they all do, but I'm new at this. The liners are made specifically for the air fryers, so I think the air will circulate with them, or at least that's what I've reading.

[Astros19]

Most also have rubber tabs on the bottom grate to keep it slightly off the bottom.
I always thought that it was to help hot air circulate evenly. I had to replace a couple of them.

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[budd2222]

Try using parchment paper. After you heat up the unit put a sheet ender what you are going to cook. Soaks up what little grease there is. You can buy them cut to fit on Amazon.

[mmbtvs]

Originally Posted by joserobles

I have to try bacon!!!!

My has holes in the basket as well. I assume they all do, but I'm new at this. The liners are made specifically for the air fryers, so I think the air will circulate with them, or at least that's what I've reading.

The liners work fine, I've played with them a little. Some are fine with it and some things are better without it. Although I forget to use it most of the time anyway. To clean I just let it soak for a bit, scrub it out with a brush and then hit it with the hand sprayer. I think it cleans out pretty well without a ton of extra effort. I make meatballs in it quite a bit, and that's one of the things that I prefer to not use the liner in it.

[TheWrightStuff]

The only way to reheat leftover French fries.

[budd2222]

Originally Posted by mmbtvs

The liners work fine, I've played with them a little. Some are fine with it and some things are better without it. Although I forget to use it most of the time anyway. To clean I just let it soak for a bit, scrub it out with a brush and then hit it with the hand sprayer. I think it cleans out pretty well without a ton of extra effort. I make meatballs in it quite a bit, and that's one of the things that I prefer to not use the liner in it.

Making baked potato's, cauliflower wings and breasts without chicken works great. We learned not to over fill it with things like fries.

[dbackschamp2001]

I throw a piece of aluminum foil down sometimes, but it folds over sometimes and things don't cook evenly.

[Gatorsmld]

Be careful with the bacon! It can go from perfect(chewy - as God intended) to flat crispy pieces of dried pork very quickly.

[cardtrader22]

I use these and they work great unless you’re doing a small amount of food, then the paper moves around too much and gets burnt on the burners inside. I’m sure there are other sizes if you have a different air fryer basket.

Air Fryer Parchment Paper Liners: 200PCS 8.5 inch Air Fryer disposable paper liner - Square Perforated parchment paper for Air Fryer, Premium Bamboo Steamer Liner for Air Fryers Baking Cooking Oven https://a.co/d/cPKX82n

[sethc1020]

Love mine, we are on our 3rd now. Baked potatoes are awesome, just toss with some olive oil and salt before to put them in and man they come out good. We've fried chicken thighs, dry rub chicken, frozen pizza, bacon is a must, brats and hot dogs come out great also!!!

[indyguy]

We just pull out the removable drip tray and soak it and wash it out after each use. By the time your done eating, the washing part of it is simple.

Cubed sweet potatoes with garlic and chicken wings are my favorites.

I turned my first go at Brussels sprouts into mini charcoal briquettes.

[ewilkens]

I love my air fryer. I use it almost daily. Usually for veggies (green beans, brussel sprouts, potatoes, etc). I've also done bacon, and its great, but as mentioned you have to walk the fine line to make sure it's too crispy. I've done decent meatballs, chicken and breaded fish too but did not think the steak turned out that well.

For cleaning I usually just soak when I'm done, then a quick scrub with a kitchen brush and it's good to go. If you have a solid basket bottom portion (I think most do) you can fill with soapy water and run the air fryer for about 5 minutes and that helps too.
I personally wouldn't use a liner since the air flow is what makes it work.

[carlo16]

Originally Posted by Gatorsmld

Be careful with the bacon! It can go from perfect(chewy - as God intended) to flat crispy pieces of dried pork very quickly.

Of all the things people can argue about regarding what GOD wants, chewy bacon is not one of them.

[TheWrightStuff]

It's great for making biscuits as well.

[scotthenrichs]

Yeah we don't futz with liners. It's just a simple large pot and small drip pan to clean each time, not a big deal. The bigger deal is the counter space it takes up. We use it a lot for frozen foods that you'd normally bake...fries, eggrolls, hash browns, motzerella sticks, breaded cauliflower, cheese curds (Wisconsin specialty).

Costco has a breaded haddock in the frozen aisle that tastes fantastic out of the air fryer. Also do wings on occasion, taste fantastic but can be messy if using something other than just a dry rub. Have tried burgers but it was kind of "meh" compared to just Foreman'ing them. (and not as good as grilling in the summer months)

[Gatorsmld]

Originally Posted by carlo16

Of all the things people can argue about regarding what GOD wants, chewy bacon is not one of them.

Was going for levity.