I Just Got an Air Fryer. Now What?

If you’ve just made a new friend in the form of an air fryer, you’re in good company. This social butterfly is very popular right now, and while the delicious possibilities for this gadget are endless, here are a few great places to start.

1. Prevent food from sticking to your air fryer. Best practice for using your air fryer is to always grease the fryer basket before use, even if the food you’re frying doesn’t need added oil; this will just help food lift easily off the basket. All you need to do is dab or spray some oil on the bottom grates and you’ll be good to go. Another option is to use a foil sling. Learn how in this article about preventing food from sticking to your air fryer.
2. Don’t overcrowd the frying basket. Just like in your average skillet, you don’t want your food to be crowded when you’re trying to make it crisp up—not enough space will simply make it soggy and won’t leave it with that ever-so-tantalizing golden-brown hue. Try cooking your food in batches if needed.
3. Shake the basket while cooking. To ensure perfectly even cooking when air-frying smaller bits of food such as fries or wings, open up the basket and give it a little shake. When you open the fryer element, the cooking process will pause, but as soon as you click it back in it will start up again, so don’t worry about needing to fiddle with any settings after a quick shake.
4. Use a little bit of oil (usually). Some form of fat is helpful in almost all cooking; it conducts heat and amplifies flavor. Many frozen fried foods such as frozen french fries or chicken nuggets have already been cooked in oil. It’s not necessary to add oil to these foods when cooking them in an air fryer, but a small amount of added oil could help them get crispier. When cooking fresh foods in an air fryer, it’s usually necessary to add a little oil, but just a few teaspoons is generally sufficient.
5. Use the “Lincoln Log” technique. Food cooks best when air can circulate around it. So if you’re air frying items that can be stacked, such as pork kebabs or swordfish skewers, using a space-saving arrangement will improve your results. Think Lincoln Logs. Criss-cross applesauce. Making log cabins with popsicle sticks. Arrange half the skewers or vegetable pieces in the basket, spaced evenly apart. Then arrange the remaining skewers or vegetables on top, perpendicular to the first layer, log cabin–style.
6. Pat food dry for better browning. A dry surface browns more quickly than a wet one. Moisture on the surface will steam, leaving a soft and sometimes gummy exterior, so we patted meats and some vegetables with paper towels before cooking. Our Air-Fryer Brown Sugar–Balsamic-Glazed Bone-In Chicken Breast wouldn’t look as good without it.