10 Foods That Should Never Go In Your Air Fryer

If you're anything like us, you use your air fryer for pretty much everything — we're pretty sure that most people do. These handy countertop appliances have become the world's go-to method for preparing virtually all of their food in a way that saves money, speeds up the cooking process, and allows you to use less oil. The popularity of the air fryer has led to countless recipes giving an "air fried" spin on the classics, and whether you're making an omelet or a batch of falafel, you can be sure that your model can do the trick.

However, somewhere down the line, we started thinking that we can put absolutely anything in the air fryer — and the truth is that we just can't. While air fryers are good for most types of food, the bottom line is that these appliances are essentially mini ovens, and anything that needs cooking via another method likely won't fare well. Plus, the sheer speed and wind force that air fryers generate create issues with foods that rely on a gentler cooking process. We're sorry to disappoint you, folks, but this all means that foods like rice, broccoli, and even kale just don't fare well in your air fryer — and there are some other, slightly more surprising items that you should avoid shoving in there too.

There's nothing quite like a warming bowl of soup or stew on a cold day, but you're going to want to make it in an appliance that isn't your air fryer. This machine just isn't suited to handling broth-based dishes, due to the fact that air fryer baskets are constructed with loads of little slats which let the air through. As such, pouring soup into an air fryer will just cause it to drip to the bottom of your appliance, potentially causing a safety hazard. While you can put your soup in a container and heat it up in the machine, the rapid air circulation used to cook food in an air fryer may well blow the liquid around too much and cause it to splatter everywhere.

Instead, both cooking and heating soup should be restricted to your stovetop or your microwave. However, that doesn't mean you can't use your air fryer at all. One way to utilize the machine when preparing a soup is to roast any veggies or items you plan to put in your soup in the air fryer first. It's quicker and cheaper than using the oven, and you'll get way more depth of flavor out of your ingredients.

Air fryers and battered food go hand in hand, and we've lost count of the amount of times we've whipped up some chicken nuggets or tenders in our machine. However, whenever we've done that, they've always been cooked from frozen and not made fresh. If you are working with freshly-battered foods coated in a wet batter, you'll want to give your air fryer a wide berth and opt for a regular deep fryer instead.

The reason for this is that wet-battered foods are sealed rapidly when they're dunked into hot oil, and this seal both holds their shape and creates their moreish crispiness. Air fryers may be quick, but they take a bit more time to heat the batter enough for it to seal. Therefore, you run the risk of your batter dripping through the slats in your basket and scorching the bottom of your appliance. While you can put the food in an air fryer basket liner, it may still end up in a misshapen puddle. Luckily, though, not all is lost: You can whip up breadcrumbed items in an air fryer pretty easily, so long as they're dry and thick enough to hold their shape.

It might be a surprise to see kale on this list, considering the amount of recipes for air fried kale chips there are on the internet. However, this is absolutely one type of food you definitely shouldn't be making in your air fryer. Kale leaves, along with other leafy greens, are often just too light to sit properly in an air fryer basket while they're cooking. As a result, they blow around in its hot, wild air, sticking to the side and becoming a nightmare to pull out.

Additionally, despite being seen as tough and fibrous, kale is a tender and delicate vegetable which cooks incredibly quickly. As such, air fryers can easily burn them, or else cook them far beyond the level that you'd want them to be at. Rather than risk ruining your kale, we'd recommend simply popping them in a regular oven on a baking sheet. It may take a little longer, but kale really doesn't need that much time to cook anyway, and you'll come away with a much better result that's been cooked evenly. You can also keep a better eye on it in a standard oven, to stop it from burning.

Air fryer baking recipes are everywhere these days, and it makes sense: As these appliances are mini ovens, it's only natural that you'd want to speed up your tasty bakes by sticking them inside. However, while some baking recipes (like cookies) can work well in an air fryer, you should generally avoid trying to make cakes in them. The problem with cooking cake in an air fryer is that it generally needs a slow, steady process to rise and cook through properly. When you use an air fryer, you're blasting it with hot air, which can cause it to rise too much, burn, or crack.

As well as this, most commercial air fryer models don't have a clear glass front in the way that a regular oven would — and this is a big problem when it comes to cakes. You'll end up having to open the drawer constantly to check whether it's done, and your cake will end up flattening. We would always recommend cranking up your oven to cook larger cakes; it may take longer, but you'll get a better result. However, you can definitely use your air fryer for smaller bakes which don't need as much patience.

A huge leg of lamb, a tomahawk steak, an entire chicken ... There are plenty of meats out there that come with the bone still inside. There are plenty of advantages to these cuts, which often benefit from added juiciness and affordability. However, they can also be trickier to cook properly — and unfortunately, you should avoid using the air fryer for them. Bone-in cuts of meat tend to struggle in the air fryer, generally due to their sheer size. While the rapid convection action of air fryers can be good for smaller foods, when it comes to larger ones they can struggle to cook things right to their core. For bone-in meat that's an issue, as it leaves the inside raw or undercooked, or you have to settle for the outside being burnt.

Bone-in cuts of meat are also generally pretty clunky to try and cram into an air fryer, and this can cause issues with the air circulation around them. As a result, you may find that some parts of the meat are cooked less than others. We know that it's frustrating, but you really should just be using your regular oven for larger meat cuts, guys. Luckily, though, if you're working with smaller items like bone-in chicken thighs, you can usually air fry these without any major problems.

Cheese is a tricky one in an air fryer. It might seem like there are no issues with throwing it in, and when it comes to cheese used as a topping (like if you're making cheese on toast or warming up some pasta with some shredded cheddar on top), it'll generally not present too many issues. Elsewhere, however, cheese can be your biggest nightmare in the appliance. Trying to make cheese chips in it can see the gooey dairy ooze through the slats on the bottom and coat your basket instead of forming into delightful little rounds. Plus, battered or breaded cheese items like mozzarella sticks can struggle to heat quickly enough to seal, and you may be faced with a melted mass of dough and dairy instead of a crispy appetizer.

There's also the sheer physics of the air fryer to consider. If you're working with a crumbled or grated cheese, the air in the fryer may just blow it around instead of melting it into one mass. Generally speaking, less intense cooking or heating methods are preferred when it comes to this item. That being said, for cheeses that don't melt, like halloumi, the air fryer can be a good option — but be wary as they can sometimes dry out too much while cooking.

You can cook anything in an air fryer, so why not rice? Well, because it'll really suck, that's why. If you're cooking rice from raw, you will completely ruin it in an air fryer, due to the way that it cooks food. Rice requires wet heat to cook properly, with each grain absorbing the liquid or steam that it's heated in and plumping up as a result. Air fryers use dry heat to cook food, and you'll end up just completely scorching the rice. Even if you plunge the rice in a container full of water and put it in your air fryer, the liquid will evaporate and blow around, creating an inconsistent end result.

This is as true for dried pasta as it is for rice, which needs to be submerged fully in water and boiled until cooked. However, you can definitely use your air fryer for some things involving rice. The appliance can make a decent air fryer fried rice, and they can also be used to dehydrate and crisp up already cooked rice grains. You absolutely shouldn't be using them to cook it from scratch, though — they're just not built for it.

Okay, look, we know what you're thinking. You've probably used your air fryer to cook broccoli before and it turned out okay, right? So why are we suggesting you don't use it? Well, while you may have got it right that one time, you should really avoid cooking broccoli in your air fryer regularly. The issue with cooking broccoli in an air fryer is that it can dry out incredibly easily. Not only does this make it hard to eat, but it can also amp up its bitterness, with the cruciferous vegetable's acrid-tasting compounds intensifying.

It's worth remembering, too, that the ends of broccoli florets are prone to burning, and the convection action of an air fryer can make this even riskier. Rather than torture your poor broccoli, we would advise roasting it using your regular oven, or else steaming it. Steaming broccoli helps to give it a boost of extra moisture without completely waterlogging it, and helps to keep it sweet and nutty. Roasting it, on the other hand, will do the same thing that an air fryer will do, but just in a gentler manner — and so it won't turn to chalk.

We can understand why you'd think that popcorn is a winner in an air fryer. After all, air fryers and popcorn machines look pretty similar, and they also operate in a similar way, with the latter using hot circulating air to pop each kernel without using any additional oil. However, it might surprise you to hear that air fryers just aren't that well-equipped to handle cooking this snack-time favorite. The reason why you probably want to avoid putting popcorn in your air fryer is because their designs just don't lend themselves well to cooking it. The convection action in stovetop air fryers can be way too strong, causing popcorn kernels to fly around and lodge themselves in the metal slats. They can also get stuck in the heating mechanism of your machine, which leads to the kernels burning.

As well as this, cooking popcorn in an air fryer can create a lot of extra work. Unlike other air fryer recipes, which require you to press a couple of buttons and walk away, air fryer popcorn is a pretty hands-on job involving preheating, shaking, and constant checking. The last of these can stop your popcorn getting up to the required temperature to pop easily, as every time you open the basket you lose heat. It's far easier to stick to stovetop popcorn, or invest in a separate popcorn maker.

At some point, you've probably been told that burgers turn out great in the air fryer. Well, we're here to tell you that whoever said that wasn't being entirely truthful. It's certainly true that you can cook burgers in an air fryer, but you should only do so if you like them to be tough, chewy, and largely flavorless. When you cook burgers in the air fryer, you lose the charring effect that you can only really achieve on a grill or in a skillet, which allows you to sear the outside while keeping the inside rare or medium rare. Even on the highest heat settings, your burger will likely cook through to its center before the outside browns enough to develop a serious flavor.

Now, this may not be the worst thing in the world if you're a little squeamish about your burger being pink, but if you like flavor you should probably grill them. Plus, don't be tempted into thinking that thinner burgers can be cooked in the air fryer. You'll end up blasting them with heat for too long in pursuit of that all-important crispy crust, and drying them out.