Don't Let The Name Fool You! Never Cook This Type Of Fried Food In Your Air Fryer

Air fryers are great for quickly cooking some of your favorite foods, but they're not a substitute for every other appliance in your kitchen. Even though the name "air fryer" implies the ability to fry your food, not every type of frying is made equal. Air fryers are not equipped to cook wet-battered food for a few reasons, so it's best to keep them out of your basket.

The problem with trying to fry wet-battered foods in an air fryer comes from the structure of the appliance itself. It's actually a false fact that air fryers fry foods at all; they work more like a convection oven on a smaller scale. Aside from the main basket where the food goes in, the bottom features a crisping tray that keeps items directly off the device. This is what allows food to cook via the air circulating around it from all sides. This feature is also part of what prevents wet-battered food from being cooked effectively.

For cooking wet-battered foods, the batter needs to set at the start of the cooking process, which can happen instantly when they're fried in oil. An air fryer doesn't cook food as fast as a deep fryer, so the outside doesn't harden, dripping off the food. If you tried to use an air fryer on battered foods, all the coating would fall through the crisping tray, burning at the bottom of the basket.

Although cooking wet-battered foods isn't reasonable in an air fryer, there are still plenty of uses for the appliance. Air fryers are better for breaded foods because the breading adheres to the food itself, so it won't drip off and make a mess. Instead, the crust will get crispy without burning the outside before the inside is cooked.

Frozen foods are another great option for an air fryer, and many of them have air-frying directions on the packaging. It's also safer, as using a deep fryer to cook frozen food can be hazardous unless you remove any excess ice. The ice will rapidly turn into steam, which will rise through the hot oil, causing it to splatter. This doesn't happen with an air fryer, both because there's little to no oil and because it's an enclosed basket.

You can also make certain baked goods like chocolate chip cookies in your air fryer, but you'll have to make some adjustments. The crisping tray remains essential for cooking the bottom of the cookies, but it must be covered with foil or parchment paper — a hack for improving your life with your air fryer. This allows the heat to circulate to the underside while still preventing the dough from falling through the tray and onto the bottom of the basket. You will also have to cook them in much smaller batches than a conventional oven, but if you only want a few cookies, you can't go wrong.