What are the air fryer cooking mistakes that you should avoid?
- Buying the wrong air fryer
- Not preheating the air fryer
- Filling the basket to the brim
- Not checking on the food
- Only making fried foods
- Not using any oil
An air fyer is one of the most useful kitchen appliances that you can use in your home. Not only will it be able to fry foods without the risk of oil splatter, but you also only need a little oil when cooking — making it a healthier choice than regular frying. It’s tempting to just toss your ingredients in and start cooking, but a bit of effort will make a huge difference. If you want to make the best-fried foods and more, you have to avoid these air fryer cooking mistakes!
Buying The Wrong Air Fryer
If you don’t have an air fryer yet, consider a few things first before buying. For instance, consider how much you plan to cook on a regular basis. You wouldn’t want to upgrade to a higher capacity just a week after purchasing your new air fryer.
Other than basket-type air fryers, there are also oven-type air fryers. Basket air fryers are often smaller and pre-heat faster, and you can toss the food inside easily, too. On the other hand, an oven air fryer allows you to see the food inside as it cooks and also has other cooking functions too — such as baking and rotisserie.
Hanabishi offers budget-friendly air fryer baskets and air fryer ovens that will give you an easier time cooking your favorite foods. You can choose from different capacities too.
Not Preheating The Air Fryer
An air fryer is just like an oven, you need to put it at the right temperature, so your food can cook properly the moment you put the ingredients in and close the appliance. Forgetting to preheat your air fryer can result in food that is soggy or even undercooked.
Set the air fryer to the correct temperature a few minutes before you place your food inside. This will allow the food to cook as soon as you put it in, which ensures that the ingredients will cook evenly.
Filling The Basket To The Brim
The reason why it’s important to buy the right air fryer size is to avoid overfilling it with your ingredients. It can be tempting to put all your ingredients inside in an effort to quickly cook all of them, but overfilling the air fryer is not efficient.
An air fryer is designed to rotate hot air inside the device, so it’s recommended to give each ingredient some room for the air to cook the food evenly. Putting too much food inside the air fryer can result in some items being crispy, while the others are soggy.
Not Checking On The Food
While it’s tempting to toss your ingredients into the air fryer, set it, and forget it, a little bit of effort will change the results of your cooked food. For most fried foods, you can flip the food halfway through cooking. For ingredients that are smaller, like french fries, you can shake the basket. This ensures that your food cooks evenly.
Don’t be afraid to open the air fryer basket as your food cooks, as it will do little to affect the cooking process. On the other hand, checking on your food will produce better results.
Only Making Fried Foods
One of the most common misconceptions about air fryers is that they could only be used for frying foods. While it’s perfect for your French fries and chicken wings, there is so much more you can cook in it too.
You can make donuts, cakes, cookies, and other desserts. Just remember to use oven-safe items for baking. You can also toast sandwiches, heat up your leftovers, toast some nuts, and many more. Just remember to avoid putting foods that are too light, because these can fly around in the air fryer and end up in the heating coil — resulting in burning.
Not Using Any Oil
Compared to regular frying, you don’t need to use oil in an air fryer. But a little can help your foods to get crispier. Gently coating your food in oil can also help the seasoning to stick better.
Key Takeaway
Cooking in an air fryer is convenient because you don’t need to worry about oil splatter. It’s a healthier option, too, since you only need less oil to cook your fried foods. But a few tweaks in your cooking process can make your food so much better.
By avoiding these air fryer cooking mistakes, you can make delicious air-fried, baked, toasted, and roasted foods in your air fryer! If you’re interested in purchasing an air fryer, you can check out our products here at Hanabishi. Some models may be out of stock in physical stores, but you can find them in our official store at the Lazada Mall.
