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Practical Air Fryer Tips That Can Bring You Unexpected Surprises

  Cooking at home often entails selecting appliances that are versatile and valuable, rather than always opting for the latest trendy yet impractical kitchen gadgets. The question is how to...

 

Cooking at home often entails selecting appliances that are versatile and valuable, rather than always opting for the latest trendy yet impractical kitchen gadgets. The question is how to make the most of sometimes nonexistent counter space. However, every now and then, trendy trends and space-saving gadgets come together perfectly, which is the charm of the air fryer. As a long-time producer of air fryers, HYSapientia, we have developed some best practices and tips that can save a lot of time for new air fryer cooks and bring you unexpected delights.

 

 

How to Make These Air Fryer Foods?

Creating Crispy Food

If you enjoy crispy foods like roast chicken or meats, lightly brushing the surface of the food with oil not only makes the skin crispier but also enhances the flavor. A common method for applying oil is to use olive or cooking oil and gently spread it over the food’s surface. This ensures an even coverage of oil on the food, making it more deliciously crispy.

 

Making Dried Fruits and Vegetable Chips

You can use an air fryer to make your own dried fruits or vegetable chips, such as apple slices, banana slices, or sweet potato chips. Simply slice them thinly, lightly coat with oil, and sprinkle a bit of salt or sugar to create a healthy snack. Make sure the vegetables or fruits are cut into even, thin slices to ensure they cook evenly in the air fryer and become crispy and tender.

 

Creative Desserts

Try making desserts in an air fryer, such as cupcakes, cookies, or even apple pies. These desserts, usually baked in an oven, can be easily prepared in an air fryer. For cupcakes, pour the batter into a baking pan, then place it in a preheated air fryer and bake according to the recipe’s recommended temperature and time.

 

What Else Can an Air Fryer Do for Everyday Life?

Reheating Leftovers

An air fryer is ideal for reheating pizza, fried chicken, or other fried foods, restoring the original flavor and texture of the food and avoiding the sogginess common with microwaves. Simply place the leftovers in the air fryer basket, set the appropriate temperature and time, and wait a moment to enjoy delicious hot food.

 

Quick Defrosting

When you take frozen meat from the fridge and want to cook it immediately, surprisingly, using the low-temperature setting of an air fryer can quickly defrost ingredients, especially smaller cuts of meat or seafood, saving time for cooking. Place the frozen meat in the air fryer basket, select a heating mode, and set the appropriate time based on the thickness and quantity of the ingredients, then wait a moment to start cooking.

 

Best Practices Developed by HYSapientia for Air Fryers

Tip 1: Preheat, Preheat, Preheat!

This isn't always necessary, but it's a good idea when you want delicious roasted meat, especially when cooking tasty steaks. The trick is to choose your temperature (usually 400 degrees Fahrenheit for steaks or roast meats) and let it run for 3 minutes before adding the meat. Although some recipes may not require preheating the air fryer, preheating usually results in more evenly cooked food with a crispier exterior. Typically, the preheating time is 3-5 minutes.

 

Tip 2: When Your Air Fryer Starts Smoking!

Sometimes, your air fryer might start smoking, and if you don’t know what’s happening, it could be unsettling. The reason? You might be cooking some fatty foods like bacon or burgers, and these fats can smoke when heated. A good way to prevent smoking is to add a thin layer of water in the drawer below the frying basket (i.e., the area under the basket). If you are cooking any fatty meats, this can prevent smoking. Adding a small amount of water at the bottom of the drawer can reduce the smoke and odors produced during high-temperature cooking, especially when cooking meats or other foods that drip oil.

 

Tip 3: Don’t Be Afraid to Use Air Fryer Accessories

A common misconception about air fryers is that they have only one use: making fried foods without oil. Certainly, they can do that, but they can do much more—yet sometimes, you need the right tools. (After all, you wouldn’t ask a painter to paint your house without paint and brushes.)

 

“One of my biggest air fryer tips is to use additional air fryer accessories to make the most of your air fryer, such as my favorite, the grill pan, which can make perfect steaks, or the baking pan—you can also make cakes, muffins, and even pizza in the air fryer,” said Chef Chris Valdes, a renowned Latin chef from Miami and a finalist on Food Network Star. “Just spend a few extra dollars, and you will soon find that your air fryer is one of the most versatile kitchen tools on your counter,” Chef Valdes added.

 

For instance, you can use air fryer accessories to achieve multi-layer cooking, utilizing the fryer’s multi-tier racks to cook multiple ingredients at once, such as roasting chicken on the upper tier while roasting vegetables on the lower one. This saves time and enhances the flavors of the food. (Of course, if cooking two dishes simultaneously is essential for you, we recommend the HYSapientia 22L Digital Dual Zone Air Fryer Oven With Rotisserie, which can perfectly meet your cooking needs!)

 

Tip 4: Create an Easy-to-Clean Lining

Add some parchment paper at the bottom of the basket for easier cleanup. Using baking paper or aluminum foil at the bottom of the frying basket helps collect the grease dripped from the food, facilitates cleaning, and also prevents small food pieces from falling through the basket’s bottom. We have also provided detailed instructions on whether to line the air fryer with parchment paper and when to do so in our previous blog posts.

 

Tip 5: Don’t Overcrowd the Basket

Different air fryers have different capacities, so it’s important to understand the capacity of your air fryer before you start cooking. (Or, if you are shopping for one, it’s important to know what size you need so you don’t buy something too small for your family.) The key is, no matter how large or small the air fryer, it’s possible to overcrowd the frying basket during cooking. This means you might be tempted to stuff it as much as possible because it fits. An overcrowded basket hinders even cooking of the food and prevents it from browning and crisping. Leave enough space for the food, exposing as much surface area as possible. This will help you cook the food faster and achieve better results.

 

People love air fryers for their compact size and small footprint, but this also has its drawbacks—they are too small, and using them to cook a meal often requires cooking multiple times, wasting time. Users who are troubled by this can try our newly launched HYSapientia 24L Digital Large Air Fryer Oven 10-In-1 Toaster Oven, which not only has a 24L large capacity, allowing you to cook all your food at once, but also has multiple cooking functions, sure to meet your needs. Are you also still looking for where can I buy my air fryer or show me some air fryers? Visit our official website, where you can find a variety of air fryers to meet your needs.

 

Tip 6: Never Spray Oil Like This

Do not spray cooking sprays directly on the air fryer basket. They could damage the non-stick coating of the air fryer basket. Tools like oil misters can come in handy here; this option allows you to fill it with your own oil, even fun infused oils. You can also use the oil mister after flipping the food.

 

Tip 7: Adjust Temperature and Time Appropriately

Depending on the type of food and the desired cooking effect, adjust the temperature and time appropriately. Some foods may need a lower temperature and longer time to maintain tenderness, while others may require high heat for quick cooking to achieve a crispy effect. We have listed a lot of common air fryer food times and temperature controls in our previous blogs, which you can save and download as a reference.

 

Tip 8: Flip the Food and Shake the Basket

Returning to cooking chicken, the method is to cook it at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes, flip it, then cook on the other side for another 30 minutes. This helps ensure that both sides are evenly cooked and the skin is golden and crispy. We also need to flip burgers and steaks, just like on a grill. Shaking the basket—perhaps when dealing with fries, chicken wings, or vegetables—or flipping the basket when dealing with larger amounts of protein is also important for cooking. No one wants a steak that is overcooked in some places and undercooked in others.

 

Tip 9: Take Good Care of Your Air Fryer

I know, it seems obvious, but just like you wouldn’t soak a cast iron skillet in a pile of soapy water, if you want your air fryer basket’s non-stick lining to last, you really need to take good care of it. If misused, the basket could start to rust, damage, or peel, which could cause the appliance to malfunction. Additionally, food could start sticking to the basket, and the overall performance of the device would decline.

 

Regular cleaning. Keeping the air fryer clean is crucial for maintaining the flavor of the food and extending the life of the machine. Make sure to clean the heating element and frying basket after each use. When cleaning the air fryer, try to avoid using steel wool, metal scrubbers, or any abrasive items. But be sure to clean it between uses—you don’t want tonight’s dinner to be ruined by the smell of whatever was made last night!

 

“Think of it like a frying pan. I just wash my pan with soap and water in the sink; however, some can be washed in the dishwasher,” said Bria Celest, author of the book "Air Fryer and Me: Simple Delicious Recipes for Your Air Fryer."

 

Tip 10: Secure the Food in Place

If you are making vegetable patties, the last thing you want is for the vegetables to come apart during cooking. You can use toothpicks to secure the vegetable patties together, ensuring they maintain their shape in the air fryer and preventing small pieces of food from moving around in the basket.

 

Tip 11: It’s Okay to Open the Air Fryer

It’s perfectly fine to open the air fryer during the cooking process to check what’s inside, and it’s also a great opportunity to do the shaking, flipping, or spraying mentioned above. Those of us with years of baking experience know that it’s best not to open the oven when there’s a cake inside. Once you close the air fryer again, don’t worry, it will continue from where it stopped.

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