The options are virtually limitless for what you can do with an air fryer.
Great for making crispy chicken wings without the oil of a deep fryer or baking up sweet treats, you’ll want to push the boundaries of the kitchen gadgets’ capabilities.
If you don’t already own this trendy item, there’s a special deal for AJC readers — 55% off a Cooks 4.3 Quart Stainless Steel Air Fryer this week only at JCPenney.com.
So if you’re ready to take the plunge, here are some things you don’t want to do with an air fryer according to Reader’s Digest.
Mistake No. 1: Not preheating the air fryer
It may get up to temperature in a lot less time than a deep fryer, but you still need to preheat your air fryer before cooking. Food website Mashed suggests preheating your fryer for 10 minutes before you start cooking. That will prevent you from getting a decidedly non-crispy result.
Mistake No. 2: The air fryer gets no air
Like your home on a hot summer day, you want to incorporate ventilation into your appliance so that it can work properly — not to say your home will fall apart if it doesn’t have air, but the idea still stands. Air fryers need a constant flow of air to move high heats evenly around foods for the desired crispiness to occur.
Mistake No. 3: Using too much oil
Despite “fryer” being in the name, you don’t have to treat your air fryer like its cousin, the deep fryer. A little oil goes a long way, which contributes to the healthy factor and saves you 75% fat, according to Eat This, Not That.
Mistake No. 4: Using wet-battered foods
The key to delightfully crumbly foods is no moisture. If your food is wet, crispiness definitely won’t develop — that includes battered foods that would ordinarily crisp up in a deep fryer.
Take it from Food Network which said, “Beer batter on fried fish cooks up to a crispy shell when you fry in oil. But in an air fryer, there is nothing to set a wet batter — it will just drip off while the food cooks. If you’re after crunch, dredge your food in flour, egg and breadcrumbs instead.”
Mistake No. 5: Not cleaning your air fryer and letting it dry completely
Like any kitchen gadget, you need to clean your air fryer after using it.
“Aim to clean your air fryer after every meal that’s cooked in it,” Candess Zona-Mendola, editor of a food safety blog and food safety law firm paralegal told RD. Additionally, you need to make sure that the air fryer is totally dry before using it again. You can easily do so by turning it on once all the parts are cleaned, towel-dried and replaced, Mashed reported.
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