The air fryer sitting on your counter is a convection oven with a fan strong enough to crisp food using a fraction of the oil. It is very good at a specific set of things and quite bad at a few others, and knowing which is which is most of the learning curve.
Two weeks of cooking is enough to know your machine. Here is how to spend them.
Cook these first
- 1Frozen chips — the fastest way to learn your machine’s timing and see the appeal immediately.
- 2Chicken thighs, skin on, 200°C for 22 minutes. Nearly impossible to ruin.
- 3Roasted vegetables with oil and salt, 190°C for 15 minutes.
- 4Halloumi or tofu at 200°C for 12 minutes, turned once.
- 5Reheated leftovers: pizza, roast potatoes, fried chicken. This alone justifies the counter space.
Mistakes everyone makes once
- Overfilling the basket, then wondering why nothing crisped.
- Using too much oil — a light coating is enough, and excess smokes.
- Cooking wet marinades that steam the food rather than browning it. Pat things dry first.
- Putting baking paper in without food on top: it lifts into the element and burns.
- Skipping the shake, then finding one side pale and the other nearly burnt.
What does not work, and cleaning
Wet batters run through the basket. Loose leafy greens fly into the element. Cheese on its own melts through and welds itself to the base. Large roasting joints do not fit or cook evenly. Anything that needs to stay submerged in liquid belongs in a pan.
Clean the basket after every use while it is still warm — soak for ten minutes, then a soft brush. Burnt-on residue smokes the next time you cook, which is the most common reason a new air fryer starts setting off the smoke alarm.
Getting started with AirFryer Chef
- 1
Filter by difficulty
Start with easy recipes to learn how your machine behaves before anything ambitious.
- 2
Use the exact settings
Each recipe gives the temperature and total time, so nothing is guesswork on day one.
- 3
Cook along step by step
The built-in timer handles preheat, shake and rest without you tracking them.
- 4
Save what worked
Build a small repertoire of reliable weeknight recipes before expanding.
Free to download on iPhone & iPad
Frequently asked questions
Is air frying healthier than deep frying?
It uses far less oil for a similar texture, which cuts a substantial amount of fat from fried food. Whether a given meal is healthy still depends on the meal.
Can I put foil or baking paper in an air fryer?
Yes, weighted down with food and never covering the whole base — airflow is the entire mechanism, and blocking it defeats the appliance.