These days, air fryers are everywhere you look; they’re the must-have kitchen appliance of the moment. They can’t, however, cook everything. In this article, we will list the top foods that you should never put into your air fryer to cook.
Air fryers are frequently considered a healthier way to cook meals with many benefits, and they are because of the heated air that circulates around the appliance. Because of the significant reduction in oil used, they are an excellent substitute for deep frying. They not only help you stay healthy, but they can also save you money because they are far more energy efficient than most of our ovens.
However, the air fryer, like any other appliance, cannot cook anything. Find out what you should not cook in an air fryer.
Related: Best air fryers
What Shouldn’t You Cook in An Air Fryer?
Rice / Raw Grains
Air fryers cook food by simply circulating hot air in the chamber. Food is then uniformly cooked at a high temperature, similar to a convection oven. Rice and other grains that require immersion in boiling water cannot be cooked in an air fryer. Why can’t grains be cooked in an air fryer pan insert instead? Pasta and other grains can be crisped in the air fryer with a little oil. All liquid-heavy grains must first be cooked on the stovetop or in a rice cooker.
Hamburger
Burgers cooked in an air fryer will quickly achieve an internal medium-well color due to the high cooking temperature, but the exterior will remain raw and unappealing. If you like your burgers well done, this isn’t a problem, but for those who don’t, the grill is probably the way to go. Steaks fall into the same category.
Broccoli
Vegetables that are good at maintaining moisture, like Brussels sprouts, crisp up wonderfully in an air fryer. However, broccoli can turn crunchy and unpleasant if it dries out. You can roast Broccoli florets in an oven or an air fryer with an oven extension for a crunchier, crispier result.
Most Cheese
Most people’s mouths will start to moisten at the mere mention of the words “grilled cheese.” What could possibly be bad about such a sandwich, especially if it were air-fried to perfection? The issue is that the high temperatures of an air fryer may quickly melt and burn cheese, turning it into a stringy mess. Frozen mozzarella sticks are OK, but fresh cheese should be avoided.
Food With Wet Batter
An air fryer makes a huge mess of any dish that calls for a wet batter, such as fried chicken. This is because there won’t be enough heated oil to harden the batter, so instead of making a crunchy coating, it will probably just leak everywhere. The pool of batter at the bottom of your air fryer basket could cause serious damage. You can, however, dry-cook chicken by air-frying it in a flour mixture seasoned however you desire.
Light, Leafy Greens
You can cook most vegetables in an air fryer, with the added benefit of retaining more of their nutritional value, but the air fryer’s powerful fan and strong heat may be too much for more delicate greens like spinach and kale. The air fryer’s fan rapidly distributes heat throughout the cooking chamber, increasing the likelihood that the vegetables will be scorched or possibly become cancerous.
Steaming or wilting them with some reliable heated water and a dash of seasoning is preferable, both for their health benefits and their flavor. Another issue with air fryers is seasoning that is too dry. If you use a lot of herbs and spices that are too loose, they will fly around instead of clinging to your food. In addition, it may burn and clog the heating element if it were to accidentally get on it, and there would be more mess to clean up.
Toast
What would happen to your morning meal if your toaster broke? A piece of bread, being too light for the powerful fan of an average to large air fryer, will likely just bounce around inside the chamber as it cooks. You could place something heavy on top of the bread to help it cook more slowly, but you’d have to flip it over halfway through cooking to allow both sides to brown. Certain air fryers require preheating, and toasting bread takes around three minutes on average, for a total cooking time of six to eight minutes compared to three minutes for a standard toaster, so it’s really not worth the effort.
Popcorn
Is it possible to make this popular movie-watching treat in a deep-fryer? Most likely not. If you want to pop corn, then you’ll find most air fryers don’t get hot enough (they need to be at least 400 degrees). Kernels will fly all over the place, thanks to the fan. Additionally you don’t want popcorn entering the heating element, they might get stuck and create a short or even a fire.
Cake
You can forget about trying to bake a cake in an air fryer. When baking a cake,you pour the cake batter into a pan, so you’d to cover the container before placing it in the air fryer to prevent the batter from flying all over the device. The cake wouldn’t bake properly, leaving the inside uncooked.
Dehydrated Food
Air fryers and food dehydrators both use air and electricity to cook, but the air circulation speeds in air fryers are much higher, meaning that the small pieces of beef, fruit, or whatever you’re trying to dehydrate won’t do nearly as well in an air fryer.
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