Is It Actually Safe To Put Foil In Your Air Fryer?

Once you get the hang of them, air fryers can become one of your best friends in the kitchen. While many people love to point out that they don't fry at all, and are simply very efficient convection ovens, don't let the haters deter you. They're great at everything from cooking prepared frozen foods (french fries, anyone?), to reheating fried chicken properly, to even roasting entire birds. And personally, for someone who's perpetually busy, I'm a big fan of the way they roast vegetables so quickly.

But like I mentioned, they do take a little bit of playing around with to get the best results sometimes. One of the things you'll hear people talk about is whether or not you can do things to make your air fryer easier to clean up, by using shortcuts such as lining it with aluminum foil. Just like you, I hate cleaning up, and any shortcuts I can take to make things easier are welcome.

Fortunately, though there are a few things you should never do in your air fryer, you can in fact put aluminum foil in it — but only under certain circumstances. Since you don't want that sheet whipping around with reckless abandon in your countertop device, just make sure you mind a few things first.

Since air fryers rely on fans to circulate hot air around your food as it's cooking, that means it's pretty windy (my own personal technical term) inside your device. If your foil isn't weighed down with food that's heavy enough, it'll flap around the inside of your air fryer. 

That idea seems harmless, but an unsecured item moving around in your air fryer could spell disaster. That's because the heating element in air fryers is sometimes located at the top of the device, and if the foil hits it or gets stuck on it, you could potentially damage this key component. And nobody wants to have to buy a new kitchen appliance when a simple mistake could have been avoided. So always make sure the foil is weighed down with enough food that it won't lift up and float around with an air current.

Here's another thing: If you're using a basket model (as opposed to a countertop oven-style air fryer), you don't want the foil to obstruct the bottom of your air fryer basket. That's because the basket is designed with slats in it to allow the air to circulate all around your food, including the bottom, in order to get an even cook. So you also need to make sure you don't use too much foil, otherwise your food will cook unevenly with all of the heat focused on top — make sure there's a little room around your foil to let air circulate beneath it.

If you're not feeling comfortable with the idea of foil in your air fryer, your alternative choice is parchment paper. That's not to be confused with wax paper, which reacts to heat (aka melts and burns) in your air fryer. Again, you want to trim your paper down to allow air to flow around it, but fortunately, since it's actual paper, scissors will do the trick. The basic rule is the same, just make sure there's heavy-enough food on your parchment paper so that it's not flapping around inside the basket. 

Now that you know the general rules with foil and parchment paper inside your convenient and rapid cooking tool, we think you should have fun with it, which is why we have a big list of unique things you can prepare in your air fryer. Just make sure your foil and parchment paper are weighed down, should you choose to go that route. This Sichuan cumin asparagus is looking really good right about now.