Tried and tested tips to get the best out of your air fryer

I’ll admit it – when the air fryer craze first kicked off, I was a vocal cynic. Sure, they were great at cooking frozen oven chips, fish fingers and breaded chicken, but were they worth sacrificing precious real estate on the few work surfaces my put-upon kitchen has? I didn’t think so. That all changed when the uber-talented delicious. food team got their hands on one and started to put ‘proper’ food in there. There were crispy-yet-juicy pork belly; nuggets of honey-glazed salmon; spiced chicken thighs and, of course, the ubiquitous chip – which really did have all the qualities of a deep-fried one.

Turns out, air fryers have come a long way over the past few years – as has our ingenuity in using them. They started off being marketed as a healthier alternative to deep-frying (which, of course, they are) but there’s also the energy-saving aspect, the speed at which they cook food and the way they can blast things with enough hot air to crisp them up yet keep them juicy inside. A lot of the appliances these days have grill, roast and even dehydrate settings, giving even more reasons to get one.

After my air fryer epiphany, I instantly cleared some space and plonked a ProCook air fryer in my own kitchen – and it’s been happily beeping, whirring away and cooking delightful things ever since. But I found there are some tips, tricks and techniques to get the best results. Here’s what I and the delicious. food team have learned since we started putting the air fryer through its paces.

Prep ahead

A lot of ingredients will cook perfectly well if just spritzed with oil, thrown in the air fryer and heated. But for the best results, a little extra prep can make a huge difference. If you’re cooking potatoes and want them extra crisp, give them a good wash in water to remove the excess starch first. Salting fatty meats like pork belly for half an hour before you cook them will help to give you crunchy crackling. Making sure all your food is chopped to the same size will ensure everything cooks at the same time. Think about how you would cook your chosen ingredient in a normal oven – if you’d parboil it first, then it’s probably a good idea to parboil it before it goes in the air fryer.

A full coat

It’s in the name – air fryers fry food. And you need oil or fat to do that. The benefit is you only need a small amount of oil; just enough to act as a conductor between your food and the hot air circulating around it. The key is to ensure the entire exterior of your ingredients are coated, otherwise your food will be fried in some places, then sort of dry-baked in others. Rather than buying the spray oils in bottles, it’s better to put your food in a bowl, drizzle in a little oil, then use your hands to massage and fully coat every piece (along with any seasoning you want).

Make some space

Air fryers cook by superheating air, then blowing it around the basket. That means if the air can’t get to your food, it’s not going to crisp up. Making sure there’s space between every piece of food is probably the most important thing you can do when air frying – which means you can’t overload the basket. If giving the food space to cook properly means you can’t fit it all in your air fryer in one go, it’s best to work in batches until everything is about 80% cooked, then throw it all in and finish cooking the food together for the final few minutes.

Shake and flip

Even if you ensure there’s plenty of space around your food, it’s still a good idea to give what you’re cooking a flip, turn or ruffle halfway through cooking. The surface of the food that’s touching the metal basket is going to cook differently to the surfaces exposed to air, so flipping and turning ensures your food gets a fully even cook.

Top air fryer tips

• Put a sheet of foil or baking paper in the base below the basket – any crumbs or splashes of oil that fall through can be quickly removed, saving on washing-up.
• If a dish is oven-safe, it’s air fryer-safe too (provided it fits). This means you can cook baked dishes like gratins in your air fryer with ease – and they’ll usually get nice and brown on top too (something conventional ovens sometimes struggle with).
• Turn your air fryer into a sort-of steamer by throwing an ice cube into the bottom before you close the lid. This is a great technique for cooking things such as lean meat prone to drying out (chicken breast or lean beef) or reheating leftovers.
• If you’re coating something with a spice mix or dry seasonings, mix them with a little oil or other liquid to ensure they remain stuck to the food during cooking. The air moves around fast in an air fryer, and it can blow off all your spices and seasonings if they’re sprinkled over something dry.

The air fryer recipe to try

Air fryer pumpkin with creamy beans, crispy chickpeas and sage
This gorgeous autumnal platter starts off with a bed of velvety bean purée, moves onto fantastically fudgy pumpkin wedges and finishes proceedings with crunchy sage-scented chickpeas. A brilliant plant-based side for all to enjoy.

ProCook Oslo Stoneware Oval Platter, 36cm x 24cm, £24

The kit you need

ProCook’s air fryer health grill (£179) is the ultimate all-in-one solution for healthy, delicious meals. It combines 12 cooking functions in one single appliance, including air frying, grilling, baking, slow cooking, dehydrating and so much more.

Discover more expert guides and skills masterclasses in our Be a Better Cook hub, including why enamelled cast iron is a kitchen superhero.