8 Mistakes to Avoid While Using Air Fryer at Home

Love fried food? We do too! Did you know that there’s a guilt-free way of indulging in scrumptious fried delicacies? When air fryers entered the scene, it completely revolutionized how we made fried food. No more dealing with pots of boiling oil, no more greasy, fatty foods. It’s just pure crispy bliss with none of the guilt. But it’s not as easy as it sounds. Making the perfect air-fried food takes practice – you can’t just toss food into the basket and expect it to churn out what you expect. Did you burn your chips to the ground? Are your fries limp and lifeless? Did the drumsticks dry out completely? Chances are, there’s nothing wrong with your air fryer as the problem is largely due to a lack of understanding of how these relatively-new kitchen appliances work.

Even if you own the best-in-class Nutricook air fryer 2, you might find the device not working to its full potential. So, if you’re probably not able to get the expected outcome, it’s because you’re making some common mistakes. Thankfully, if you’re here before burning your fries to the ground, we’ve done the footwork for you, and identified some of the most common mistakes you can commit. Let’s take a look:

#1 You’re skipping the oil

You were promised oil-free frying, so oil-free it should be! Right? Wrong! While an air fryer does promise you crispy food without excess fat, you cannot remove oil completely from the equation. Drizzle a little oil or brushing it on will help brown your food, impart crispiness and add whole new dimensions to the flavor.

#2 You’re adding too much oil

On the converse, if you’re using your air fryer like a deep fryer and are literally drenching your food in oil, then stop right there! The entire principle behind an air fryer is to use convection to cook your food! Adding excess oil will result in a soggy, greasy mess that’s neither healthy nor tasty.

#3 Not enough circulation

If you want even, all-round cooking, give your air fryer room to breathe. Provide at least 12.5 centimeters of space around the air fryer to allow air to circulate and heat to move around the food. Also, make sure the air fryer is placed on a flat stable surface for it to work to its optimum efficiency.

#4 Not preheating the air fryer

Okay, the recipe may not call for preheating, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. One of the most common mistakes people make is not preheating before the actual cooking. Turning the air fryer on for a few minutes can make all the difference between food that turns out with a mushy oven-cooked quality, and food that seems more like it’s straight out of a deep fryer, without all the oil and grease of course.

#5 Not checking on the food

If you think you can simply set the timer according to the recipe book, hit the start button, and walk away, you couldn’t be more wrong. If you’re not checking on your food, you’re probably serving up a recipe for disaster. The best part about the Nutricook air fryer 2 and other reputed variants is that you can easily open, check on the food, and close it up again if the food looks undone. This gives you the visual feedback you require to make sure your food is neither over nor undercooked.

#6 You’re not shaking it up

You don’t necessarily have to lay food out in a single layer. You can pile up your black air fryer with lots of food; but make sure that you’re periodically giving a shake so that everything you’ve loaded into the air fryer gets good contact with the hot circulating air. Even for items, you cook in a single layer, flipping them over can give you even cooking on all sides.

#7 You’re trying to cook wet food

It’s best to steer clear from wet foods or runny-batter coated ones because they can stick to the bottom of the pan or drip through the holes. Wet batters don’t fare well in air fryers as the resulting outcome is far from being crispy. Not to mention, cleaning the messy pan afterwards would be a real nightmare. If soft, chewy, and mushy is not what you’re aiming for, then stick to dredged and breaded batters for a crispy outcome.

#8 You cook without cleaning

If you skip out on cleaning your air fryer between uses, not only are you allowing burnt food flavors to mix with fresh ones, but also putting yourself at risk of serious food contamination. Make it a priority to clean your air fryer after every use. Use a bit of hot water, and dishwashing soap to soak the basket for a few minutes– the food particles will come right off, keeping your air fryer fresh and your tummy safe.

Whether you’re using the home cook’s favorite Nutricook air fryer 2 or any other variant, by avoiding these common mistakes you can treat yourself to guilt-free crispy goodies any time you want!