Air Fryer FAQs: Can you use aluminium foil?

The air fryer has become an instant kitchen staple for many, giving crispy outcomes with less oil and minimal effort. But, as with any new gadget, there are questions about what you can safely put in it. One of the more popular questions circulating is whether or not aluminium foil is acceptable. The good news for the time–strapped cook is that yes, you can use aluminium foil with your air fryer, but with a couple of crucial exceptions.

Here’s what you should know about using aluminium foil in air fryer

Consider your air fryer to be a small convection oven. It uses hot air to cook, and aluminum foil is generally perfectly safe to use, just like in a traditional oven. This can be a huge timesaver when it comes to cleanup, particularly when preparing saucy or oily foods. Lining the basket can spare you from having to scrub burnt-on food. It’s also very handy for fragile things, enabling you to make a ‘sling’ to pick them up without them breaking, or for bunching up smaller things that would otherwise fall through the basket.

But there are very important rules to observe in order to promote safety and best cooking performance. In the first place, never put foil in an unused air fryer while preheating. The thin foil may get sucked into the heating unit by the strong fan and lead to a fire. Make sure the foil is pinned down with food at all times.

Secondly, and this is crucial for air fryer performance, do not line the entire basket or obstruct the airflow. The whole principle of air frying is based on circulating hot air around the food. If you line the bottom or sides totally, you'll be cutting off this circulation, resulting in cooked patches rather than a consistently cooked product, even risking the results to be soggy, which is exactly opposite to the air fryer purpose. Use just enough foil to line the immediate space under your food.

Lastly, pay attention to what you are cooking. Acid foods such as tomatoes citrus or vinegar may react with aluminium foil, leaching trace amounts of aluminium into your food. For these kinds of recipes, parchment paper (air fryer-compatible and perforated for airflow) or silicone liners would be a safer, non-reactive option. Always take a look at your air fryer’s particular manufacturer instructions as well, since guidelines can differ by model.