Whether you use your air fryer once a month or multiple times a day, you need to have a good cleaning plan in place. This will help keep your foods tasty, increase the life of your air fryer, and cut down on unpleasant odors in your kitchen.
Just like there’s a range of air fryers and a range of cooking styles, there’s also a range of cleaning methods for an air fryer. Continue reading to detailed information for several methods on how to clean an air fryer.
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Air Fryer Cleaning Guide
Air fryers are extremely popular for home kitchens across the globe for many reasons. You can find affordable air fryers that fit almost any budget. And, in addition to preparing tasty foods in a more healthy manner, an air fryer can help keep your kitchen cleaner by avoiding cooking oil messes.
Cooking with oil, especially deep frying, make a huge mess. Plus, hot oil can also be dangerous, and there is a terrible burn risk when using traditional frying methods. Air fryers allow you to make all your favorite fried foods safely and without the mess of popping, splattering frying oil.
Even though air fryers require only a minimal amount of oil, they still need to be cleaned appropriately because oil, food fats, and food particles can drip or splatter inside the air fryer basket. Luckily, the mess is contained inside a fryer and not all over your stovetop. However, if the grease is allowed to build up in the air fryer tray or heating element, you will notice odors. Or, you could see smoke when using the air fryer because of bits of trapped foods burning.
To keep your air fryer in perfect working condition and frying your food to a perfect golden brown, clean your air fryer regularly. Ideally, after each and every use. Regular cleaning of your air fryer can prevent hazards such as kitchen fires from occurring.
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How to Clean an Air Fryer: Quick Method
Cleaning your air fryer needs to be a regular occurrence in your home. If the air fryer is not cleaned after every use, you will soon be searching for how to clean baked-on grease from an air fryer. (No worries! We have that info below.) That’s not the most fun household cleaning task, to say the least. Luckily, cleaning air fryers can be easy and should not take more than a few minutes each time.
If your air fryer does not need a deep clean, or you want to sanitize and wipe out the dust before using it, you can simply use a paper towel and gentle multi-purpose cleaner to wipe out the interior and trays. Follow that by wiping down with a paper towel or kitchen cloth that’s been dampened with water. Allow everything to dry thoroughly before using.
How to Clean an Air Fryer: Going Deeper
There are basically two different styles of air fryers—basket style and oven style. The steps to cleaning your air fryer will be different depending on which kind you own. Some of the steps will be the same for both types of air fryers, and the tools you need will also be similar.
Before you get started cleaning, make sure to have these tools on hand:
- Paper towels
- Soft, dry dishcloths
- Dish soap
- Rubber or latex gloves
- Sponge
- A large bowl or bucket
- Warm water
How to Clean an Air Fryer: Basket Style
- Allow the air fryer to cool completely, and make sure to unplug it before cleaning.
- Remove the food baskets and drawer from the air fryer. There may be two baskets—one for frying and one for collecting crumbs.
- Use warm, soapy water and a soft sponge to clean the food basket and drawer of the air fryer. The drawer and basket can also be soaked in soapy water for up to thirty minutes to loosen any food particles that are stuck on.
- Use a toothpick to push any food stuck in the basket holes out.
- Rinse the basket underwater.
- Using a damp cloth, wipe out the interior of the air fryer.
- Wipe the heating element with the damp cloth.
- Use a paper towel or dry, soft towel to completely dry the air fryer.
- Reassemble the tray and basket
Make sure not to use anything abrasive on the air fryer. The tray and other elements have a nonstick coating that can be damaged if you clean the fryer with a steel wool sponge, metal scraper, or other tools that can scratch the surfaces.
Some home cooks still notice a lingering smell after their air fryer is completely clean and dry. If you see anything after cleaning, a lemon can be cut in half and rubbed all over the frying baskets to neutralize the odor.
How to Clean an Air Fryer: Oven Style
- Allow the air fryer to cool completely, and make sure to unplug it before cleaning.
- Remove the trays and drip tray.
- Using a warm, soapy dish towel or sponge, wipe down the interior of the air fryer oven and trays. The trays can also be soaked in soapy water for up to thirty minutes to loosen any food particles that are stuck on.
- Use a dry towel or paper towel to dry the interior of the oven after it is clean.
- Rinse the trays.
- Use a dry towel or paper towel to dry the trays.
- Reassemble the trays inside the air fryer oven.
How to Clean Baked On Grease From Air Fryer
Baked on grease in air fryer ovens is common and can be removed easily by taking just a few extra steps.
Sometimes air fryers will need a little more than these steps to clean if there is baked-on grease inside its basket or tray, or walls. When grease cakes the basket or tray, start the cleaning process by soaking the tray and basket in warm, soapy water with a degreaser for up to an hour. This should loosen the caked-on grease and food particles.
An excellent home remedy for degreasing an air fryer is to use baking soda paste on the inside of the air fryer. Baking soda paste should not be applied to any plastic components or the heating elements and connections. Baking soda paste needs to sit for twelve to twenty-four hours before cleaning it off.
After the baking soda is done working, the grease and burnt-on food particles should be easy to wipe away with a soft dishcloth or sponge. You may also need a toothbrush to scrub out the baking soda in hard-to-clean corners and edges.
Another excellent option to consider is a handheld steam cleaner. Steam cleaners can heat up the baked-on grease on the walls of the air fryer to loosen it and make it easier to wipe out. It can also be used to sanitize the inside of an air fryer oven. In fact, it can be used to thoroughly clean any oven in your kitchen — conventional, microwave, or other. (Handheld steamers are also useful for cleaning many other challenging areas of your kitchen or bathrooms.)
How to Clean an Air Fryer: Other Tips
No matter which methods you need to use to clean your air fryer, the important thing is to do so regularly and carefully. Making sure to follow step one to cleaning your basket style or oven style is the most crucial step. If you touch an air fryer while it is hot, you can get severe burns on your skin.
Wearing gloves while cleaning the air fryer is another terrific way to stay safe and protect your hands. Not only can the hot air fryer burn you, but dishwater and cleaners can also dry out the skin on your hands.
When it comes to keeping your air fryer safe, make sure to never use steel wool or any abrasive cleaners. Air fryer pans are often coated in nonstick materials that make cooking the food and removing it from the air fryer easier. If you use metal tools or other abrasive tools to clean the air fryers, the nonstick coating can be damaged.
You should also always make sure to follow the specific manufacturer’s instructions for cleaning your air fryer. However, our steps, tips, and tricks, for cleaning the fryer are all commonly used. Many manufacturer warranties will be voided if the damage is caused by misuse, including not properly cleaning the air fryer.
FAQs
How Often Should You Clean an Air Fryer?
Your air fryer should be cleaned after every use. Not cleaning your air fryer with each use can result in thick layers of baked-on, hard to remove grease. When grease is not cleaned out of the air fryer, it can result in smoke from burning food particles and even become a fire hazard.
Can you wash an air fryer in the dishwasher?
The air fryer cannot be put into the dishwasher because of the electrical and heating components. However, the air fryer trays and baskets are sometimes dishwasher safe. The manufacturer can provide details on whether your specific air fryer has dishwasher-safe parts.
How do you get grease out of an air fryer basket?
There are many ways to get grease out of an air fryer basket. Baskets can be run under hot water to loosen the grease and make it easy to wipe away using a dishcloth. Steamers can also heat grease and loosen it. If the basket has hard to remove, baked-on grease, try soaking the basket in hot, soapy dishwater for thirty minutes to an hour. You can also try the baking soda method to break down any stuck-on grease.
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