Can you put foil in an air fryer? If you’re thinking about aluminum foil, then the answer is yes, you can put foil in your air fryer. That said, there are some important things to consider when using foil with air fryers. If you’re not careful, you could increase the risks of starting a fire.
Cooking typically involves a lot of heat, which could expose you to burns. Hot metal, sizzling food, boiling liquids, many things could burn you. Foil usually won’t burn you directly, but if misused, it could start a fire.
That said, foil in your fryer is far from the only risk. You need to make sure that food is safely stored, prepared, and cooked. You should also watch out for sharp knives and other dangers around the kitchen.
With all that in mind, let’s take a look at foil and cooking with an air fryer.
Here’s Why Foil is So Popular When Cooking
Aluminum foil is very popular for cooking, due in part to its excellent thermal conductor capacities. If you put aluminum foil into a hot oven (or air fryer), and then pull it out a few minutes later, after a matter of only seconds, the foil will be cool to the touch.
This makes aluminum foil useful for safety, protecting food, and reducing messes.
Let’s say you want to air fry some fries, but the last time you did you ended up having to clean out your air fryer because seasoning and potato bits made a mess. So, you might put some aluminum foil underneath your fries or other foods to keep things clean.
Besides air fryers, aluminum foil is popular while baking, grilling, and cooking over an open fire. Aluminum foil should never go in the microwave as it can cause a fire. However, you can use foil while air frying as long as you’re careful.
Let’s take a look at how you can safely use aluminum foil in your air fryer.
Safely Using Aluminum Foil With Your Air Fryer
It’s possible to safely use foil while air frying, but you must take the proper steps to ensure safety.
- You need to leave room for air to flow both for safety reasons and to ensure proper cooking.
- Foil should not cover the fryer basket or tray.
- Use food to weigh down and secure the foil. If loose foil makes contact with the heating element it could start a fire.
The bottom of the air fryer, beneath the cooking basket, may contain heating elements that could set foil on fire. So keep aluminum foil in the basket. Also, acidic foods can cause foil to disintegrate, leaving black specs in your food. This may pose a health risk.
Does Aluminum Foil Present a Health Risk While Cooking?
Some research published by the National Institutes of Health has found that aluminum can leach into your food if you use foil while cooking. The study focused on using aluminum foil while baking, but there is a risk that aluminum could leak into your food while using a grill, air fryer, or other cooking methods.
The increase in aluminum found in food was not considered alarming by the researchers. However, the authors noted that aluminum content may pose a risk to small children and people suffering from certain ailments.
Thus, you may want to consider aluminum leakage and the risks it might pose when cooking.
Take Away: Using Foil Safely While Air Frying
So can you use foil in an air fryer? Yes! That said, there are proper ways to use aluminum foil in an air fryer.
First, all foil should be weighed down and secured to avoid contact with heating elements. You can weigh foil down with food. Second, you need to make sure that the foil doesn’t completely restrict or block the flow of air within the fryer. If the foil blocks air flow, your food may not cook properly.
Also, no matter your cooking methods, make sure you cook food to the proper temperature to kill bacteria and other microbes.
