Air fryer dos and don’ts: Can you put aluminium foil in an air fryer?

Many people are still experimenting with cooking different foods in the air fryer — but safety has to come first. Here are some air fryer dos and don’ts.

Air fryers have become one of the most-used kitchen appliances — and people are still finding new ways to try new things with them.

But safety has to come first.

A taste.com.au video showing how to turn crumpets into super-easy cheesy garlic ‘bread’ in the air fryer brought forward another question — can you safely use aluminium foil in the air fryer?

The crumpet recipe involves placing the cheese-and-garlic-butter-smeared crumpets in a foil-lined air fryer basket, with got Taste readers talking.

“I didn’t think you could put foil in the air fryer,” one reader said.

Others commented: “Foil in the basket? Game-changer” and “Lining the basket with foil – genius!”.

@taste.com.au How to make garlic bread with crumpets… in your air fryer! #airfryer #garlicbread #crumpet #hack #cheese #foodtiktok #easyrecipe ♬ Alright by supergrass - Hayden

But others didn’t think it was right, asking “Are you sure you can do that” and “Covering an air fryer with foil defeats the purpose of an air fryer”.

Taste’s food director Tiffany Page — who was behind the crumpet garlic bread — has ALL the answers.

Foil in your air fryer: yes or no

“Manufacturers of air fryers generally don’t recommend using foil, because it can diminish the performance of the appliance,” Ms Page says.

When it comes to safety, Ms Page believes it’s fine if you follow certain rules.

She says you should never line the base of the air fryer (only the basket), because it can “diminish airflow” and you should never line the basket without any food to weigh it down, because “it will fly up, be sucked into the heater and burn”.

Can you really put foil in an air fryer?

Ms Page says of her decision to use foil in her crumpet garlic bread recipe: “It helps you avoid losing all the delicious garlic butter and cheese, plus the cook time is so short that the long term impact on the machine would be minimal.”

Air frying: safety first

Although catching melting cheese in foil is always fun (and delicious), cautious cooking in any appliance is of the utmost importance.

Although Ms Page understands how to use her own appliance safely, there are many different makes and models on the market and we cannot guarantee the safety of using foil in every single one of them.

Taste’s best air fryer recipes:

Air fryer roast potatoes

The best air fryer doughnuts

Air fryer potato Kyiv

Some appliances have accessories such as bowl inserts and others can fit small baking trays or pans comfortably.

Always read the manual of your air fryer carefully and heed safety warnings accordingly.

Now you know … so let’s get air frying.

For more recipe ideas, go to taste.com.au or check out the Taste Test Kitchen now.

Originally published as Air fryer dos and don’ts: Can you put aluminium foil in an air fryer?