Can You Open Your Air Fryer While Cooking? (You Better Be Careful!)

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An air fryer is a great kitchen appliance. It’s healthier than cooking with an oven or stove, and there are so many recipes that it makes your food taste amazing!

On several occasions, cooking can be a very complex set of tasks. Putting it into the air fryer oftentimes makes it difficult to know how well it’s doing. You might want to take a peek have your meal to make sure everything is going all right. You might even need to add some extra seasoning or oil in the middle of the cooking process.

But if you don’t use the right technique, you could end up creating a highly unsafe cooking environment.

We’ll also talk about some tips on how to cook safely with this new gadget!

Can you open the air fryer while cooking?

It’s perfectly fine to take out the air fryer basket while you’re in the middle of cooking. Most modern-day air fryers will automatically pause once you remove the basket, and will restart again when you push the basket back in place. It will continue where it left off with the remaining time and current temperature. However, there are a few tips you should know in case you need to interrupt the cooking process.

What happens when you remove your air fryer basket during cooking?

If let’s say you need to remove your air fryer basket in the middle of cooking. That’s completely okay. All the modern air fryers these days have accounted for that situation.

What happens is that the air fryer will automatically stop working. It will pause its current state. You can do whatever you need with the basket. You can add extra seasoning, shake it around, or ad the next ingredients.

Once you push the basket back into the air fryer it will continue where it left off. It will continue to work for the remaining number of minutes, and it will boost the temperatures back up to the original heat that it’s supposed to be in.

Keep in mind though, that some machines have a pause button. Not all machines are this intelligent and sometimes you’re going to have to press the pause button before you remove the air fryer basket from the air fryer.

Should I take the basket out while smoke is coming out of an air fryer?

There can be many reasons why your air fryer is smoking.

It could be that you haven’t properly cleaned your air fryer in a long time and it’s starting to burn the old residue that lingers inside the basket. It could also be that there is a malfunction inside the unit and that it is burning the electrical wires. Or even worse, there could be a fire slowly starting inside your air fryer.

What to do when you notice smoke coming out of your air fryer

Here is exactly what you need to do when you notice smoke coming out of your air fryer.

Assess the situation and take a good close look at the color of the smoke.
Analyze the basket and everything around the air fryer to see if you can pick up any flames coming from the air fryer.
If you see a flame and you don’t think you can take it out then immediately call 911 (for emergency cases).
If you believe that there aren’t any potential dangers, then try and turn off your air fryer. Alternatively, you can pull the plug from the electrical socket.
Put on an oven mitt and attempt to remove the basket and the tray. Be careful at this point because a flame could rise from the opening.
If there is a flame, put it into a dry sink and throw a wet towel over it. Do not spray it with water. If you happen to own a fire extinguisher, then use that instead of the towel.
Whether there is a fire or not. Make sure you clean the heating element once everything cools down. This can take up to 20 or 30 minutes.

Using too much oil in an air fryer

All oils have a smoking point. What this means is that when a cooking oil reaches a certain temperature, it may immediately denature, burn, and produce black smoke. It’s important that you understand which types of cooking oils have higher smoking points.

If you know the answer to this, then you can adjust the cooking temperature of your air fryer accordingly. Having cooking oil reach its boiling point won’t necessarily create a fire, but the smoke that is produced is nothing the joke about.

It will engulf your home in a cloudy mist. Not only that, but it will leave a greasy mess on everything. The odor will linger behind long after the meal is gone.

We created an article comparing the many different smoking points of several different cooking oils. If you’re interested, you can check out the table we made for your convenience.

Whatever you do, don’t ignore the smoking point of your cooking oil.

You overcrowd the pan

Another common reason why your air fire might be smoking could very well be because you may have overfilled your basket with food. The goal of it air fryer is to circulate extremely hot air around the food. But if you’ve packed way too much food into that basket, very little air will have access to all the sides of the food.

Ultimately, that are may only reach the top surface of the food. This constant heating up of the top surface may actually burn that top layer. You could eventually have an overcooked top layer of food while the bottom area is still undercooked.

If you’ve left this on for several minutes at very high temperatures, then the burnt surface will eventually turn into smoke.

Most air fryers will have a line that is clearly marked inside the basket to show you how far up you can stack your food.

I wouldn’t recommend stacking your food up at all when it comes to an air fryer. Make sure you leave plenty of space between Foods so that the air can properly, and evenly cook throughout all the corners and sides of your meal.

Use of traditional frying batter

Now let’s get past the basics when it comes to cooking traditional raw batter in an air fryer. First of all the idea of doing something like this is not going to end up well. Any better that is normally wet and liquidy will drip through the holes of the inner basket and down to the outer basket before it ever rises or hardens.

If you want to cook wet batter, unfortunately, the best way to do it is through a traditional deep fryer method.

The biggest recommendation here is to avoid liquid Foods when it comes to air frying. The reason is similar to overcrowded food in terms of not leaving any room or space for the air to go in and between the batters.

If this is the case, and the batter is in liquid form, only the top surface of the batter will be cooked properly. And if you accidentally cook that part at high temperatures for a long. Of time, it could potentially burn and smoke.

Fortunately for us, there is a way to make this work. We asked a group of people how they would normally cook the wet batter in an air fryer. There was a general consensus that the best way to do it is to cook for a longer. Of time at a lower temperature. Also if need be, use a heat-safe bowl that you can place the battered food in two.

If you were to cook a heavily battered chicken wing meal, you can cook at 180 degrees C for 25 minutes. Make sure to stop at halfway (it’s perfectly safe to do so), and flip the wings over.

Can my air fryer catch fire?

Like all electronic devices, air fryers have the potential to catch fire. It uses electricity and converts that electricity into heat through the heating element.

Sometimes the reason can be out of our control. There could be electrical defects, age could play a factor, or someone inexperienced misusing the air fryer. Make sure you understand the multiple reasons why or how an air fryer can catch fire.

Make sure to understand how to use your air fryer safely.
Cooking with a clean air fryer can avoid burning old residues of food.
Don’t use too much oil. If you have to, we recommend using only about a tablespoon of oil.
Avoid using non-stick aerosol spray cans because it might damage the basket’s non-stick coating.
Don’t overcrowd the air fryer. This will make it difficult for hot air to circulate and evenly cook the food.
Make sure the surface of the table that the air fryer rests on is resistant to heat.
Always keep an eye on an air fryer that is cooking food. Never leave it alone.
Make sure you keep an eye on the temperature at which you set your air fryer. Electrical malfunction can inadvertently increase the temperature.
Make sure you unplug your air fryer if you’re not using it.

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