How to Make Air Fryer Food Crispy and Why It’s Not Happening (25 Things You Can Try)
How do I make my food crispier in an air fryer?
If you want your food really crispy, one way is to use a higher heat setting and allow hot oil to touch the food. Another way is to place the food on a wire rack while cooking allowing the hot air to cook all of the food evenly.
The higher heat setting allows it to vaporize the water from the food’s exterior. Due to getting rid of the water quickly, you are left with a crispy exterior. However, setting the temperature to such a high degree may cause your food to burn.
In order to properly get the crispiest texture-out of your food as possible. It’s recommended that you constantly monitor your food while air frying.
10 Air fryer tips that will make your food crispy
1. You need to preheat your air fryer
Make sure that your air fryer has been preheated for at least 5 to 6 minutes before using it. This will ensure that there isn’t any moisture or grease inside which could affect how well your food cooks.
2. You need to use oil on some foods in the air fryer
It’s important to have some type of fat when making “fried” foods because this helps keep them moist during the process. If you don’t have enough fat, then your food won’t be able to absorb the necessary amount of heat needed to become crispy.
3. You have to consider your oil’s smoke point when cooking
The smoke point of an oil is basically the threshold of heat it can withstand before it smokes and burns. You don’t want to choose an oil that’s easy to burn. Trust me. Understanding which oils can handle what degree of temperatures can help you decide how hot you can set your temperature settings.
4. Sometimes you need to grease your air fryer basket
When greasing your basket, try not to overdo it. Greasing too much can actually prevent the food from being cooked thoroughly. The best thing to do would be to lightly coat the bottom of the basket.
5. Don’t overfill the air fryer basket
Overcrowding the basket can lead to uneven heating. When placing items into the basket, leave about 1/4 to 1/2 an inch between each item so they aren’t touching.
If they are somehow touching, that leaves less opportunity for hot air to make contact with the blocked areas of the food. Thus, resulting in uneven cooking.
6. Shake the basket in between air fryer cooking
This ensures an even distribution of heat throughout the entire basket. Shake the basket every few minutes if need be.
An alternative to this would be to flip the items in your air fryer basket over. However, sometimes we cook circular items and it’ll be easier just to gently toss the basket a little to mix up the food so the air fryer can cook more evenly.
7. Spray some oil onto the food throughout the cooking process
You should spray halfway through cooking. Simply pause the air frying process halfway through the cooking phase, take out the basket and examine the food. Does it look dry? If so, then it might require a small spray of oil.
Check out, oil misters. You can put cooking oil into these bottles and gently spray it onto your food.
Doing this can help create a more crispy texture. Just don’t overdo it.
8. Avoid using small lightweight items in the air fryer
You have to remember one thing, your air fryer has a fan inside and they’re circulating are going throughout. If the item inside your air fryer is lightweights then it’s very possible that it will fly around inside the compartment.
Also, small pieces like shrimp tend to overcook faster than larger ones. So, avoid putting things that are too small into the air fryer.
9. Adjust the temperature for certain foods in the air fryer
Some foods may benefit from having their temperature adjusted while others shouldn’t. For example, potatoes usually taste better when they’ve had their temperature is lowered slightly. On the other hand, the chicken breast doesn’t really seem to improve by lowering its temperature.
So, depending on what kind of food you’re preparing, adjust accordingly.
Cook longer for thicker cuts of meat
Thicker cuts of meats such as steak and pork chops typically need to be cooked for a bit longer than thinner cuts.
10. Use a food thermometer
A good way to ensure that your food is done properly is to use a thermometer. This allows you to see exactly where the internal temp reaches different stages of cooking.
It also helps you know whether or not your food needs additional time.
This isn’t a typical thermometer either. It’s often known as a grilling or meat thermometer. It’s got a long thick needle that pierces into the center of the meat to record the temperature internally.
Reasons why your air fryer food is not crispy
1. You’re not patting your meat dry before putting them in the air fryer
To avoid soggy food, make sure the surface is dry before cooking. If you’re looking for chicken that will turn out crispy and delicious, rotate your chicken while cooking it on a stovetop grill pan or in an ovenproof skillet.
2. You don’t rotate or flip your proteins while they are cooking
Chicken needs to be rotated or folded during cooking to get even cooking. If you are using an air-fryer, then it is recommended that you flip the protein halfway through its cooking time.
Now, I know you must be thinking, “isn’t that what the fan is for?” The answer is yes, but it can only do so much. Air fryers typically have a heating element at the top. Naturally, this will result in the top surface of your chicken cooking the fastest. It doesn’t matter how good the circulation system is.
One way you can avoid not burning your chicken’s top surface is to lower the tray further from the heating element.
There are air fryers with elements located on the top as well as the bottom of the air fryer. These don’t require flipping or rotating.
<Ninja Air Fryer Oven Dual Heat>
3. You don’t move, rotate or flip your vegetables around while you’re air frying them
If you cook your vegetables in batches instead of cooking them all at once, they’ll get more browned and develop a better taste.
You must rotate and move your vegetables so that they would cook more evenly.
4. Your seasoning isn’t securely stuck to the food
When seasoning food, it’s important to be mindful of when you season. To make sure that the flavoring doesn’t fly off from the finished product, use oil before adding it or season the flour, beaten egg, and crispy coating directly.
5. You’re not occasionally monitoring your air fryer
It is possible to forget about your air fryer and not realize it until you start smelling burnt food.
You set your air fryer and forget it, but you can’t just turn on the appliance without any planning. You’ll need to plan ahead in order to get that delicious crunch you’re hungry for.
Start with a recipe of what type of food will go well with an air fryer then consider time frame, size, or space limitations when deciding which recipes are best for this cooking method.
6. You try to use wet frying batters in your air fryer
If you want to fry food in your air fryer, it’s best to use dry breading. This will ensure that the foods are crispy.
Traditional batters are made with flour, eggs, and milk which ends up being quite a bit wet and runny. These are not appropriate for the air fryer because they will have a difficult time cooking properly in an air fryer The air fryer’s fan will either blow the batter around or it will dry up the batter so quickly, you’ll end up with really dry bread.
Also, with the fan running and splashing your wet batter everywhere, there’s a chance it will stick to the walls of the cooking vessel.
When you try to use traditional frying batters in an air fryer, there are risks that the batter will not heat food properly and could lead to burnt food. There is also the risk of using loose batters for breading because they may fall off or be difficult to handle, which can result in damaged foods.
7. You try cooking raw leafy green vegetables in the air fryer
You try cooking raw vegetables in the air fryer. The veggies turn brown and scorched before they are cooked through, leaving you with an unpleasant taste in your mouth. If you’re trying to cook raw vegetables in the air fryer, it’s better for frozen vegetables.
8. You’re not using accessories in your air fryer
The basic basket is all you’ll need for fries and reheating leftovers, but if you’re looking to make your air fryer more useful, look for cake pans, silicone molds, ramekins, and other cooking devices that can fit inside the air fryer. The accessories provide additional functionality like baking or serving cakes.
9. The foods are too small and light
The food is too small and light. This happens when people forget that the fryer they’re using is full of hot fast-moving air, which means if the food doesn’t have any weight on it, it will be flying around.
Don’t put anything inside your air fryer that’s less than 1 or 2 ounces. And if you have to, then leave it on the bottom underneath the heavy stuff.
10. Your cooking in a dirty, uncleaned air fryer
If you’re cooking in the air fryer without cleaning before and after every use, here are a few things that can happen. The oil inside would get really dirty and possibly even stained. This could cause problems with the performance of your devices, such as less power or shorter cook times. This may result in less of a crispy finish.
If you have food stuck on it from another meal or just leftovers from a previous meal, this will also become an issue if not cleaned off often enough.
On a side note, food residue under the basket could cause a fire if it’s left in there too long.
11. The foods are too wet
Essentially, dry food delivers better results than wet food because the moisture is more easily removed during cooking. Remember, moisture is the opposing force that keeps your meal from becoming crispy. The air fryers can handle these foods well and the results tend to be good.
In order to maintain the crispiness and quality of deep-fried foods, it’s best to cook them more dry than wet.
12. You let fatty foods drip
Fat sometimes helps create the crispy texture you know and love. As the circulated heat ends up making contact with the surface of your food, the fat supports the vaporization of water from that outer layer. And when water rapidly leaves the surface of food, that surface becomes hard and crispy.
It’s important to keep grease away from the heating elements so that nothing burns. Grease can build up over time and eventually clog the vents. When this occurs, the vent fan won’t work correctly and the temperature gauge will go crazy.
13. Your air fryer heating element is not working
This problem usually comes about due to one of two reasons: either the unit has been sitting idle for some period of time or the user hasn’t used their device for quite some time. Either way, the internal components begin to degrade over time.
When this happens, the heating element begins to lose its ability to generate sufficient heat. In addition, the thermostat loses its calibration and starts to fluctuate wildly between high and low temperatures. Eventually, the entire system shuts down completely.
To prevent this from happening, make sure to clean out the filter regularly. If you see black grease all over the element, remove those first. Then, check all parts of the machine thoroughly. Cleaning should include both the interior and exterior surfaces of the air fryer.
Make sure everything works properly by testing each component individually. Once you’ve done that, test again while air frying something. If the same thing still isn’t working right, replace the part immediately.
14. Your air fryer fan is not working
Air fryers come equipped with fans to circulate hot air around the oven chamber. These fans help ensure proper circulation throughout the whole process. However, they don’t always function perfectly. Sometimes, they stop spinning altogether.
There are several possible causes for this malfunction including:
- Dirty filters
- Clogged ducts
- Overheating
- A faulty motor
- Improperly installed motors
- Faulty wiring
- Poor ventilation
15. You don’t give your air fryer room to vent
If there aren’t enough holes in the lid, then the heated air cannot escape as quickly as it needs to. This means that the inside of the oven gets hotter and hotter until the point where the food cooks unevenly.
As a result, the food may end up being undercooked on top but overcooked at the bottom. Or, if the airflow is blocked entirely, the food could actually burn before it even reaches an ideal state of doneness.
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