How to clean an air fryer: Our top tips and tricks
While convenient for cooking, air fryers can be a bother to clean – our how-to guide simplifies this task with top tips and suggestions
As part of our in-depth reviews and coverage of the best air fryers available, we’ve tried and tested air fryers of all shapes and sizes. Part of this testing involves giving each air fryer we review a thorough wash after cooking, to assess how easy it is to clean. Throughout this process, we’ve gotten adept at cleaning air fryers and have picked up a few neat tips and tricks for keeping your appliance spick and span.
Whether you’ve got a basket-style model, an oven-style air fryer or an air-frying multi cooker, check out our suggested cleaning methods further down the page, which will ensure your air fryer stays sparkling clean for many meals to come. This page also includes some interesting statistics and user feedback on air fryer cleaning, which you can check out just below.
Air fryer cleaning statistics
Expert Reviews surveyed 2,091 UK adults. Key air fryer cleaning insights include:
- 57% of UK air fryer owners clean it after every use
- Nearly a third of the UK doesn’t clean their air fryer enough
- The older you get, the more often you clean your air fryer
- Women are 10% more likely to clean an air fryer after every use compared to men
How often should you clean an air fryer?
Expert tips:
- Wash air fryer baskets after every use
- Clean the interior and coil of your unit
- Manufacturers recommend cleaning an air fryer’s heating element and non-removable parts roughly once a month
While 57% of UK air fryer owners clean their appliance after every use according to our survey, nearly a third of respondents said they clean their appliance once a week or less. Gen Z are among the worst offenders in this respect, with just 30% of 18- to 24-year-olds cleaning their air fryer after every use, compared to 73% of people aged 55 and over. Perhaps unsurprisingly, men also proved slightly less likely than women to give their air fryer a clean after every use.
We recommend you stick with the majority in this instance and give your air fryer and any associated peripherals a clean after every use. Small crumbs, grease and general grime build up in your basket after each use and can sometimes be hard to spot on the darkly coloured interiors of your air fryer. Though your basket or plate may look clean after a simple cook, multiple uses without cleaning can cause dirt to bake on or burn, making future cleans more difficult, negatively impacting the flavour of your food and even potentially damaging your air fryer’s non-stick coating.
More rarely, you’ll want to clean the interior and heating coil of your unit, as internal build-ups can impact the performance of your air fryer and potentially shorten its lifespan. Most manufacturers recommend cleaning an air fryer’s heating element and non-removable parts roughly once a month.
READ NEXT: Are air fryers healthy?
How to clean an air fryer basket:
The basket and drip plates of your air fryer are the parts that come into direct contact with food, and therefore, will need the most regular cleaning. There are a few ways to do this, but here’s what we recommend to keep them in top condition.
1. If you’ve just finished using your air fryer, allow it to cool completely before starting your clean.
2. Once your air fryer has cooled, turn the unit off at the wall and take out all removable parts.
3. If your air fryer has dishwasher-safe parts, you can add them to your dishwasher for its regular cycle. You should be aware, however, that the high temperatures and astringent chemicals present in dishwashers may strip your basket’s non-stick coating over time. If you do want to use your dishwasher, be sure to use the top rack, as it is further from the heating element and therefore will be more gentle on your air fryer’s parts.
4. To wash by hand, we recommend using warm water and washing-up liquid, wiping down flat surfaces with a soft sponge and using a soft-bristled brush for any troublesome nooks and crannies.
5. Once your basket and peripherals are clean, rinse and dry thoroughly before returning them to the main unit.
How to clean an air fryer oven
Some air fryers, such as the Tower Xpress Pro Combo 10-in-1 or Proscenic T31, function more like miniature ovens, eschewing the standard basket style design. While their large interior capacities can be useful for cooking larger items, they can also be a little trickier to clean, lacking the easily removable parts of more conventional air fryers. Here’s our handy step-by-step advice to get the best results:
1. As above, make sure your unit is cooled, switched off and unplugged at the wall before you begin cleaning.
2. Remove any racks, tray or peripherals from the oven and clean them using warm, soapy water. A powerful degreasing washing-up liquid will work best on tougher stains.
3. If your air fryer has a crumb tray or grease trap, dispose of its contents and clean this as well before cleaning the interior.
4. If the inside of your oven-style air fryer has a non-stick coating, you should be able to clean it by gently wiping it down with a damp cloth or soft sponge, avoiding using any cleaning agents besides water. To tackle more stubborn grease and stains, you can try scrubbing the interior with a dampened, non-abrasive microfiber cloth.
How to clean the inside of your air fryer
With some air fryers, it’s possible to clean various internal parts of the machine, such as the heating element. Whether or not you can open your machine up will depend on the model, so be sure to consult the manual or manufacturer’s website to check if this is possible, and how to do so safely. Once you’ve got your air fryer opened up, here’s how to get it clean:
1. The heating element, or heating coil, can often be difficult to reach – we’ve found that with many models it can be helpful to turn your air fryer upside down, so as to reach inside more easily.
2. Once again, to be as gentle with these delicate internal parts, your best bet is to start off with a soft sponge or cloth and plain warm water.
3. If you’re dealing with tougher, baked on grease or stubborn dirt, try upgrading to a soft bristled brush – an old, worn toothbrush can work well in a pinch – and warm water with a few drops of washing-up liquid in it.
4. Once you’ve finished brushing and wiping, leaving your air fryer upside down to dry will encourage water to drip out of the machine and generally improve airflow.
How to keep your air fryer in good condition
With all that cleaning out of the way, here are a five general tips for keeping your air fryer tidy and in good working order:
1. Reduce mess and clean-up times by using paper or silicone liners to protect your air fryer basket
2. Avoid overfilling your air fryer, as this will not only leave you with soggy food, but may also lead to crumbs and grease getting into the internal structure of your appliance.
3. Make sure your air fryer’s hot air vent isn’t facing directly into an electrical socket. For best results, you should use your air fryer near your stovetop’s extractor hood.
4. When it comes time to spritz a little oil over your food, avoid using aerosol sprays, sprays with propellants or chemical-based non-stick sprays, as these sprays can break down the non-stick coating of your air fryer.
5. When adding salt to your food, during or after cooking, make sure to do so once the food has been removed from the air fryer basket, as the salt granules can create micro scratches on the non-stick coating of the basket.
What are the best air fryers if you’re looking for an upgrade?
All that said, if your air fryer is quite run down, or has become too difficult to clean over the years, it may be time to consider securing yourself a replacement or a significant upgrade. To save you time and effort searching for the perfect air fryer, we’ve rounded up models with premium features worth upgrading for:
1. Tefal ActiFry Genius+: Best smart air fryer
One of our favourite air fryers overall, the ActiFry Genius+ stands out thanks to some clever, well-implemented features. Firstly, this model comes with a 360-degree stirring paddle, which helps ensure food is evenly and consistently cooked, without the need to stop and shake mid-cook. Along with manual controls, the Genius+ also comes with nine handy presets, for things like chips, breaded snacks, desserts and more, which are all programmable from its digital touchscreen.
2. Ninja Foodi Dual Zone: Best twin-basket air fryer
If you’d like to transform your air fryer from a handy snack making device into a fully-fledged, dinner-making station, then you should consider switching to a twin-basket model. Our favourite, The Ninja Foodi Dual Zone, is much more than just two air fryers stapled together. For example, the appliance’s sync setting allows you to ensure that both baskets will finish simultaneously, even if they’re set to different times and temperatures. More generally, its Max Crisp setting cooks thinner cut foods much more swiftly than a standard convection oven, while its baking, roasting, dehydrating and reheating features round out its versatility.
3. Tower Xpress Pro Combo 10-in-1: Best oven-style air fryer
Functioning similarly to a mini table-top oven, the Tower Express offers a little more versatility and finesse than your standard air fryer. Using individual crisping trays, you can bake, roast, air fry and dehydrate, as well as cook a whole chicken rotisserie-style in just 45 minutes. Along with a nice range of features, the Xpress Pro also comes with a solid batch of accessories, including kebab skewers, silicone oven mitts and a small pizza crisping tray. Plus, thanks to its clear glass window, you can ooh and aah as you watch your food cook in real time.
