Can You Put Kitchen Roll In An Air Fryer? (read this first)

As the air fryer becomes ever more popular in kitchens all over the country and beyond, we keep getting asked whether it’s OK to use kitchen roll in an air fryer. 

The short answer is a definite NO! 

It’s not OK to put kitchen roll in an air fryer (unless you want to start a fire).

How Do Air Fryers Work?

To understand why you shouldn’t use kitchen roll/paper towels/kitchen paper in the air fryer you need to know how air fryers work. Air fryers use convection heat to blast the food to give it a fried texture without coating it in oil or fat.

There is a heating element that heats up the air in the air fryer to the temperature selected by you. That hot air is forced around the food by a powerful fan that blasts the air at your food for the whole cooking time.

Why Can’t You Put Kitchen Roll In An Air Fryer?

If you’ve ever seen a napkin or serviette get blown around by a gentle Summer’s breeze you’ll understand why it’s not a good idea to put kitchen roll in an air fryer. 

The powerful fan would blow that kitchen roll all around the air fryer until eventually blowing it onto the heating element. That would then cause the kitchen paper to combust, burst into flames and cause serious damage to not only the air fryer, but possibly your kitchen as well.

Not only that, air fryers work by spreading extremely hot air all around the food that’s being cooked. This is helped by the many tiny perforations in the air fryer’s basket that allow that hot air to circulate around the food.

Kitchen paper would clog these tiny perforations and prevent the hot air from circulating correctly. Which would lead to the food not cooking evenly.

Why Would You Want To Put Kitchen Roll In An Air Fryer?

Let’s look at why you’d want to use kitchen paper in the air fryer in the first place. We get it, of course we do, nobody likes to clean up after cooking a meal.

Putting kitchen paper in the air fryer to soak up fat or grease makes sense on the surface. Of course, it’s dangerous and shouldn’t be done but we understand why you’d want to.

Greasy foods like sausages, burgers, lamb, pork, etc can really mess up the basket and interior of the air fryer. It would make life easier if there was something to soak up that grease and fat to save time when cleaning up.

What Can You Use In An Air Fryer To Soak Up Grease & Fat?

Thankfully there are a number of safe alternatives that can be used to collect all that grease, fat and even crumbs that drop from your food as it cooks in the air fryer. These include;

Parchment Paper

As we just said one of the main problems with using anything in the air fryer to collect fat etc is the potential to block the air flow. Which is why parchment (baking) paper is such a good choice.

Baking paper has minute holes that allow the hot air to flow freely whilst preventing the grease etc from dripping through. Baking paper is also non-stick which makes it a great choice for using in an air fryer.

Disposable Air Fryer Paper Liners

Made from reinforced baking paper, these disposable liners work in the same way as parchment paper but come in many shapes and sizes to fit all types of air fryers. They are heat resistant, waterproof, grease proof, non-stick and non-toxic.

Once the food has been cooked, the paper liner can be disposed of in the general waste or in some areas they can be put in the recycle bin.

Silicone Liners

Made from food grade silicone, these liners are available in many shapes and sizes to fit all types of air fryers. They are waterproof, grease proof, non-stick, non-toxic and dishwasher safe.

They can be reused time after time which makes them environmentally friendly too.

Aluminium Foil Trays

These aluminium foil trays come in a variety of sizes to fit most air fryer baskets. The food can be cooked in the foil providing the tray doesn’t block the whole of the basket.

You should not cook any acidic foods in aluminium because acidic foods react with the aluminium allowing it to leach into the food. There have been some links to Alzheimer’s disease and aluminium toxicity.

Acidic foods include;

• Tomatoes
• Citrus
  • Lemons
  • Oranges
  • Grapefruit
  • Tangerines
  • Kumquats
• Vinegar
• Wine

Or any sauces containing any acidic foods.

Tempered Glass Dishes

Tempered or borosilicate glass (better known as Pyrex) can withstand the high temperatures produced in an air fryer. As long as the tempered glass dish fits comfortably in the air fryer basket, it can safely be used to cook food in.

For more information on tempered glass follow this link.

What do you call someone who shoots kitchen rolls in the wild?
A Bounty hunter! 😂

SEE ALSO: 

• Can You Put Wet Batter In An Air Fryer?
• Can You Put Hot Pockets In An Air Fryer?
• Can You Put Toaster Strudels/Pop Tarts In An Air Fryer?

Frequently Asked Questions