If you’re worried about the negative health effects that non-stick coatings such as Teflon may have when combined with high temperatures or if you just have more trust in stainless steel and the convenience of using and cleaning it, this might be an article for you.
Using an air fryer with a basket in stainless steel removes the risks of exposing yourself to the fumes caused by overheated Teflon.
Are there air fryers with stainless steel baskets? Yes, there are a bunch of high-quality air fryers with stainless steel baskets. These air fryers are, just like Teflon and Ceramic air fryers, great at producing the fried texture that we all want. Some air fryers come with stainless steel baskets and interiors, others only come with stainless steel interiors. My favorite in this endeavor, which has both, is the Avalon Bay AF25BSS.
I’ve included a video of the Avalon Bay AF25BSS
What Are The Benefits Of Using Stainless Steel Over Teflon
Stainless steel is able to perform at much higher temperatures than Teflon. In an air fryer, the temperature may rise up to about 400F and in some rare cases even go above it. With Teflon, even the manufacturers recommend that you don’t cook in temperatures above 500F.
Stainless steel is more durable than Teflon because there’s no coating. Over time, as the basket is used to cook and then cleaned, the Teflon coating will start to flake from the basket, eventually, the non-stick coating provided by the Teflon will be gone.
With stainless steel, that won’t be an issue. The downside to not having a non-stick coating is that it can be harder to remove burnt-on food.
There’s a solution to that too. Have you heard of seasoning cookware? In the case of the air fryer, one would season the basket’s surface to prevent food from sticking to it.
I recommend doing this to your air fryer components once in a while, especially if you’re using stainless steel. Follow the link to see how it’s done.
Stainless steel is often made from a combination of many metals, including iron, chromium, carbon, nickel, titanium, vanadium, and copper.
The method of layering metals prevents your food from coming in contact with any other metal than the stainless steel surface, which isn’t harmful to humans.
The risk of a stainless steel basket or pan releasing toxic metals or substances is therefore very low. However, damaged stainless steel may still pose a risk to your health as it may expose other metals.
Teflon, on the other hand, carries some potential risks. The chemicals used to make non-stick coating such as Teflon may have harmful effects in one way or another.
The chemical associated with these dangers is called “perfluorooctanoic acid” or PFOA. As of 2015, the use of PFOA has been reduced drastically, as a consequence of a campaign driven by The Environmental Protection Agency.
As it turns out, using non-stick cookware won’t expose you to the chemical as it is only present in the process of producing the cookware but doesn’t end up in the finished product. Heating Teflon may, however, release other substances that may affect you and your loved ones.
The fumes that spread when Teflon is overheated can cause humans to go into a
Birds who are exposed to those toxins can die. The fumes caused by overheated Teflon is incredibly toxic to birds. Anyone who has birds at home should never use Teflon pans without taking extreme precautions first.
When using non-stick baskets, pans or cookware in general, remember to use safety measures.
- If the cookware is starting to flake its
non-stick coating, you should throw it out. - Don’t heat up to high temperatures, medium to low temperatures are recommended when using non-stick coated cookware.
- Don’t preheat air fryer baskets, pans or cookware with non-stick coating.
Cleaning & Maintaining Stainless Steel Air Fryer Components
If you have a high-quality stainless steel basket or pan at home, it should last you a lifetime if handled properly.
Burnt food and grease may stick to the basket easier than it would have if you used a non-stick coated basket. With the right tools, cleaning stainless steel isn’t any harder than cleaning baskets with non-stick properties.
Cleaning problem areas such as burnt grease or food require a special approach, here’s what I do.
- Hard-to-clean burnt areas of a basket or pan: Normally, I would pour water and Barkeeper’s Friend in the pot or pan and scrub it, that’s not an option when cleaning an air fryer basket as they are full of holes.
- Instead, use your kitchen sink.
- Pour just a little bit of water in the sink, place the basket there, add enough Barkeeper’s Friend to the water to create a paste.
- Using a non-abrasive, soft sponge, scrub the basket to remove leftover food, spots or stains.
- Burnt grease: First, use paper towels to clean the basket from fresh oil or grease that hasn’t stuck yet.
- With that out of the way, proceed to place the basket in the sink.
- Plug the sink and add water and vinegar at a 9:1 ratio, nine cups of water and one cup of vinegar.
- Add enough water to submerge the basket in the bath. Let it soak in the water for ten to fifteen minutes.
- Now, using a soft sponge, scrub the basket to remove the leftovers.
- If the grease residue doesn’t come off still, add a little bit of baking soda to the sponge and continue to scrub the basket. A little bit being somewhere between a teaspoon and a tablespoon.
Consider Ceramic Air Fryer Baskets
If you haven’t thought about it yet, then consider taking a look at ceramically coated air fryer baskets. Ceramic is considered the most environmentally friendly option.
Ceramic is also free from PFOA and PTFE, and is, therefore, a better option than non-stick coated air fryer baskets. The argument against ceramic coats has been that they may have a shorter lifespan than non-stick coatings.
Over the last years, things have changed and the technology used to coat cookware with ceramic has developed. By adding more layers of ceramic when coating, the manufacturers have been able to further increase the lifespan of ceramic coats.
The price difference between non-stick coated and a ceramically coated air fryers is almost nonexistent. Of course, there are fewer options with stainless steel baskets or ceramic coat baskets.
The ceramically coated air fryer baskets can be seasoned too, to increase their lifespan and non-stick properties.
When cleaning ceramic, use water and soap and remember to use a soft sponge. Harsh brushes or scrubs will tear the coating from the air fryer at a faster rate.
I recommend that you use perforated parchment paper in your air fryer basking when cooking, no matter what type of material your basket is made of. The papers will collect oil and prevent food from sticking to the basket.
When you’re done cooking, you just remove the food and throw the parchment papers in the trash. The basket doesn’t get nearly as dirty as it would otherwise and they are pretty inexpensive, you can get them for a couple of dollars online.
These models have ceramic air fryer baskets
Related Questions
Are air fryer parts dishwasher safe? Generally speaking: Yes, all air fryer components are safe to put in the dishwasher. However, I can’t speak for every model out there. I suggest you look at the instruction manual for further information regarding the model you are using. If the dishwasher doesn’t do the job, proceed to apply the methods we talked about earlier in the article to remove stains or grease.
Should you season an air fryer? There are benefits to seasoning an air fryer that makes it worth doing. Even if the surface has a non-stick coating, it may not be good enough, therefore, seasoning the surface once in a while will prevent food from sticking. If you regularly have problems with food sticking to the basket, then I would advise you to season it.