Can You Put Parchment Paper in an Air Fryer?

Today, my son and his friends used the air fryer and, unlike me, they didn’t place any parchment paper under their greasy chicken wings. Now, thanks to their chicken-fueled adventures, our air fryer is a total mess.

On the positive side, I’ve spent half an hour teaching them how to make their own perforated parchment papers for the next time they are cooking by themselves. When I asked them why they didn’t place anything inside the air fryer, their answer was that “they didn’t think you could”.

Well. As it turns out…

Parchment paper can be used in an air fryer as long as it’s perforated. This means that the parchment paper should have small holes which allow the air fryer to circulate air properly, ensuring that the food is cooked evenly from all angles. Using regular parchment paper can block the airflow. It’s also important that the parchment paper is held down by the weight of the food to prevent it from entering the fan or heating element.

Knowing how to use parchment paper in an air fryer and when it can be beneficial is important. When it comes to devices that heat up, any process could be a potential hazard if it isn’t done with caution. Continue reading as we’ll cover the topic.

How To Place Parchment Paper in an Air Fryer

Depending on what you’re cooking, the way you’ll want to place your parchment paper will differ slightly. In most cases, you want to put parchment paper in the air fryer’s basket and place the ingredients on top of the paper, ensuring that the parchment paper is held down by the weight of the ingredients.

This will allow the paper to collect whatever juices the food may release, crumbs that may fall off, and still provide proper airflow.

If you’re air frying foods that have been marinated or are saucy, you want to fold the parchment paper to create a little pizza-crust-like edge on the sides to contain the juices inside the basket, preventing them from splattering all over the air fryer.

Always make sure that every piece of paper placed inside the air fryer is steadily held down. The air circulating the air fryer will have no problem throwing small pieces of paper into the fan or heating element, which could start a fire or damage the device. We want to avoid that at all costs.

Because perforated parchment paper has small holes, some juice can still drip through but the majority of the liquids and crumbs will be collected on the paper rather than the base of the basket or tray. This is truly a time-saver.

Is It Safe To Put Parchment Paper in the Air Fryer?

Yes, it is safe to use parchment paper in an air fryer. Parchment paper is coated with silicone, which gives it heat-resistant, greaseproof, and non-stick properties. Most brands of parchment paper can withstand temperatures of ~420-450 degrees Fahrenheit, making parchment paper perfect for use in the air fryer.

Parchment paper breathes easily, which is essential for liners used in the air fryer – as the air fryer depends entirely on heat circulation to do what it does. Additionally, unbleached parchment paper is free of chlorine, which is great if you’re trying to reduce the number of chemicals in your cooking.

The only way parchment paper could pose a serious threat when air frying is if the paper itself ended up in the air fryer’s fan, clogging it and causing an electrical fire or if the paper was directly exposed to the heating element.

Perforated Parchment Paper For An Air Fryer

Regular parchment papers can be used in an air fryer too, however, because of the technology used by the air fryer to cook food, using regular parchment paper isn’t nearly as useful as perforated parchment paper.

Some may argue that regular parchment paper will reduce the air fryer’s ability to circulate air properly by a lot. The fact is that a sheet of regular parchment paper that is placed in a basket, covering it from side to side, will hinder the air fryer’s ability to cook the food from underneath and from the sides.

The difference between regular and perforated parchment paper is the pattern of holes that cover the perforated paper. This allows the hot air to circulate freely through the entire cavity of the air fryer.

While regular parchment paper breathes easily, perforated parchment paper will make sure the ingredients are cooked from every angle. That said, I have used both perforated and regular parchment paper for both the air fryer and dehydrator with great results.

The thing you have to think about when using regular parchment paper is turning the ingredients over once or twice during the cooking cycle to ensure they’re exposed to heat from all angles.

Perforated paper is superior, yes. If you plan on using your air fryer on a regular basis I would definitely invest in a pack of pre-cut perforated parchment papers.

You can buy pre-made parchment paper inserts for air fryers on Amazon for just a couple of bucks or you can choose to make your own at home. I’ll show you how! But first.

Do I Need to Use Perforated Parchment Paper?

No, but it is recommended to use perforated parchment paper. The risks involved with using parchment paper are basically removed when you start using perforated parchment paper. There’s less to think about and consider.

If you’ve placed your regular parchment paper in a way that hinders the air fryer from reaching food from all angles, will the cooking time need to be adjusted? If so, by how much? There’s more to think about when using regular parchment paper because there are a few things that can go wrong.

The benefits of perforated papers are many. They’re small, convenient, and suitable for air frying. They come in different sizes and there are even custom-made ones for specific models of air fryers.

So, while you’re alright with regular parchment paper, you can’t go wrong with perforated paper. I would definitely invest in some.

Why Do I Use Parchment Paper In My Air Fryer

For me, there are a couple of things that justify the use of parchment paper when cooking in an air fryer.

It makes it much easier to clean the air fryer. Instead of having to clean the entire air fryer I just remove the parchment paper and all the grease, crumbs, and residue that it has collected

There’s less burnt-on grease on the air fryer basket, which means I need to scrub the basket less frequently, increasing its lifespan. Scrubbing and scraping it may cause the surface to flake.

I used to soak my air fryer basket in water and soap a couple of times a week, with the parchment papers, I don’t have to.

The ones I used to purchase from Amazon were greaseproof, I think they were called Air Fryer Liners, it’s basically the same thing as perforated parchment paper.

You might be interested in: Why does everything stick to my air fryer?

How To Make Your Own Perforated Parchment Paper

Crafting your own air fryer liners is very easy and I’m sure you can find all of the materials needed at the closest superstore.

Material Needed:

Parchment Paper (I always buy baking sheets that have been cut into perfectly round sheets)
Rotary Cutter With Perforating Blade
Scissors

How To:

Cut your parchment paper to a suitable size
Roll the rotary cutter over them
Finished

And that’s how you perforate parchment paper. It’s easy as one-two-three! Store them somewhere convenient and preferably in a box where they don’t risk losing their shape.

You Don’t Want Grease Residue In Your Air Fryer

Leftover grease or highly fatty foods can cause white smoke to arise from your air fryer when cooking. If this happens when you are cooking low-fat foods, then you probably have grease residue left in your air fryer.

Soak the basket and all other accessories in a bath of soap and water for 15-20 minutes then give them a scrub and lastly wipe them clean with paper.

Clean the inside of the air fryer with a rag dipped in soap and water – wipe the cavity of the air fryer with a paper towel.

And in the future, think about using parchment paper to halt the accumulation of grease residue in your air fryer.

If the air fryer produces a lot of smoke when you ARE cooking fatty foods, you should add water to the drawer underneath the basket, doing so will keep the grease from getting too hot. This results in a smokeless kitchen.

Other Alternatives To Parchment Paper

If you don’t have parchment paper available you can use aluminum foil in your air fryer as long as you don’t block the bottom of the air fryer completely. Our guidelines for using parchment paper in the air fryer can also be applied to aluminum foil, with a few exceptions.

For instance, aluminum foil can decompose if used with highly acidic foods, the particles of aluminum that end up in your food can leave a taste that I would describe as metallic.

Other than that, you can go ahead and use aluminum foil if you don’t have baking paper at home.

How Often Should I Clean My Air Fryer (Even When Using Inserts)

This depends entirely on what you are cooking. Some people clean their air fryer after every single time they have used it, others go an entire week and others may wait longer than that but I wouldn’t recommend it.

When you use air fryer liners (parchment papers) you reduce the process of cleaning your air fryer by a lot. These days, I remove the parchment paper and everything that it has collected when it has finished cooking then I sweep the inside of the air fryer with a piece of paper.

That’s it, it takes me about 45 seconds. But because I’m using the grease-collecting liners, forgetting to clean the air fryer after a single use isn’t the worst thing in the world.

Read: How to clean every part of your air fryer