The air fryer is essential in many kitchens, as it allows us to save time and money on the electricity bill when preparing various recipes. In addition, we can cook in a healthier way than other alternatives such as conventional frying.
Now, the air fryer has a small drawback, and that is that cleaning it is not that easy. There are many videos on social media that recommend filling it with soap and water, but the truth is that this is totally discouraged, since you could ruin it. Instead, let's look at how to properly clean your air fryer.
Just enter the words “clean air fryer” in the TikTok search engine to find endless viral videos where they fill it with water and soap to wash the dishes and start it for a few minutes. Even in others, they soak kitchen paper in some grease-removing product and apply it directly to the heating elements of the appliance.
Although these methods garner views and likes on social media for their promised effectiveness, it is very likely that you will ruin the air fryer if you do it this way. The instruction manual itself already warns that you cannot get the air fryer wet. Keep in mind that, if you fill it with water and soap and start it, with the air currents that water and soap could reach the resistance, which would damage them and your precious airfryer would stop working.
This is what TikTok user Alberto Ugarte warns, who has more than 730 thousand followers on this social network, where he shares recipes and other cooking tips. “I have seen this way of cleaning the air fryer that I personally did out of ignorance at the time, but it is not good at all, since many people have told me that your air fryer has broken,” he explains in a video.
“The airfryer is not prepared to put water inside, because the vapors may damage the systems inside, so never clean it like that,” he insists, while explaining alternatives to clean it correctly.
The best way to clean the air fryer is to remove the basket and rack and apply a degreaser or dish soap, rubbing with the soft part of a sponge. If it is especially dirty, you can let the product sit for a few minutes before scrubbing and rinsing.
Now, avoid rubbing with the thickest part of the sponge and not to mention using scouring pads with aluminum bristles, which would ruin the Teflon. It is also not a good idea to put the basket or rack in the dishwasher, as is the case with pans.
If you want to clean the heating element, you can remove the grease with absorbent kitchen paper or a soft-bristled toothbrush, but never using water or cleaning products.
